The Pandemic Response Commons

Area of Science:

• Epidemiology
• Data Science
• Public Health Informatics

Background:

• Data commons are essential platforms for managing and sharing research data within a community.
• The Pandemic Response Commons (PRC) was specifically designed to support researchers during epidemics and pandemics.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and implement a robust data commons for pandemic research.
• To establish a scalable and secure platform for managing diverse epidemiological datasets.

Main Methods:

• The PRC utilizes the open-source Gen3 data platform.
• A consortium of regional organizations was formed to develop and operate the PRC.
• Data governance followed NIST SP 800-53 standards, with a consensus data model for harmonization.

Main Results:

• A general PRC and a regional instance, the Chicagoland COVID-19 Commons, were established.
• Curated datasets include COVID-19 case statistics, clinical data, and viral variant information.
• The platform was configured for moderate security controls.

Conclusions:

• A PRC should be operational before an epidemic to ensure rapid response.
• Regional PRC instances can integrate into larger data ecosystems or data meshes for enhanced pandemic preparedness.
• The PRC provides a valuable infrastructure for collaborative pandemic research and data sharing.