An Australian-first data partnership has set a new benchmark for medical research, with the establishment of a next-generation digital platform that aims to fast-track breakthroughs in immune health research.
The landmark partnership between the Snow Centre for Immune Health - co led by WEHI and the Royal Melbourne Hospital (RMH) in partnership with Snow Medical Research Foundation - and BioGrid Australia is an Australian-first collaboration bringing together clinicians and researchers, supported by the Aridhia Digital Research Environment (DRE), a secure, cloud-based platform.
The Aridhia DRE is changing the way clinical and research professionals work together – enabling Australian researchers to work seamlessly with national and international partners in real time.
This innovative, purpose-built research environment provides secure storage to easily access, share and analyse research and clinical data obtained from study patients in an integrated manner.
Breaking down data silos
Co-led by WEHI and the RMH, in partnership with Snow Medical Research Foundation, the Snow Centre is spearheading a bold new approach to immune system research, tackling diseases that affect millions of Australians.
This partnership will enable researchers to securely access and collaborate on patient samples, such as blood and saliva, and associated research data – all from a single, secure hub.
Dr Paul Lyons, Snow Centre Chief Consulting Scientist, said: "This partnership gives us the tools to tackle some of the most complex and devastating immune diseases with a truly integrated approach.
"Easy access to data via this secure digital platform will enable our researchers to deliver transformational impacts for patients. This isn't just technology – it's a tool for change."
Created by researchers for researchers, BioGrid has spent the past two decades serving the needs of Australia's medical research community.
BioGrid will provide the platform to securely house the data and support the Snow Centre with the ethics and governance framework needed to facilitate responsible, compliant data sharing, enabling faster implementation of programs for researchers and protecting patient privacy.
Maureen Turner, CEO of BioGrid Australia, said: "BioGrid will remove long-standing barriers to data access and collaboration, through easy access to the Aridhia DRE platform. We're enabling researchers to work faster and smarter."
Next-generation research environment
Aridhia's industry leading research environment offers support for a wide variety of multi-modal data types including clinical data from Electronic Medical Records (EMR), medical imaging, and genomic data using common data models like OMOP and SDTM.
It empowers data owners to create secure access to their data collections by research teams through the ISO 27001, ISO 27701 and HITRUST certified platform.
It has a rich metadata catalog, configurable data governance, private, airlocked collaboration workspaces and built-in analytics tools to easily explore data and build and share a cohort without writing code.
Researchers and clinicians can now securely access and collaborate with national and international partners. As the scope of the Snow Centre's work with collaborators grows, this will be particularly beneficial to this globally focused work.
Fast tracking results
The Snow Centre takes a whole of person approach to immune health research. The new platform will support the Snow Centre's goals to deliver earlier diagnoses, better treatments and improved outcomes for patients living with debilitating immune conditions.
"This is about accelerating answers for patients," Dr Lyons said. "This landmark partnership accelerates our ability to move from research to real-world impact."
Key Facts:
An Australian first partnership between the Snow Centre for Immune Health and BioGrid Australia to fast-track immune health research via a secure, cloud-based platform.
The Aridhia DRE supports global collaborations by allowing Australian researchers to effortlessly work with global partners in real time.
The Aridhia DRE platform is ISO 27001 Information Security Management certified, ISO 27701 GDPR Privacy Information Management certified, and HITRUST certified, providing the highest levels of data security and privacy protection.
About us:
The Snow Centre for Immune Health is tackling the major global health challenge of immune health.
The centre has a bold and ambitious global mission to improve the lives of people with immune diseases, using a unique approach to immune health.
Co-led by WEHI and the Royal Melbourne Hospital (RMH), in partnership with the Snow Medical Research Foundation, the Snow Centre brings together leading Australian and international researchers with a shared mission to transform how we research and treat the immune system.
The centre is funded by an initial commitment of up to $100 million over 10 years – one of the largest and longest-running philanthropic partnerships in Australian history.
