Axiope develops online applications for lab scientists. We released eCAT, the first web-based electronic lab notebook, on July 8, 2009. eCAT's origins go back to 2001, when Nigel Goddard and two colleagues at the University of Edinburgh’s School of Informatics, Robert Cannon and Fred Howell, realized the need for a user-configurable database to manage their neuro-informatics research data. To do this they developed Catalyzer, an XML-based, user-configurable database tailored for biomedical research. In 2003 Axiope was spun out of the University of Edinburgh to develop and commercialize Catalyzer.
A learning experience
The theme of ‘by scientists for scientists’ has informed our development from the start. In keeping with this theme, we listened carefully to feedback about Catalzyer. Scientists liked the idea of a tool that let them easily manage their data, but told us that Catalyzer had some fundamental problems:
- lack of scalability: Catalyzer became unacceptably slow after 10,000 records were added to a catalog
- poor interface: Catalyzer lacked an intuitive, familiar front end
- client-server model: Catalyzer was not web-based
- at $1,000 - $2,000 per seat Catalyzer was too expensive for most non-commercial settings
On the right track
So, in 2006 we went back to the drawing board to start developing the product scientists in non-commercial settings were telling us they really wanted. Between late 2006 and the autumn of 2007 the basic shape of what was to become eCAT began to crystallize: a highly scalable tool possessing the basic capabilities of commercial ELNs, i.e. controlled sharing of data, a permissions system, an audit trail, electronic signature and search, and a front end that looked like the electronic counterpart to a paper notebook, but in addition was (a) web-based, (b) flexible and configurable, and (c) available at a price scientists in non-commercial settings could afford.
eCAT takes shape with the help of the community
To ensure that eCAT was a product scientists would adopt widely it was crucial that they were closely involved in its development. To that end a key milestone was reached in October 2007, when a group at the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation & Research, which was looking to adopt an ELN, discovered Axiope. They liked a mock up of eCAT and the explanation of plans for its development. Over the next year the CBER group provided extensive feedback, and were instrumental in particular in the development of the look and feel of eCAT’s front end. Useful feedback was also incorporated from groups at Uppsala University, Children’s Hospital Boston, and Children’s Hospital Philadelphia, as well as Catalyzer users like Alex Swarbrick’s lab at the Garvan Institute in Sydney, Australia and Martin Spitaler at Imperial College, London.
Beta testing
More than 100 individuals, labs and institutions participated in the beta testing from September 2008 to June 2009. We continued to develop eCAT through four interim beta releases, and we continued to benefit from lots of comments and suggestions from users. Among the many testers who provided invaluable feedback were Hoang Pham (Lawrence Berkeley Labs) and Morten Jensen (University of North Carolina Chapel Hill) of the ModENCODE consortium, Larry Gonzalez at the University of Oklahoma, Olle Rengby of the Karolinska Institute, and Anthony Underwood at the UK’s Health Protection Agency.
Making it easy—we hope you like the website!
To facilitate understanding and uptake of eCAT, we have redesigned the Axiope website to be as informative, transparent and easy to navigate as possible. (We also think its pretty stylish! That’s thanks to Chris White at Gun4Hire). For a quick but thorough overview of eCAT in action, there are two brief introductory videos. The first covers documenting experiments and sharing data, and the second deals with managing scientific inventory. The Learn section contains an extensive but accessible description of all eCAT’s features and has lots of additional background to put eCAT in context, like explaining what kinds of research groups are likely to find eCAT useful, as well as several user Q&A studies and much more.
The modENCODE example – a model for learning how to get the most out of eCAT
One of the most important things we learned during the beta testing was that scientists are the best people to teach other scientists about eCAT and how to use it. The National Human Genome Research Institute has designated the modENCODE (model organism ENCyclopedia of DNA Elements) Project to try to identify all of the sequence-based functional elements in the Caenorhabditis elegans and Drosophila melanogaster genomes. A modENCODE group focusing on C. elegans (involving labs at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, the University of Cambridge, the University of California, Berkeley, the University of California, San Diego, NimbleGen, the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, and the Weizmann Institute) developed what we think is a great model for getting a group of users going with eCAT.
