Close Menu
  • Home
  • Vaccines
  • Politics
  • Health
  • Tech
  • Sports
  • Research
  • Fitness
  • Careers
What's Hot

Health Canada approves Novartis’ KISQALI® for HR+/HER2- early breast cancer patients at high risk of recurrence

Sheriff, county lawyer seeking mental health funds at Minnesota State Capitol

Chronic absences have not disappeared. Research shows that poor children are most hurt.

Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
subjectional.com
Subscribe
  • Home
  • Vaccines
  • Politics
  • Health
  • Tech
  • Sports
  • Research
  • Fitness
  • Careers
subjectional.com
Home » How OpenSAFELY provides much-needed transparency in big data medical research
Research

How OpenSAFELY provides much-needed transparency in big data medical research

Paul E.By Paul E.September 24, 2024No Comments7 Mins Read
Share Facebook Twitter Pinterest Copy Link Telegram LinkedIn Tumblr Email
Share
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Email


Project lead Ben Goldacre was speaking at the Healthcare Excellence Through Technology (HETT) conference in London. Image credit: Robert Barrie / GlobalData.

Amid increasing calls for transparency in healthcare, a novel research platform borne from the Covid-19 pandemic could be a beacon in how to gather large amounts of data whilst maintaining patient privacy.

It’s fair to say the relationship between patient data and clinical research has historically been troubled, with non-ethical sharing of patient records and lack of transparency in research being frequent occurrences. Mandates by regulatory authorities and healthcare bodies have ushered in more accountable and transparent medical research in modern times. Still, a new platform goes one step further – to the national level.

Developed at the University of Oxford’s Bennett Institute for Applied Data Science, OpenSAFELY is designed to keep patient data confidential and secure while facilitating the use of 58 million patients’ full GP records in medical research.

“We had to build new methods for privacy and transparency in open-source tools that can be built in any data centre, in particular where the electronic health records already sit,” Ben Goldacre, director of the Bennett Institute for Applied Data Science, said at the ongoing HETT (Healthcare Excellence Through Technology) 2024 conference in London, UK.

The platform, which became a key tool in research on Covid-19 treatment during the pandemic, allows academic researchers to use patient data without actually seeing it. OpenSAFELY is unique in that patient data never leaves primary healthcare platforms, instead only being accessed by instructions – sent as code – by researchers. Goldacre likens the service to ‘digital robots’, which take the code to where the data is housed and then send back the results.

The codes, which are open source, increase transparency, quality checks, and accountability. This gives the service robust data quality, especially pertinent given the emergence of several fake analyses during the pandemic.

Access the most comprehensive Company Profiles
on the market, powered by GlobalData. Save hours of research. Gain competitive edge.

View profiles in store

Company Profile – free
sample

Your download email will arrive shortly

We are confident about the
unique
quality of our Company Profiles. However, we want you to make the most
beneficial
decision for your business, so we offer a free sample that you can download by
submitting the below form

By GlobalData

Country *
UK
USA
Afghanistan
Åland Islands
Albania
Algeria
American Samoa
Andorra
Angola
Anguilla
Antarctica
Antigua and Barbuda
Argentina
Armenia
Aruba
Australia
Austria
Azerbaijan
Bahamas
Bahrain
Bangladesh
Barbados
Belarus
Belgium
Belize
Benin
Bermuda
Bhutan
Bolivia
Bonaire, Sint
Eustatius
and
Saba
Bosnia and Herzegovina

Botswana
Bouvet Island
Brazil
British Indian Ocean
Territory
Brunei Darussalam
Bulgaria
Burkina Faso
Burundi
Cambodia
Cameroon
Canada
Cape Verde
Cayman Islands
Central African Republic

Chad
Chile
China
Christmas Island
Cocos Islands
Colombia
Comoros
Congo
Democratic Republic
of
the Congo
Cook Islands
Costa Rica
Côte d”Ivoire
Croatia
Cuba
Curaçao
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Denmark
Djibouti
Dominica
Dominican Republic
Ecuador
Egypt
El Salvador
Equatorial Guinea
Eritrea
Estonia
Ethiopia
Falkland Islands
Faroe Islands
Fiji
Finland
France
French Guiana
French Polynesia
French Southern
Territories

Gabon
Gambia
Georgia
Germany
Ghana
Gibraltar
Greece
Greenland
Grenada
Guadeloupe
Guam
Guatemala
Guernsey
Guinea
Guinea-Bissau
Guyana
Haiti
Heard Island and
McDonald
Islands

Holy See
Honduras
Hong Kong
Hungary
Iceland
India
Indonesia
Iran
Iraq
Ireland
Isle of Man
Israel
Italy
Jamaica
Japan
Jersey
Jordan
Kazakhstan
Kenya
Kiribati
North Korea
South Korea
Kuwait
Kyrgyzstan
Lao
Latvia
Lebanon
Lesotho
Liberia
Libyan Arab Jamahiriya

Liechtenstein
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Macao

Macedonia,
The
Former
Yugoslav Republic of
Madagascar
Malawi
Malaysia
Maldives
Mali
Malta
Marshall Islands
Martinique
Mauritania
Mauritius
Mayotte
Mexico
Micronesia
Moldova
Monaco
Mongolia
Montenegro
Montserrat
Morocco
Mozambique
Myanmar
Namibia
Nauru
Nepal
Netherlands
New Caledonia
New Zealand
Nicaragua
Niger
Nigeria
Niue
Norfolk Island
Northern Mariana Islands

