Data Discovery  

May 2022

Welcome to the growing community of Gateway users accessing the UK’s only unified platform to discover and access health data sets for research and innovation.

New to the Innovation Gateway? Watch our 3min explainer video.

What do you think about the Gateway? Share your thoughts by taking part in our short survey - your feedback will help us improve the Gateway experience for all.

A Forest Through the TREs - webinar recording now available

April’s extended Data Access and Discovery event was hosted in partnership with the NHS Transformation Directorate (NHS TD) and demonstrated recent developments around the use of TREs as one of the key components for the trustworthy access to health data for research - access the recording and other resources below. 

Nicola Brassington (NHS TD) opened the webinar with an introduction to NHSTD’s forthcoming policy on the use of Trusted Research Environments within the NHS. This was followed by a discussion and Q&A session with panel members:

• Ben Goldacre (Director of the Bennett Institute)
• Debbie Keatley (HDR UK Public Advisory Board member)
• Bradley Quinn (Health Innovation Manchester)
• Susheel Varma (CTO, HDR UK)

Upcoming events

Webinars and workshops to look out for in May and June.

Bimonthly Science Webinar
Join us on Tuesday 10 May to learn what progress is being made in harnessing data science to improve mental health.

Register here. 

Data Access and Discovery
Join us on Friday 10 June when Heidi Seibold will be speaking about reproducibility in health data science.

Register here. 

International Workshop on Science Gateways 2022 - Gateway abstract accepted 

We'll be attending IWSG in June to present a lightning talk based on our accepted abstract 'The Health Data Research Innovation Gateway: A platform to discover, request access to health data and demonstrate trustworthiness in research across the United Kingdom and beyond'.

Find out more - and let us know if you are planning to attend the workshop - on the Gateway community forum.

Gateway Collection of the Month

Gateway Collections are curated around a particular theme or topic and bring together related resources such as datasets, papers, tools and data uses listed on the Gateway. 

In recognition of Mental Health Awareness Week (May 9-15) our collection of the month is: Mental Health. This collection includes several datasets from NHS Digital and DATAMIND - our Hub for Mental Health Informatics Research Development.

Making mental health data easier to find and use enables scientists, clinicians and other healthcare professionals to conduct research faster and more effectivity that will improve the lives of people living with poor mental health in the UK. 

New datasets and development updates

• One of the latest datasets added to the Gateway is the Fenland Study from the University of Cambridge, which looks at the interaction between environmental and genetic factors in determining obesity, type 2 diabetes, and related metabolic disorders. Take a look at all the newest datasets here.
• In April, our development work focussed enhancing the Gateway Data Use Register. We also made improvements to the data access application process and made form-filling in general across the Gateway more streamlined for users. Please read our Gateway release notes for further details.

National Neonatal Research Database (NNRD) - follow up survey

We have collaborated with the National Neonatal Research Database (NNRD) to improve the visibility of their data assets on the Innovation Gateway. We would like to get an understanding of the impact of this on your awareness and understanding of the NNRD.

Thanks for reading!

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