NIH OPASI Research, Condition, and Disease Categorization (RCDC)

The Research, Condition, and Disease Categorization (RCDC) System

RCDC-How the System Works

The new RCDC computer-based system sorts NIH-funded projects into categories of research area, disease, or condition. The four main steps in the RCDC categorization process are outlined below.

	Step One: Choose the Category
	A category can be a research area such as neuroscience, a disease such as diabetes, or a condition such as chronic pain. The RCDC system will continue to report on 215 categories that the NIH has historically reported to Congress and the public. The NIH is finalizing work on RCDC categories. The categories NIH currently reports are listed at http://www.nih.gov/news/fundingresearchareas.htm.
	Step Two: Create the Category Definition
	NIH scientific experts have worked together for the past two years to create each category definition. Choose the terms and concepts A category definition is a series of terms (single words) or concepts (phrases of two or more words) chosen from the RCDC thesaurus of more than 350,000 biomedical terms and concepts. The RCDC thesaurus combines terms and concepts from several sources: National Library of Medicine’s MeSH (Medical Subject Headings) thesaurus CRISP thesaurus The National Cancer Institute’s thesaurus Metathesaurus Jablonsky’s dictionary Other specific types of classifications from NIH Institutes and Centers Additional words or phrases added by NIH scientific experts to ensure capture of specific areas Add a weight The scientific experts can add a weight (using a mathematical formula) to each term or concept. This helps represent the relative significance of that term or concept to the overall definition for that category, and helps identify the most appropriate projects that use those terms or concepts in their descriptions. Set a threshold The scientific experts also set a threshold for each category. The threshold is the minimum number of times a term or concept must be mentioned in the funded grant or contract description to make the project eligible for entry under a specific category. Thresholds reduce the chance that the RCDC system will include a funded grant or contract in an unrelated category. Validate the definition Once they choose the terms and concepts, add weights, and set a threshold for each category, the scientific experts then validate the category. To do this, they pick a list of grants and contracts to test. They run this list of test grants and contracts through the category definition to see which grants and contracts are captured in the category. The experts review the resulting list of test grants and contracts assigned to the category. Then they suggest ways to refine the category’s terms, concepts, and weights to help develop the most valid list of categorized grants and contracts possible. Validation is an important part of the categorization process. NIH scientific experts want to be sure the RCDC system is as sensitive and specific as possible. The RCDC plan is for scientific experts to periodically review and update the categories to account for new science or other changes.
	Step Three: Create the Project Summary
	The RCDC system searches all funded grants and contracts in the NIH database to create a project summary. An RCDC project summary comprises a list of scored terms and concepts that appear in the funded grant or contract. RCDC includes the following types of funded grants and contracts: Grants awarded to scientists outside the NIH campus (extramural grants) Research and development contracts Research projects carried out by NIH staff scientists on the NIH campus (intramural projects) The RCDC system searches each funded grant or contract’s title, abstract, specific aims, and public health relevance section for terms and concepts that match those in the RCDC thesaurus. It ranks the matching terms and concepts based on how often they occur within the funded grant or contract’s title, specific aims, and public health relevance section. The more times a term or concept appears, the higher the score that term or concept gets. Terms and concepts found in the title always get the highest weight no matter how often they occur. Then the RCDC system creates the project summary (a list of scored concepts that describes the funded grant or contract).
	Step Four: Match the Projects to the Categories
	The RCDC system compares the project summary to the category definition to determine how closely they match. If the RCDC project summary meets the threshold score set by NIH scientific experts, RCDC assigns that grant or contract to that category. The RCDC system compiles a list of all the funded grants and contracts that fit into specific categories. The list of grants and contracts under each category also includes such details as funding amounts. The project listings will be available on a public website beginning in spring 2009. The RCDC system enables the NIH to apply the latest technology to consistently report on how America’s tax dollars are spent to support medical research. The computer technology (knowledge management application) allows the NIH to categorize funded research consistently across all of NIH. With the RCDC system, the NIH is able to provide direct public access on a website to detailed and complete project listings.