Cohen Veterans Bioscience (CVB) is a non-profit 501(c)(3) biomedical research and technology organization dedicated to advancing brain health by fast-tracking precision diagnostics and tailored therapeutics. As part of its mission, CVB established the BRAINCommons, an LLC subsidiary that serves as a data management and sharing platform. The BRAINCommons focuses on technology, one of CVB’s pillars, to support research, advocacy, and policy efforts.

“As a non-profit organization, we have minimal resources as compared to for profit organizations. We chose to leverage Connectria services because of its cloud expertise and also its professional services.” – Maryan Zirkle, Executive Director of The BRAINCommons.

The BRAINCommons and CVB bring together brain data and encourage the sharing of this data across this landscape for increased reuse and utilization for additional discovery and insights. The BRAINCommons found Connectria in its search for cloud expertise and managed services support. Connectria’s reputation for delivering managed cloud and professional services while also supporting veteran communities, made an ideal fit for the BRAINCommons.

The Challenge

Cost Consciousness in the Cloud

The BRAINCommons, as a nonprofit entity, faced the challenge of managing a complex infrastructure that involved data management, analytics, and sharing across internal and external users. With limited resources, the BRAINCommons needed a Managed Services Provider (MSP) that could offer high standards and performance at a more sustainable cost.

The organization had previously experienced challenges with its former vendor, where the MSP’s scope was unclear, and the costs were prohibitive. The BRAINCommons needed the level of MSP service offerings at a more sustainable price point and Connectria was able to provide that.

The Solution

Adding Valuable AWS Expertise to the Organiation

The BRAINCommons leveraged Connectria’s cloud managed services for maintenance and oversight of its environment based on Amazon Web Services (AWS). The range of AWS services utilized by the BRAINCommons includes AWS Config, CloudFront, CloudFormation, CloudTrail, Lambda, Kinesis, SNS, Workspaces, EC2, RDS, Route53, S3, and SQS.

Connectria’s role extended beyond traditional MSP services as the team collaborated closely with AWS to further ensure the environment’s uptime, compliance, and security. The BRAINCommons also benefited significantly from Connectria’s professional services. As a nonprofit with minimal resources, the BRAINCommons tapped into Connectria’s expertise to provision workspaces, troubleshoot issues, and enhance the overall user-friendliness of its architecture. Connectria’s services were not only aligned with the technical needs but also addressed the financial constraints of a nonprofit organization.

“In building our system and refining our architecture, we’ve also leveraged Connectria professional services a great deal. The ability to take an increased amount of professional services hours to support our solution architecture has been truly invaluable.” – Maryan Zirkle, Executive Director of the BRAINCommons.

The Results

Issue Reduction and Improved Responsiveness

Connectria’s support for the BRAINCommons resulted in a stable and well-maintained cloud environment. The BRAINCommons experienced a notable reduction in issues and security events.

The Connectria team’s responsiveness and ability to discern and resolve problems efficiently contributed to a seamless operation for the BRAINCommons within its financial constraints as a non-profit. Partnering with Connectria allowed the BRAINCommons to focus on its core mission of advancing brain health research without the burden of managing complex infrastructure components.

The BRAINCommons continues to explore available AWS services with the guidance of Connectria experts. These AWS services come together to create an architecture that supports all of The BRAINCommons activities and data needs powering Cohen Veterans Bioscience research initiatives around veteran brain health. This work is also shared with outside users and communities in adjacent areas such as TBI, PTSD, and other brain trauma which helps protect athletes, first responders, and safety personnel.

About The BRAINCommons

By combining the power of biotechnology with rigorous research, high-performance computing, and data analytics, Cohen Veterans Bioscience is accelerating the development of precision diagnostics and tailored treatments for military service members, Veterans, first responders, and all people living with the effects of brain trauma.

As part of its mission, CVB established the BRAINCommons, an LLC subsidiary that serves as a data management and sharing platform. The BRAINCommons empowers the global research community by providing access to multi-model data, state-of-the-art tools, and a secure interoperable system for data sharing. Learn more at https://www.braincommons.org/