First batch of clinical data arrives in new data platform

A large collaborative effort striving to take the next leap toward protecting Australians at risk of coronary artery disease recently made significant progress. The first batch of clinical data for the Australian Cardiovascular disease Data Commons (ACDC) has arrived and is now loaded onto the project’s secure staging environment.

The dataset is from the Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute’s Australian Diabetes, Obesity and Lifestyle Study (AusDiab), a national population-based survey of 11,247 adults which is examining the natural history of diabetes, pre-diabetes, heart disease and kidney disease among Australian participants. AusDiab began in 1999 and is still following up with participants - making it Australia's largest longitudinal study in the field.

The ACDC project has drawn together an amazing array of clinicians, researchers, digital infrastructure experts, and consumer representatives. Work on the platform is ongoing, with data modelling, testing and validation continuing with partners from Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute, ACvA, The University of Sydney, 23Strands, CSL Limited and 18 cohort custodians. In the years to come, the platform will improve the capacity for Australian medical researchers to undertake discovery and translational research, specifically cardiovascular risk assessment and treatment.

Australian BioCommons is leading the implementation of the digital infrastructure underpinning ACDC, using the Gen3 data commons platform. Ultimately, the ACDC will become a critical data infrastructure housing pooled data from approximately 400,000 individuals representing up to 18 clinical cohorts from across Australia. 

Learn more about how we are building the ACDC.