Advanced Methods: Multi-database Networks: practical approaches to support the ‎journey from RWD to RWE

Description
This course aims to provide practical guidance to researchers that wish to navigate through the rapidly ‎expanding desire for multi-database network studies. There will be four presentations followed by ‎group discussion for audience to ask questions of the faculty.‎

Why and when do we need consortia and federated networks for pharmacoepidemiologic studies; ‎Daniel Morales, Data Analytics Task Force, European Medicines Agency

Consortia and federated networks are great in principle but can be challenging to set up and run. So ‎are they really needed for pharmacoepidemiologic studies and ultimately decision making, and if so ‎when?‎

This presentation will help you:‎
‎--Understand the advantages of setting up a federated network
‎--Evaluate the challenges faced in generated RWD through federated networks
‎--Explore what makes a successful collaboration when part of a federated network
‎--Appraise examples of federated networks used for pharmacoepidemiologic studies and ‎decision making

How to run a network study: Practical approaches and pitfalls when running studies in data ‎networks; Christian Reich, Erasmus University Medical Center and Observational Health Data Sciences ‎and Informatics (OHDSI)‎

Data networks are on the rise. Why? Because to real-world evidence is generated from disparate data ‎scattered over different countries and populations, with different healthcare settings. How do you run ‎studies from a network?‎

This session will cover some practical approaches that will help you:‎
‎--Navigate common data models
‎--Recruit institutions with data
‎--Establish feasibility
‎--Understand the legal and contractual requirements
‎--Aggregate the results.‎

Strategies to working with the Nordic database ecosystem for network studies; Morten Andersen, ‎Pharmacovigilance Research Center, University of Copenhagen

The population-based health registries of Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Iceland and Norway provide a ‎network of data sources that have a proven history of use in high-quality cross-national ‎pharmacoepidemiologic research.‎

This presentation will help you:‎
‎--Understand the characteristics of healthcare systems and databases in the Nordic countries
‎--How to plan and conduct multi-country pharmacoepidemiological studies in this area ‎including how to get permissions and access to data and how to choose collaborators with ‎experience and clinical knowledge relevant for the specific study. ‎
‎--Decide on the choice of data architecture (pooled individual-based or federated analysis) and ‎common data model ‎

Final remarks: Transparency and independence; speaker tbc

Within the research community, the number of international collaborations has accelerated rapidly, ‎along with the volume of different research evidence generation sources, the desire for information ‎sharing and concerns about irreproducible research. In parallel the desire for greater transparency in ‎use of data sources, evidence generation processes, reproducibility and reporting has also grown. ‎

This closing presentation will highlight ongoing initiatives that are working towards addressing barriers ‎to transparency and establishing recommendations for reproducibility, including ‎
‎--activities of the ENCePP Working Group 2
‎--the recently published HARmonized Protocol Template to Enhance Reproducibility

Panel Discussion (20-30 mins)‎