New in ZIMS for Medical: Search by Diagnosis Report and Diagnosis & Procedure Dashboard

New Enhancements Made Possible Thanks to Exotics Species Cancer Research Alliance and the Arizona Cancer Evolution Center

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The Species360 software development team has recently launched a series of feature enhancements for ZIMS for Medical in partnership with the Exotics Species Cancer Research Alliance (ESCRA) and with financial support from the Arizona Cancer Evolution Center (ACE).

Species360 and ESCRA have formed a partnership with the aim of utilizing innovative data harnessing methods to not only expand knowledge of cancer trends and treatment but other diseases affecting species across the tree of life.

ZIMS access is crucial to building our cancer database; it has been essential in supporting our partnerships with Species360 and the Species360 member zoos and aquariums. Species360 members can use ZIMS to locate and efficiently share their approved medical case data with Exotics Species Cancer Research Alliance scientists, which will help inform cancer research.

Dr. Tara Harrison, DVM, MPVM, Dipl. ACZM, Dipl. ACVPM, Dipl. ECZM (ZHM) Associate Professor, North Carolina State University, Zoological Oncology and Therapeutics, Assistant Professor of Zoo and Exotic animal medicine, and Director, Exotic Species Cancer Research Alliance

The following new updates are now live in ZIMS for Medical:

Search by Diagnosis Report

Updates have been made to the Search by Diagnosis Report which was originally built with financial support from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS grant # MG30-14-0039-14) in 2017.

The original Search by Diagnosis report provided a list of diagnoses entered by your institution, but the new update makes it possible for users to search at a global scale and view a list of diagnoses for a taxonomic group with all identifiers removed. The new enhancement to the report provides a summary of what types of diagnosis have been recorded by Species360 member institutions for a certain taxon, providing context for novelty and perhaps a sense of frequency for certain diseases.

ZIMS was built to facilitate data sharing between members to provide continuity of care as animals move from institution to institution.  Species360 used our traditional data sharing model and applied it in a new way; now members may choose to share data via ZIMS with global/regional consortium users (such as EAZA Biobank or vet advisors). Secure and efficient data sharing puts information in the hands of the advisors our community relies on to help advance animal care and conservation research. 

Updated Diagnosis and Procedure Dashboard

The Diagnosis and Procedure dashboard search has been updated to enhance the search function. The first search field is an “OR” search so users can enter multiple terms or groups of terms from the dictionary to broaden searches.

The second search field allows users to link terms together to refine the search. For example: using the terms “air sac”, “air sacculitis”, “respiratory disease”, “pneumonia”, “bronchitis”, in the first field would cast a broad net for respiratory illness in a specific taxon group. And entering term group “Neoplasia (164 terms)” in the first field and anatomic site “Liver” in the second field would yield a list of any type of neoplasia recorded for a specific organ.

Dr. Tara Harrison, DVM, MPVM, Dipl. ACZM, Dipl. ACVPM, Dipl. ECZM (ZHM) Associate Professor, North Carolina State University, Zoological Oncology and Therapeutics, Assistant Professor of Zoo and Exotic animal medicine, and Director, Exotic Species Cancer Research Alliance, said: “ZIMS access is crucial to building our cancer database; it has been essential in supporting our partnerships with Species360 and the Species360 member zoos and aquariums. Species360 members can use ZIMS to locate and efficiently share their approved medical case data with Exotics Species Cancer Research Alliance scientists, which will help inform cancer research.”

For more information on these updates and enhancements, please visit: ZIMSHelp – Diagnosis & Procedures

Species360 would like to thank the Arizona Cancer Evolution Center for their support in making these updates to ZIMS for Medical possible.

About the Exotic Species Cancer Research Alliance:

The Exotic Species Cancer Research Alliance (ESCRA) is a collective group of researchers and clinicians from both veterinary and human medicine united to find the common causes of cancer across all species. This holistic, comparative medicine view will help us better understand various cancer models and ways to treat both human and animal cancers. Visit their website to learn more.

ESCRA has 97 institutions sharing data with them, of which 76 are also Species360 members.

About the Arizona Cancer Evolution Center:

The mission of the Arizona Cancer Evolution Center (ACE) is to advance our fundamental understanding of cancer and its clinical management through the development and application of evolutionary and ecological models to cancer biology. Visit their website to learn more.

Learn more about What’s New in ZIMS for Medical.