Harmonist: A Scalable Toolkit for Standardizing and Coordinating Data Sharing Across International Research Networks

 描述(由申请人提供)：评估艾滋病的国际流行病学数据库(IeDEA)网络汇集了来自七个大型地区性研究队列--代表世界各地500多家艾滋病毒诊所--的观察数据，以解决有关艾滋病毒/艾滋病流行的研究问题。由于数据管理能力、数据库设计和数据管理方面的异质性，协调与这么多站点的多队列协作数据所需的大量时间和精力可能会导致研究延迟。Harmonist项目的目标是开发“Harmonist工具包”，这是一个软件和标准包，将使艾滋病毒观测研究网络能够协调大型研究项目，并更有效和更高效地应用数据管理最佳做法。该工具包将作为广泛使用的研究电子数据采集(RedCap)系统的一系列灵活插件建立，该系统已在92个国家的1600多个机构使用(截至2015年年中)。Harmonist的功能将包括用于安全数据交换、数据质量检查以及科学项目和投资组合管理的基于网络的工具。和声项目的目的是：(1)设计和实施和声工具包；(2)在国际数据分析署网络内建立一个和声用户联盟，同时就软件的使用、相关数据标准和最佳数据管理最佳做法向国际数据分析局和其他人提供指导；(3)衡量和声工具包对国际数据分析网络的数据管理和工作流程的影响。这项提议是范德比尔特大学的研究信息学专家和IeDEA联盟的所有七个区域网络之间的合作。这一伙伴关系确保Harmonist的所有组件以实际的方式满足现实世界的用户需求，并为该工具包提供专门的用户基础。我们认为，这些研究工具可以减少关键数据管理和行政任务所需的时间和精力，这些任务是研究全球流行病的观察艾滋病毒队列的作用的基础。建议的模块化基础设施可以适应不同的研究环境，并随着对艾滋病毒的了解的发展而扩大到包括新的数据类型和来源。由此产生的可共享的软件和指导资源将为IeDEA以及更广泛的艾滋病毒研究界提供切实的直接和长期好处。

 DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The International epidemiologic Databases to Evaluate AIDS (IeDEA) network assembles observational data from seven large regional research cohorts-representing over 500 HIV clinics around the world-to address research questions about the HIV/AIDS epidemic. The substantial time and effort required to harmonize data for multi-cohort collaborations with so many sites can lead to research delays, particularly given heterogeneity in data management capacity, database design, and data management. The goal of the Harmonist project is to develop the "Harmonist toolkit," a software and standards package that will enable HIV observational research networks to coordinate large-scale research projects and apply data management best practices more effectively and efficiently. The toolkit will be built as a series of flexible plugins to the widely used Research Electronic Data Capture (REDCap) system, which is in use at over 1,600 institutions in 92 countries (as of mid-2015.) Harmonist features will include web-based tools for secure data exchange, data quality checking, and scientific project and portfolio management. The Harmonist project aims to (1) design and implement the Harmonist toolkit; (2) establish a consortium of Harmonist users within the IeDEA network, while providing mentorship to IeDEA and others on the use of the software, related data standards, and best data management best practices; and (3) measure the impact of the Harmonist toolkit on the data management and workflow processes of the IeDEA network. This proposal is a collaboration between research informatics experts at Vanderbilt University and all seven regional networks of the IeDEA consortium. This partnership ensures all components of Harmonist address real-world user needs in a practical manner and provides the toolkit with a dedicated user base. We believe that these research tools can reduce the time and effort needed for critical data management and administrative tasks that underlie the role of observational HIV cohorts studying the global epidemic. A modular infrastructure, as proposed, can adapt to diverse research settings and expand to include new data types and sources as the understanding of HIV evolves. The resulting shareable software and mentoring resources will provide tangible immediate and long-term benefits to IeDEA as well as the broader HIV research community.