Integrated Computing And Tracking System For Centralized High-Throughput Genetic Analysis: A Case Study

The Genetic Analysis Center (GAC) of the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos (HCHS/SOL) developed an Integrated Computing and Tracking system (ICT) in order to perform genome-wide and other genetic association studies automatically and efficiently, while documenting all analysis specifications. This system provides easy-to-use analysis set-up and computing procedures, automatic reports, and analysis search functionality due to integration with an on-site database. In this paper we describe the ICT and demonstrate how it satisfies key principles of reproducible research, while respecting constraints and challenges arising from using very large, restricted access, human-subjects data. This case study may benefit other groups that have similar requirements for high-throughput analysis execution and management.