ModENCODE designated two ‘champions’, Huang Pham of Lawrence Berkeley Labs and Morten Jensen of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. After viewing a demo of eCAT Hoang and Morten did a considerable amount of their own testing, including asking questions and making comments. They developed their own instructional materials including a powerpoint presentation and a video, and used these in introducing a few other users in the group to eCAT. They then rolled eCAT out to a larger group of users. They kept the larger group informed of developments throughout the process and held several online meetings and briefings at key points. These were interactive, and included a chance for users to provide feedback about likes and dislikes. During the process they also communicated regularly with us, getting help with problems and questions that arose, making suggestions for feature additions and changes, and collating feedback from Axiope about which of these requests were likely to be implemented and on what time scale.
The eCAT Community website – a space for you
Morten and Hoang were very generous in sharing some of their experiences and the materials they had developed with testers from other labs and institutions. It occurred to us that it would be useful to provide an environment where this kind of sharing and exchange could take place on a broader scale, rather than just one to one. We decided to create a separate but linked website, eCAT Community, to serve as a platform for communication between eCAT users which is also open to others to view. eCAT Community is where the Axiope blog and forums live, and also lets members communicate with each other via messaging, and post non-confidential things you think others might benefit from, like modENCODE’s powerpoint presentation. We will be watching carefully to see how people make use of eCAT Community, and look forward to hearing your suggestions for how we can make it even more useful.
Team
Nigel Goddard, Founder and Director of Business and Product Development at Axiope, wears two hats. He is also Reader at the Institute for Adaptive and Neural Computation at Edinburgh University’s School of Informatics, where his current research focuses on computational methods and models for global change research. Nigel’s extensive engagement with users and resulting understanding of their needs has proved instrumental in driving the transition to Axiope’s web-based approach whose first manifestation is eCAT. In his spare time Nigel enjoys mountain climbing and yoga.
Email Nigel at ngoddard@axiope.com
Rory Macneil, CEO, is an entrepreneur whose earlier career -- Harvard-trained lawyer, founder of a successful China-based investment consultancy and partner in a global law firm – is not the profile you might expect for Axiope’s CEO. Nevertheless the dedication to customer service which was fundamental to his earlier experience remains central to Axiope’s ethos. And Rory has learned a fair bit about biomedical research needs and online offerings in the seven years since Nigel’s partner Johanna Moore, a professor at the School of Informatics, introduced him to Nigel and suggested that he get involved with what was to become Axiope. Indeed he is learning more all the time! Rory is a director of two other software companies. His outside interests include tennis, soccer and Scottish history.
Email Rory at rmacneil@axiope.com
Jonathan Ritchie, Lead Developer, joined Axiope's development team in 2003, and took over as Lead Developer in 2005. Jonathan provided the vision which underpins the transition from Catalyzer to eCAT, and since early 2007 has led the design and development of eCAT, turning that vision into a highly innovative new offering, the first of its kind.
Email Jonathan at jonathan@axiope.com
Michael Sun, Developer, joined Axiope's development team in 2007 after graduating with First-class Honours in Software Engineering from Edinburgh University’s School of Informatics. He is a winner of The 2007 Young Software Engineer of the Year Award presented by ScotlandIS, the trade body of Scotland's ICT industry. Michael has been focusing on adapting web 2.0 technology into eCAT, to enable enhanced performance and a rich user experience. In his spare time Michael plays basketball and supports the LA Lakers.
Email Michael at michael@axiope.com
Leigh Gordon, Developer, joined Axiope on July 1st, 2009. Leigh has several years experience in developing Java-based web applications for both the public and private sector. A strong advocate of open source technologies, Leigh is an active member of various open source communities: Maven Developers community, Java Enthusiasts and the Spring Users community. Outside of software development; Leigh enjoys experimenting with cooking and is a fan of modern cinema.
Email Leigh at leigh@axiope.com
Contacts
Email info@axiope.com
Address
Axiope Limited
24 Fountainhall Road
Edinburgh
EH9 2LW
Scotland
Telephone +44 131 516 2963
