Frequently Asked Questions

  • Visit OAI Data (and Image) Repository (via NIMH Data Archive [NDA]) 

      • You MUST complete the Data Use Agreement before accessing OAI data
        • Go to https://nda.nih.gov/oai
        • Login via Login.Gov
        • Go to "My Account" (upper right) --> Click "Data Permissions"
        • Scroll down to "Request Access to a Permission Group" and find the "Osteoarthritis Initiative" and click "Request Access"
        • Click" Start Request" and follow any other prompts

  • Title: Acknowledge the OAI at the end of titles for manuscripts and conference abstracts (when permitted): “…data from the Osteoarthritis Initiative” 

    Methods: State “Data used in the preparation of this paper were obtained from the Osteoarthritis Initiative (OAI) database.”

    Acknowledgements:

    When investigators use OAI data, they should report “The OAI is a public-private partnership comprised of five contracts (N01-AR-2-2258; N01-AR-2-2259; N01-AR-2-2260; N01-AR-2-2261; N01-AR-2-2262) funded by the National Institutes of Health, a branch of the Department of Health and Human Services, and conducted by the OAI Study Investigators. Private funding partners include Merck Research Laboratories; Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation, GlaxoSmithKline; and Pfizer, Inc. The results are the sole opinion of the authors and not of the NIH or the other funding partners.”

    If investigators also use data from the OA Biomarkers Consortium FNIH project, then they should add “Data from the FNIH OA Biomarkers Consortium Project was funded by: AbbVie; Amgen; Arthritis Foundation; Artialis; Bioiberica; BioVendor; DePuy; Flexion Therapeutics; GSK; IBEX; IDS; Merck Serono; Quidel; Rottapharm | Madaus; Sanofi; Stryker; the Pivotal OAI MRI Analyses (POMA) study, NIH HHSN2682010000 21C; and the Osteoarthritis Research Society International.”

    When investigators use the genetic data, they should reference the use of dbGaP data by including the dbGaP accession and include the following statement to acknowledge the submitter(s) of this study: “The data used for the analyses described in this paper were obtained from the database of Genotypes and Phenotypes (dbGaP), at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/gap. Genotype and phenotype data for the Genetic Components of Knee OA: The OAI study were provided by Rebecca Jackson, The Ohio State University. Funding support for the original study was provided by the National Institutes of Health, under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, and other sources of support as described in Yerges-Armstrong LM et al. Association analysis of BMD-associated SNPs with knee osteoarthritis. J Bone Miner Res. 2014 Jun;29(6):1373-9.”

  • There are a few different ways to get in touch:

    1. Book a meeting with our team on the Office Hours page
    2. Submit a contact form
    3. Email us directly at oaiknowledgebase@umassmed.edu

  • The knowledgebase can assist with...

    1. Accessing the data through one of the repositories
    2. Discussing available data, data limitations, and missing data challenges
    3. Data set generation or analyses
    4. Extracting (pulling) OAI imaging sets 
    5. Developing imaging protocols for future studies based on the OAI protocol
    6. Preparing biospecimen request applications
    7. Organizing, annotating, and making datasets publicly available and harmonious to link with existing publicly available data 
    8. Coordinating with journal editors to foster more reviewers with expertise in the OAI
    9. Preparing grant applications and manuscripts
    10. Meeting with teams throughout a project to assist with selecting optimal study samples and optimizing analyses

    The knowledgebase also offers....

    1. Webinars (live and recorded)
    2. State of the OAI Reports
    3. OAI Explorer (search OAI variables & descriptive analyses; COMING SOON)
    4. OAI Biospeciment Database (COMING SOON)
    5. OAI Learning Lab (datasets for use in classrooms; COMING SOON)
    6. OAI Connector (database to find new collaborators with expertise in the OAI; COMING SOON)
    7. Meet-the-Professor Sessions (COMING SOON)

  • Yes, the Musculoskeletal Knowledge Portal enables browsing, searching, and analysis of human genetic and genomic information linked to musculoskeletal traits and diseases, while protecting the integrity and confidentiality of the underlying data.