Norway
Oman
Pakistan
Palau
Palestinian Territory
Panama
Papua New Guinea
Paraguay
Peru
Philippines
Pitcairn
Poland
Portugal
Puerto Rico
Qatar
Réunion
Romania
Russian Federation
Rwanda
Saint
Helena,
Ascension and Tristan da Cunha
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Saint Lucia
Saint Pierre and Miquelon

Saint Vincent and
The
Grenadines

Samoa
San Marino
Sao Tome and Principe
Saudi Arabia
Senegal
Serbia
Seychelles
Sierra Leone
Singapore
Slovakia
Slovenia
Solomon Islands
Somalia
South Africa
South
Georgia
and The South
Sandwich Islands
Spain
Sri Lanka
Sudan
Suriname
Svalbard and Jan Mayen

Swaziland
Sweden
Switzerland
Syrian Arab Republic
Taiwan
Tajikistan
Tanzania
Thailand
Timor-Leste
Togo
Tokelau
Tonga
Trinidad and Tobago
Tunisia
Turkey
Turkmenistan
Turks and Caicos Islands

Tuvalu
Uganda
Ukraine
United Arab Emirates
US Minor Outlying Islands

Uruguay
Uzbekistan
Vanuatu
Venezuela
Vietnam
British Virgin Islands

US Virgin Islands
Wallis and Futuna
Western Sahara
Yemen
Zambia
Zimbabwe
Kosovo

Industry *

Academia & Education
Aerospace, Defense &
Security
Agriculture
Asset Management
Automotive
Banking & Payments
Chemicals
Construction
Consumer
Foodservice
Government, trade bodies
and NGOs
Health & Fitness
Hospitals & Healthcare

HR, Staffing &
Recruitment
Insurance
Investment Banking
Legal Services
Management Consulting
Marketing & Advertising

Media & Publishing
Medical Devices
Mining
Oil & Gas
Packaging
Pharmaceuticals
Power & Utilities
Private Equity
Real Estate
Retail
Sport
Technology
Telecom
Transportation &
Logistics
Travel, Tourism &
Hospitality
Venture Capital

Tick here to opt out of curated industry news, reports, and event updates from Clinical Trials Arena.

Submit and
download

Visit our Privacy Policy for more information about our services, how we may use, process and share your personal data, including information of your rights in respect of your personal data and how you can unsubscribe from future marketing communications. Our services are intended for corporate subscribers and you warrant that the email address submitted is your corporate email address.

“Sharing code is amazingly efficient for reuse. It’s amazingly good for quality checks by a community and for accountability. It proves that you’ve actually ‘done a thing’”, said Goldacre.

The enormous wealth of data contained in GP records means they are a “unique opportunity”, according to the British physician.

OpenSAFELY had to overcome several hurdles around patient safety but catalysed by the pandemic, was up and running in 42 days. Indeed, the project even satisfied one of Britain’s largest privacy advocates, MedConfidential.

The project is a rare example of successfully assimilating such vast quantities of health data and, according to Goldacre, provides insights into the key steps needed to calm fears from stakeholders in the sector around confidentiality.

The heterogeneity and complexity of England’s patient records is beneficial in scientific analysis and comes at a time when regulatory authorities – including the US Food and Drug Administration – are requesting more diversity drives in clinical trial populations. Along with this, the FDA has also reiterated the need for clinical trial transparency which it says is “essential to scientific advancement”.

Accelerated by the National Health Service (NHS), OpenSAFELY is running 171 projects from 22 organisations. Amongst the users are several universities, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), and the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), among others. A total of 86 academic papers have been published, thanks to the platform.

Now, the platform’s engineers are eyeing an expansion into applications beyond Covid-related data. The NHS is set to widen the scope of OpenSAFELY to help drive advances in other major diseases, as per a November 2023 statement.

“Non-Covid projects will hopefully happen over the next couple of months,” Goldacre added.

Sign up for our daily news round-up!

Give your business an edge with our leading industry insights.



Source link

Follow on Google News Follow on Flipboard
Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email Copy Link
Previous ArticleESPN’s FPI predicts remaining Hokies games
Next Article Renato Crispino shares how other immigrants can embrace fitness
Paul E.
  • Website

Related Posts

Chronic absences have not disappeared. Research shows that poor children are most hurt.

June 5, 2025

American Brain Tumor Society’s Metastatic Brain Tumor Collaborative Announces $50,000 Research Grant Opportunity to Fund High-Risk, High-Impact CNS Metastasis Research

October 31, 2024

Massive yard sale in Newtown benefits pancreatic cancer research

October 31, 2024
Leave A Reply Cancel Reply

Latest Posts

Health Canada approves Novartis’ KISQALI® for HR+/HER2- early breast cancer patients at high risk of recurrence

Sheriff, county lawyer seeking mental health funds at Minnesota State Capitol

Chronic absences have not disappeared. Research shows that poor children are most hurt.

Transport Secretary reveals overhaul of aging pneumatic transport systems

Latest Posts

Subscribe to News

Subscribe to our newsletter and never miss our latest news

Subscribe my Newsletter for New Posts & tips Let's stay updated!

Welcome to Subjectional!

At Subjectional, we believe that informed opinions are the foundation of a vibrant society. Our mission is to provide insightful, engaging, and balanced information across a diverse range of topics that matter to you. Whether you’re interested in the latest developments in health, navigating the complexities of politics, staying updated on sports, exploring technological advancements, or advancing your career, we’ve got you covered.

Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram Pinterest YouTube

Subscribe to Updates

Subscribe to our newsletter and never miss our latest news

Subscribe my Newsletter for New Posts & tips Let's stay updated!

Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram Pinterest
  • Home
  • About Us
  • Advertise with Us
  • Contact us
  • DMCA
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms & Conditions
© 2025 subjectional. Designed by subjectional.

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.