UCLH has been selected by Health Data Research UK (HDRUK) as one of seven partners in a new pilot study looking at how data collected during routine clinical care can address important questions about health.
UCLH will receive seed funding and will work with the six other partners to develop a proof of concept for how a UK Real World Evidence Network could work.
Real world evidence (RWE) refers mainly to data collected outside of clinical trials. It can complement data collected in clinical trials, and enable clinicians to learn from patients who have not necessarily participated in research.
While RWE is useful, it needs significant processing to make sure it is high-quality, is unbiased, and preserves patient confidentiality.
In the pilot study, data will be processed according to a set of standards laid out in a model called the OMOP Common Data Model (CDM). This will mean the data can be shared and used between partners.
UCLH has a successful track record with the OMOP CDM and in recent years has been able to process large quantities of RWE now being used in wide variety of research projects. This data processing was supported by the NIHR UCLH Biomedical Research Centre.
The pilot study will use a combination of Electronic Health Record data that are already suitable for processing and data from patient records extracted with the help of CogStack – technology that can interpret free text information in patient records and make it suitable for analysis in research.
CogStack uses a type of AI called natural language processing to interpret patient information which would otherwise need to be interpreted manually by NHS staff. CogStack was developed by a team from the UCLH Biomedical Research Centre, the UCL Institute of Health Informatics, NIHR Maudsley BRC and King’s College London/Hospital.
Dr Andy South, Data Engineer at UCLH, said: “We look forward to working with the project co-ordinators, the other selected data partners and HDRUK to explore the use of Real World Evidence in the UK to address patient health.”
Read more about the pilot study.
