Latest Updates from the People Research Data Commons

Welcome to the first quarterly update from the ARDC’s People Research Data Commons (People RDC), national-scale data infrastructure for health research and research translation. Our digital assets and services help researchers improve health care guidelines, therapeutics, and diagnostics for better patient outcomes.

In July 2023, we launched Health Data Australia, a national catalogue for researchers to find and request access to data for health research. This service has an initial focus on clinical trials data. It was co-developed by a network of 72 health research organisations across 9 nodes in Australia through our Health Studies Australian National Data Asset (HeSANDA) program.

Building on the success of our work with the clinical trials community in HeSANDA, we’re looking to extend the coverage of our infrastructure to cohort studies, clinical registries and beyond. For this we held extensive consultations in the second half of 2023 with the cohort studies and clinical quality registries communities. We also plan to support access to key national data assets held by the government and other NCRIS organisations.

The People RDC is delivering national infrastructure to address 4 key data challenges in Australian health and medical research – data strategy and discovery, secure data access, data integration, and advanced analytics. In addition to HeSANDA, 2 new programs are now underway to build national capabilities for researcher access to government health data and for advanced analytics in healthcare. 

We are currently engaging stakeholders in discussions surrounding trusted research environments, and are enthusiastic about their potential to support health research efforts and foster trust within the community.

And on the near horizon, infrastructure development programs kick off shortly around secure data access and national data integration.

As the People RDC continues to grow, we’re pleased to have received a further $19.29-million investment from the Australian Government’s 2023 National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS) Funding Round. This strengthens our work for better health research and, in turn, better health outcomes for the Australian people.

Please see below for more opportunities, updates, events and resources for health and medical research.

To receive this update directly to your inbox, please register your interest via the People RDC website.

Kind regards,

Dr Adrian Burton
Director, People Research Data Commons
ARDC

Program Updates

Health Studies Australian National Data Asset (HeSANDA)

HeSANDA is a national program under the People RDC that makes health and medical research data easier to find. In July 2023, we launched Health Data Australia, a national catalogue for finding and sharing health data that we developed with a network of 9 infrastructure nodes representing 72 research organisations.

Learn more about HeSANDA and visit Health Data Australia.

Following Phase 1, which focused on clinical trials, we’re seeking to extend our approach to cohort studies, clinical registries and beyond. In 2023, we consulted with stakeholders from these communities in a series of workshops on how best to do that.

Read reports on our consultation with the cohort studies and clinical quality registries communities.

Government Health Data Assets

We’ve started a new program under the People RDC to improve access to government health data for researchers. We’ll work with key agencies to make public sector health data more findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable (FAIR), streamline governance, and strengthen data access systems.

Learn more about our Government Health Data Assets program.

Advanced Analytics in Healthcare

We’ve started a new program under the People RDC to create cutting-edge, national-scale analytics infrastructure for health research and research translation. Working with the community, we’ll co-design a framework for and implement compute and storage, data assets, tools and services, and skills to support health data analytics by contemporary methods like AI.

Learn more about our Advanced Analytics in Healthcare program.

Events

HTQ Autumn Webinar Series

Join ARDC partner Health Translation Queensland (HTQ) for webinars that delve into important topics in health research data management, including data management and analytics for healthcare (26 March)
Indigenous data sovereignty in health research (16 April).

A-CTEC 2024 Conference: Better Together

10 to 11 May, Pullman Melbourne on the Park

Join the conference to update and expand your knowledge and network with fellow health and clinical trials professionals at the Australian Clinical Trials Education Centre (A-CTEC) national conference. The ARDC is proud to be sponsoring the conference.

Register now

ARDC Digital Research Skills Summit 2024

21 to 23 May, online and in Melbourne/Naarm

Find out how digital infrastructure providers and research communities are upskilling researchers in emerging research technologies.

Register now

Resources

Resources for Health and medical Researchers

Explore our curated datasets, free tools and upskilling materials for data-intensive research in health and medical sciences.

Access now

Resources for Clinical Trials Data Sharing and Collaboration

In Phase 1 of our Health Studies Australian National Data Asset (HeSANDA) program, we’ve delivered a range of resources supporting clinical trials data sharing and collaboration, including guides, forms, metadata standards, and upskilling materials.

Access now

The ARDC is enabled by the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS) to support national digital research infrastructure for Australian researchers.