Clinical Research Informatics (CRI)

Introduction

Clinical research informatics (CRI) creates links between healthcare, research and patients in order to optimise clinical processes, develop new therapies and use research results in compliance with data protection regulations. It integrates data management, analysis and IT tools.

Typical areas of work

• Data integration: Development of technological platforms to link research and healthcare.
• Data security: Data protection-compliant and secure use of health data (e.g. GDPR-compliant).
• Collaboration: Cross-consortium projects to promote innovation.
• Algorithm-based analyses: Use of AI and machine learning to optimise clinical practice.

CRI – Projects

Project

• SMITH
  The SMITH consortium is a network of university and university medical partners working to link research and healthcare in a targeted and data protection-compliant manner. The data integration centres set up at the clinical sites are the central technological interfaces for this purpose. For more information, see https://www.smith.care/
• INTERPOLAR
  The INTERPOLAR use case is dedicated to the algorithm-based identification of patients with an increased risk of clinically relevant and influenceable drug-related problems. Clinical pharmacists can thus focus on the patients who can benefit most from their assessment. For more information, see https://www.smith.care/de/interpolar_mii/interpolar/
• GeMTeX 
  The GeMTeX method platform is a cross-consortium project of the Medical Informatics Initiative (MII) with the aim of making medical texts from patient care, such as doctor's letters and discharge letters, accessible for secondary use in research projects. For more information, see https://www.smith.care/de/gemtex_mii/ueber-gemtex/
• NFDI4Health 
  NFDI4Health – the National Research Data Infrastructure for Personal Health Data – focuses on data generated in clinical, epidemiological and public health studies. The collection and analysis of this data on health and disease status and important influencing factors are an essential component in the development of new therapies, comprehensive care approaches and preventive measures in a modern healthcare system. For more information, see https://www.nfdi4health.de/.

Completed projects

• POLAR
  The use case ‘POLypharmacy, drug interactions and risks’, which encompasses all four consortia of the Medical Informatics Initiative, aimed to contribute to the detection of health risks in patients with polymedication using methods and processes developed by the Medical Informatics Initiative (MII). For more information, see https://www.medizininformatik-initiative.de/de/POLAR