Indica Labs, Albuquerque, NM, and Octo, Reston, Va, have announced launch of the online Covid Digital Pathology Repository, a virtual collection of high-resolution microscopic covid-19-related human tissue images hosted by the National Institutes of Health. While the number of covid-19-related deaths continues to rise worldwide, only a few organizations are equipped with the viral containment facilities needed to perform autopsies and collect tissues from patients who succumb to the disease. Such tissues are critical for researchers who are investigating the pathology, treatment, and prevention of covid-19 infection. The Covid Digital Pathology Repository was created to enable international collaboration by providing a centralized, Cloud-based repository for sharing and annotating digital whole-slide images of heart, kidney, liver, and lung tissues from patients infected with covid-19, as well as from patients with the closely related coronaviruses associated with severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS). The whole-slide images, annotations, and metadata in the repository will be used as a reference dataset for education, research, and future clinical trials aimed at limiting further infection, disease, and death. The repository is underpinned by Indica Labs’ Halo Link software, a collaborative image management platform designed specifically for secure sharing of digital whole-slide images and data. The Halo Link instance associated with the repository will be deployed in a Web portal developed and managed by Octo and Axle Informatics, Rockville, Md, to provide a secure, globally accessible central repository. Biomedical scientists can securely add, view, annotate, analyze, and share whole-slide images using Halo Link. Indica Labs’ image analysis, machine-learning, and artificial intelligence tools can also be integrated and accessed within the Halo Link interface. “The entire Indica Labs team takes great pride in working with NIH and Octo to deliver a much-needed global integration for covid-19 pathology and a framework for the implementation of further cutting-edge technologies,” says Steven Hashagen, CEO at Indica Labs. “Deployment of the Halo Link platform will provide data availability and allow real-time collaboration between the world’s leading clinical institutions at this critical time in our battle against the novel coronavirus.” “To better understand the ravaging effects of covid-19 on the human body and to make progress in alleviating those effects, researchers need to have timely access to clinical and imaging data,” says Susan Gregurick, associate director for data science and director of the office of data science strategy at the National Institutes of Health. “The covid-19 digital pathology repository is a significant step in this direction. This resource provides all investigators a platform to access important reference datasets, and in the next iteration, to support clinical trials research and provide datasets for computational studies based on imaging analysis and artificial intelligence, which are essential capabilities for defeating covid-19.” For more information, visit Indica Labs, and find the repository at NIH.