An oncology research lab, without paper notebooks or grubby keyboards
LAS (Laboratory Assistant Suite) is a laboratory information management system that started in 2011 from a feasibility study for Istituto di Candiolo (IRCCS), the cancer research and treatment center. The goal was to replace scattered lab notebooks and spreadsheets with a single system able to track samples, experiments, and molecular data across their entire lifecycle.
I contributed to designing the system’s modular architecture, built to adapt to very different types of biological and molecular data without having to rewrite the system every time a research protocol changes. Particular care went into the user interface, designed to be usable in a sterile environment — where typing on a keyboard isn’t always practical — minimizing the manual interactions required from researchers while working at the bench.
LAS is used daily at Istituto di Candiolo today, and has also been adopted by other international institutes involved in EU research projects, confirming the soundness of the approach.
The work on LAS is documented in several peer-reviewed scientific publications: an article in the Journal of Medical Systems, two book chapters published by IGI Global (2015 and 2018) and two articles in the Oxford University Press journal Database (2019).
Scientific publications
- E. Baralis, A. Bertotti, A. Fiori, A. Grand. LAS: a software platform to support oncological data management. Journal of Medical Systems 36 (Suppl. 1), pp. 81–90, Springer, 2012. Read →
- A. Fiori, A. Grand, P. Alberto, E. Geda et al. A case study of a laboratory information system developed at the Institute for Cancer Research at Candiolo. Laboratory Management Information Systems: Current Requirements and Future Perspectives, IGI Global, pp. 252–279, 2015. Read →
- A. Fiori, A. Grand, E. Geda, D. Schioppa et al. LAS: a bio-clinical integrated laboratory information system for translational data management. Emerging Developments and Practices in Oncology, IGI Global, pp. 56–93, 2018. Read →
- A. Grand, E. Geda, A. Mignone, A. Bertotti, A. Fiori. One tool to find them all: a case of data integration and querying in a distributed LIMS platform. Database, baz004, Oxford University Press, 2019. Read →
- A. Mignone, A. Grand, A. Fiori, E. Medico, A. Bertotti. Semalytics: a semantic analytics platform for the exploration of distributed and heterogeneous cancer data in translational research. Database, baz080, Oxford University Press, 2019. Read →
- E. Baralis, A. Bertotti, F. Bussolino, A. Fiori et al. Laboratory Assistant Suite platform for biomedical data management and integration. Proceedings del Congresso AICA, 2011.
Testimonial · ★★★★★ on Trustpilot
“I have worked with Alessandro for more than 10 years, and I can say it is almost impossible to find professionals at his level. Both as a software engineer and as a database designer, his expertise goes far beyond the standard […]. Together we have tackled extremely complex projects in academia.”
Andrea Bertotti (translated from Italian) · Read the review →