Latest Updates from the People Research Data Commons (January 2025)

Discover the latest news, resources and upcoming events for health and medical research in this update from Dr Adrian Burton, Director of the People Research Data Commons.
clinician looking at brain scans on a screen

Since our last update, the ARDC’s People Research Data Commons (People RDC) has been busy developing infrastructure and partnerships to address the pressing data challenges for Australian health and medical researchers. 

We’ve made exciting progress in producing frameworks to guide project development in a number of areas.

Trusted Research Environments

Trusted Research Environments has produced a framework and common understanding for trusted research environments (TREs) in Australia. On the horizon for next year is a community of practice for TREs and a TRE deployment program for the HeSANDA network.

Data Integration

Data Integration is establishing national initiatives that integrate and standardise health data. You can read and provide feedback on the draft framework. Based on this framework, a national project is being launched, harmonising hospital electronic medical records for research and analytics.

Advanced Analytics in Healthcare

Advanced Analytics in Healthcare is creating cutting-edge national-scale analytics infrastructure for health research and research translation. Learn about 2 exciting developments for the program:

  1. Advanced Analytics in Health Research: National Infrastructure Framework Launch  >

Watch the recording of our Framework for Advanced Analytics for National Healthcare Research Infrastructure launch, co-developed by the ARDC and the Australian Data Science Network (ADSN). We delved into the framework’s development, discussed its key recommendations and explored how it can support advanced health analytics in the coming years. It’s an initiative of our People Research Data Commons.

  1. Federated Learning in Healthcare Data: Pathfinder and Interest Group Launch  >

Watch the recording of the launch of our pathfinder and interest group for federated learning in healthcare data, developed as a companion to the Framework for Advanced Analytics for National Healthcare Research Infrastructure. It’s another initiative of our People Research Data Commons.

These co-design outputs have informed the development of reference architecture for the analytics research infrastructure in healthcare. A national AI Resource Hub and a Federated Machine Learning Network will launch in 2025. 

Government Health Data Assets

Government Health Data Assets is improving access to government health data for researchers.

HeSANDA program

Building on the success of our work with the clinical trials community in HeSANDA, we’re currently forming a program to extend the coverage of our infrastructure to cohort studies. We also plan to support access to key national data assets held by the government and other NCRIS organisations.

We’ve wrapped up our project to develop guidance for secondary data research. View our practical guide for researchers, watch our webinar on how to unlock the potential of secondary data from clinical trials with Health Data Australia, and read the full project details.

Read below for our latest news, opportunities, events and resources for health and medical research.

Kind regards,

Dr Adrian Burton
Director, People Research Data Commons
ARDC

Opportunities

Expression of Interest: Program Manager (Health Studies Data)

Employer: ARDC
Location: Flexible
Applications close: 16 Feb
Learn more >

Disease Data Challenges Co-Design Workshops

Where: Online
When: 18 February to 6 March 2025

As part of our Translational Research Data Challenges initiative, the ARDC is starting Disease Data Challenges – mission-driven projects that address research data challenges in 2 initial focus areas:

  • cancer
  • infectious diseases.

Join our co-design workshops to share your data challenges and be part of developing the solutions. Learn more and register >

News

Resources

Secondary Use of Clinical Trials Data in Health Research: A Practical Guide  >

Read our guide to using clinical trials and other health data for secondary research purposes, derived from research papers, and consultation with stakeholders and the research community. It was created through our People Research Data Commons.

Advanced Analytics in Health Research: National Infrastructure Framework Launch  >

Watch the recording of our launch of the Framework for Advanced Analytics for National Healthcare Research Infrastructure, co-developed by the ARDC and the Australian Data Science Network (ADSN). We delved into the framework’s development, discussed its key recommendations and explored how it can support advanced health analytics in the coming years. It’s an initiative of our People Research Data Commons.

Federated Learning in Healthcare Data: Pathfinder and Interest Group Launch  >

Watch the recording of the launch of our pathfinder and interest group for federated learning in healthcare data, developed as a companion to the Framework for Advanced Analytics for National Healthcare Research Infrastructure. It’s another initiative of our People Research Data Commons.

Trusted Research Environments Framework  >

Read our framework for establishing and maintaining trusted research environments (TREs) within the Australian research data ecosystem. It’s part of the People Research Data Commons.

Framework and Pathfinder for Advanced Analytics in Healthcare  >

As part of the Advanced Analytics activity of the ARDC’s People Research Data Commons for health and medical research, we and our partners have developed a framework for advanced analytics for national healthcare research infrastructure and a pathfinder for federated learning tools, opportunities and resource requirements. We welcome your feedback.

Resources for Clinical Trials Data Sharing and Reuse  >

Beyond the original research, clinical trials data can be shared and reused to discover new findings, inform future studies, guide clinical practice and serve teaching purposes. Use our resources for sharing and reusing clinical trials data, including the Health Data Australia platform, guides and other tools. 

FAIR Data Self-Assessment Tool  >

We’ve updated our popular tool to help researchers assess the findability, accessibility, interoperability, and reusability (FAIR) of their datasets. It offers practical tips to enhance your dataset’s FAIRness. We’d appreciate your feedback on the tool—please share your thoughts using the form at the bottom of the page.

HTQ Clinical Trials Hub  >

Planning and running a clinical trial just got easier, thanks to the launch of Health Translation Queensland’s Clinical Trials Hub. In one central online location, researchers and clinical trial teams will find useful resources and tools to plan, manage and track clinical trials throughout the entire process.

Recent Posters 

People Research Data Commons Engagement

For any queries about the People Research Data Commons, or to request an Overview presentation of ARDC services for your researchers, please contact ARDC Engagement – People Research Data Commons; [email protected] or for general queries about ARDC – [email protected].

Open for Submission

International Data Week – Early Bird Tickets on Sale
Don’t miss out on our exclusive early bird ticket sale! For a limited time, you can secure your spot at an incredible discount for International Data Week 2025, allowing you to dive into the vibrant culture and stunning landscapes of Queensland. 

Co-Located Events at IDW 2025: EOI Open Now!
We invite expressions of interest for co-located events to be featured on the International Data Week 2025 webpage. If you’re organising a research data-related event in Queensland during October 2025 (excluding October 13-16), we encourage you to submit your proposal. This is an excellent opportunity to showcase your event to a global audience and foster collaboration and innovation in research data.

Recent Publications

Beyond the urban-rural divide: Exploring spatial variations in breast cancer outcomes in Queensland, Australia. Cancer Epidemiology
Used the ARDC-supported Australian Urban Health Indicators (AusUrb-HI)

Mapping the immunopeptidome of seven SARS-CoV-2 antigens across common HLA haplotypes. Nature Communications
Used the ARDC Nectar Research Cloud

Radiotherapy protocol compliance in routine clinical practice for patients with stages I–III non‐small‐cell lung cancer. Journal of Medical Imaging and Radiation Oncology
Acknowledges the ARDC-supported Australian Cancer Data Network

Assessing the Efficacy of Synthetic Optic Disc Images for Detecting Glaucomatous Optic Neuropathy Using Deep Learning. Translational Vision Science & Technology
Used the ARDC Nectar Research Cloud

Daily PM2.5 and seasonal-trend decomposition to identify extreme air pollution events from 2001 to 2020 for continental Australia using a random forest model. Atmosphere
Used the ARDC-supported AirHealth Data Bridges project, and an ARDC Bushfire Data Challenges project.

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Research Data Commons

Author

Dr Adrian Burton, ARDC