Towards a virtual anonymisation grid for unified access to remote clinical data

Area of Science:

• Bioinformatics
• Health Informatics
• Computer Science

Background:

• Grid technologies facilitate data access across distributed resources.
• Clinical research faces significant challenges in adopting Grid technologies due to data governance, ethics, and security concerns.
• Post-genomic research demands robust solutions for data integration and access.

Purpose of the Study:

• To outline a novel system design for secure anonymous data access and linkage.
• To meet the needs of diverse stakeholders in clinical research, including researchers, data providers, and ethical oversight bodies.
• To address critical information governance and security criteria in the clinical domain.

Main Methods:

• Re-factoring existing solutions from the Medical Research Council funded Virtual Organisations for Trials and Epidemiological Studies (VOTES) project.
• Developing a novel system architecture for secure and anonymous data handling.
• Implementing solutions that comply with information governance and ethical standards.

Main Results:

• A novel system design for secure anonymous data access and linkage has been developed.
• The system is tailored to meet the specific requirements of end-user researchers, data providers, and ethical oversight bodies.
• Existing solutions are being adapted to enhance data security and governance in clinical research.

Conclusions:

• The proposed system offers a viable solution for secure and anonymous data access and linkage in clinical research.
• Addressing information governance and security is crucial for the adoption of Grid technologies in post-genomic research.
• The re-factored VOTES project solutions provide a foundation for meeting the evolving needs of clinical data management.