ReCoDID project promotes collaboration in genetic research and cross-information sharing

Novel statistical methods for confronting measurement error in the context of individual participant data meta-analysis

February 2021 EUCAN ELSI Collaboratory Meeting

Sharing participant-level data and human-derived samples is a pressing global health priority. To leverage existing expertise and funding, the seven Consortia funded by the joint EU Horizon 2020-CIHR Institute of Genetics Research and Innovation Programme. Following the initial in-person kick-off meeting of the EUCAN ELSI Collaboratory, representatives of ELSI Work Packages from the different Consortia continue to engage in quarterly meetings to discuss shared challenges and strategize a path forward. ReCoDID Work Package 1 lead, Dr. Lauren Maxwell co-facilitated the February EUCAN ELSI Collaboratory meeting with Emmanuelle Rial-Sebbag, which was attended by 24 participants from the 7 Consortia.  Prior to the virtual meeting, ELSI Work Package teams voted on their preference for a cross-Consortia deliverable or initiative to build on these collaborative cross-discipline, cross-region discussions.  The group agreed on two potential group investments: 

1. An extension of CINECA’s map of laws and policies that relate to sharing participant-level data, with a focus on high dimensional data; 

2. Collaborative development of examples and supplementary guidance for the Commission nationale de l’informatique et des libertés tool to create a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA). This shared initiative would be a cross-project contribution to addressing barriers to sharing participant-level data.

Addition of COVID-19-related Work Package 

The COVID-19 pandemic has foregrounded the need to fast track data and sample sharing, with a clear focus on longitudinal data and on the need to include sequencing data alongside clinical-epidemiological data. The ReCoDID platform will work with the EC to maximize the utility of participant-level data collected by EC-funded cohort studies by harmonizing participant-level data from related cohort studies, with a focus on datasets that include both clinical-epidemiological and high dimensional data.  This investment will maximize the utility of linking data types through connecting the ReCoDID data sharing platform to EMBL/EBI’s COVID-19 data sharing portal

As part of the EC response to COVID-19, ReCoDID will:

1. Apply best practice for retrospective harmonization of cohort data in the absence of existing international standards; 

2. Deploy a cloud-based, federated data sharing architecture that applies FAIR principles to multiple data types;

3. Engage closely with data generators to inform both harmonization and data sharing;

4. Extend the harmonization to seroprevalence data in order to generate a dynamic map of SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence across Europe. 

Figure XX. Connection between OMICs and clinical-epidemiological data



Figure XX.  ReCoDID role in EC COVID-19 data sharing