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Introduction to the CSSI DCC Portal

Data repositories are important tools in cancer research, providing safe and sustainable locations to store data, providing access to input data for meta-analyses, and allowing researchers to collaborate and share information across a common resource. The Center for Strategic Scientific Initiatives (CSSI) sponsors a diverse array of projects. These projects generate datasets that vary in content and format, yet are related across certain defining characteristics or metadata. Integrated management of the datasets across all sponsored projects make the data more accessible, easily accessed, and potentially reused by the cancer research community. 

The CSSI Data Coordinating Center (CSSI DCC) stores and manages access to data generated in support of cancer research funded or supported by the CSSI. This data is in the standard Investigation-Study-Assay tab-delimited format (ISA-TAB) format, which describes a scientific investigation, its study or studies, and each study's assay(s). For more information on the ISA-TAB format, refer to the following section, What is ISA-TAB?, as well as the ISA-TAB specification Exit Disclaimer logo .

The CSSI DCC Portal is the repository for CSSI DCC data. It serves the following purposes:

  • Provides a common location and web access to data from disparate data types including gene expression results from Next Generation Sequencing, microarray experiments, histopathological images, metabolomics data, and proteomics data, allowing for easy access by multiple collaborators and researchers located at different geographic locations. Is flexible enough to handle new and unspecified data types.
  • Stores the data in one common location so that you can make biological insights that would otherwise be missed by having data in multiple locations.
  • Applies the information gained from one study to multiple studies and projects.
  • Allows you to search the metadata from each study to identify datasets of interest.
  • Develops data storage and data mining modules that can be applied across studies, avoiding duplication of effort and saving costs.
  • Develops and/or adopts common vocabularies, data standards, and ontologies for data representation, storage, and comparison. 

For more information about using the CSSI DCC Portal, see:

What You Can Do in CSSI DCC

The following table summarizes the tasks you can perform in the CSSI DCC portal:
TasksRequires Login or Permission?
  • Browse data
  • Search data
  • Download data using your browser

No

  • Download large amounts of data (30 GB or more), with Globus file transfer feature
  • Browse, search, or download access-controlled data

Yes, requires login

  • Download the Metadata Utility
  • Upload data
  • Request open access for your uploaded data

Yes, requires login and upload permission

Uploading data and requesting open access for your uploaded data require both login and permission to upload. For details on requesting permission to upload data, refer to Managing Your Account. 

For information about the above tasks, refer to the following pages:

What is ISA-Tab?

Investigation-Study-Assay tab-delimited format (ISA-Tab) is a format based on the ISA-TAB specification Exit Disclaimer logo that is used to capture and communicate the complex metadata required to interpret investigations (experiments) employing combinations of technologies. Metadata in ISA-Tab format facilitates standards-compliant collection, curation, management, and reuse of datasets in a wide variety of life science domains. ISA-TAB builds on the existing paradigm that is Microarray Gene Expression - Tabular format (MAGE-TAB)-a tab-delimited format to exchange microarray data.

Investigations, Studies, and Assays are the three entities around which the ISA-Tab framework is built. Investigation is a higher-order object, whose primary role is to group related Studies. Study is the central unit, containing information on the subject under study, its characteristics and any treatments applied. A Study has associated Assays. Assays are measurements performed either on the whole initial subject or on a sample taken from the subject, which produce qualitative or quantitative data. Assays can be characterized as the smallest complete unit of experimentation producing data associated with a subject.

The ISA-Tab specification relies on the ISA data model to order and classify the metadata. The ISA data model uses the following three types of text files to capture the metadata:

  • The Investigation file contains all of the information needed to understand the project context, overall goals, and means. An Investigation is a high-level concept that groups related Studies.
  • The Study file(s) includes information on the subject under study, its characteristics, and any treatments applied. A Study is the central unit and has associated Assays.
  • The Assay file(s) include test steps and analytical measurements. An Assay is a test performed either on material taken from the subject or the whole initial subject, which produces qualitative and quantitative measurements (data).

Each of these files is a tab-delimited text file that researchers can create, view, and edit.

The following diagram shows the structure of the ISA data model.

Structure of ISA data model as described in the text on this page.

Source: ISA-Tools.org Exit Disclaimer logo

Registering to Use the CSSI DCC Portal

Before you can log in for the first time, you must register.

To register on the CSSI DCC Portal

  1. Navigate to the CSSI DCC Portal.
    The home page appears.
  2. Click Login.
    The Please Sign In page appears.
  3. Click Register.
    The Registration page appears.
  4. Provide information in all of the following required fields:
    • First name
    • Last name
    • Institution
    • Email address
    • Password
    • Confirm password

    When deciding what to use as a password, refer to Password Guidelines.

  5. If you want to upload investigation data to the CSSI DCC portal in the future, select the I would like to upload investigation data box. Doing so ensures that your future submissions are correctly tracked.
  6. Select the I'm not a robot box.
  7. Click Register.
    A message box appears.

    The system sends to the specified email address an email notification with "CSSI DCC Portal Account Activation" as the subject line. 

  8. To complete account activation, click the link in the message. If you requested the ability to upload investigation data, an administrator processes your request. When that administrator has approved your request, the system sends to the specified email address an email notification with "CSSI DCC Portal Request Permission Request: Upload Approved" as the subject line.

Password Guidelines

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Logging In to the CSSI DCC Portal

You do not need to log in to browse, search, or download investigation data. For details, refer to What You Can Do in CSSI DCC. 

To log in to the CSSI DCC Portal

  1. Navigate to the CSSI DCC Portal (https://cssi-dcc.nci.nih.gov/cssiportal). The home page appears. (For your reference, the footer displays the current version number.)
    The CSSI DCC Portal home page.
  2. If you have an active login session with an authentication provider (such as NIH or Google), and do not want to use the same account for your DCC login, log out of that active session. Then close and reopen the browser. If you do want to use the same account, proceed with the next step. 
  3. Click Login. The Please Sign In page appears.
    The Please Sign In page.
  4. Click NIH Login. An NIH Sign In page appears. Follow the prompts to proceed. After a successful login, the CSSI DCC portal home page (or the My Account page) appears.
  5. Consider the following options:
    • If you need help, contact the Center for Strategic Initiatives (CSSI) Data Coordinating Center (https://cssi-dcc.nci.nih.gov/cssiportal/contactus) or click the Contact Us link at the bottom of any DCC page.
    • If the My Account page appears (or if you want to request upload permission), complete your account information as described in Managing Your Account.

The system logs you off if it detects that you have not used the application for 30 minutes. 

Managing Your Account

  1. Log in to the CSSI DCC portal. For instructions, refer to Logging In to the CSSI DCC Portal. Your email address appears in the upper-right corner of the screen.

  2. Click your email address and then click My Account. The My Account page appears. 

  3. If necessary, update your first name, last name, or institution name. 
  4. If you want to upload investigation data to the CSSI DCC portal (and if your account does not currently have that ability), select the I would like to upload investigation data box.
  5. Click Update. A message appears confirming the update. 

If you requested the ability to upload investigation data, an administrator processes your request. When that administrator has approved your request, the system sends to the specified email address an email notification with "CSSI DCC Portal Request Approved" as the subject line.

Changing Your Password

  1. Log in to the CSSI DCC portal.
    Your email address appears in the upper-right corner of the screen.
  2. Click the arrow next to your email address to open the window and then click Change Password.
    The Change Password window appears.
    Change Password window
  3. Enter your new password twice and click Change Password. A message appears confirming that you have changed your password. The system sends you an email notification with "CSSI DCC Portal Password Changed" as the subject line.
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