New UK–Australia partnership aims to unlock cross-border health data discovery

Health Data Research UK and the Australian Research Data Commons have launched a federated search partnership enabling researchers to discover health datasets catalogued in the UK and Australia.

The Baseline

• Health Data Research UK and the Australian Research Data Commons have connected their national health data catalogues through a federated search partnership.
• Researchers can discover datasets catalogued in both countries without patient data being transferred between the platforms.
• The partnership aims to support international health research by making metadata from different countries easier to discover and compare.

Health Data Research UK (HDR UK) and the Australian Research Data Commons (ARDC) have launched a partnership connecting the Health Data Research Gateway and Health Data Australia. The federated search arrangement allows researchers using either platform to discover datasets catalogued in both the UK and Australia, while access to the underlying data remains subject to existing national governance processes.

The partnership is HDR UK’s first international federated search arrangement, enabling cross-country dataset discovery without requiring the underlying health data to be transferred between the two platforms. A researcher searching for asthma through the Health Data Research Gateway, for example, can view matching UK datasets and search the Health Data Australia catalogue for Australian datasets. Researchers using the Australian platform can similarly  discover relevant datasets through the UK Gateway.

No patient data are exchanged between the UK and Australia through the partnership. Instead, the integration allows researchers to search metadata describing the characteristics of datasets available in each country, helping them assess whether a dataset may be relevant to their research. Researchers who identify a relevant dataset must then apply for access through the governance processes established by the relevant data custodian.

The ability to discover metadata across both catalogues could be particularly relevant for researchers when assessing the feasibility of international studies or identifying data covering different populations and healthcare settings. According to HDR UK, the technical and operational framework developed for the integration could also be applied to other trusted metadata catalogues. Neil Postlethwaite, Technical Director at HDR UK, said:

“By making it easier for researchers in the UK and Australia to find relevant health datasets, we’re creating new opportunities for international collaboration and helping to answer research questions that benefit from diverse populations and expertise.”

Postlethwaite also described how the approach could be extended beyond the initial UK–Australia partnership:

“We’ve developed a technical and operational framework that can be replicated with other trusted metadata catalogues. We see this as an important step towards a more connected global ecosystem for secure health data discovery.”

Health Data Australia forms part of the ARDC’s People Research Data Commons, which is developing national data infrastructure for health research. The catalogue currently supports the discovery and sharing of clinical trials data, with cohort and other data sources expected to be added. The Health Data Research Gateway, developed and maintained by HDR UK, allows researchers to search for health and health-related datasets and associated resources and request access through the relevant data custodians.

Dr Adrian Burton, Deputy CEO of the ARDC and Director of the People Research Data Commons, stated: 

“Science is universal and global. This federated infrastructure supports and connects the global networks of scientists pushing at the frontiers of knowledge for humanity. HDR UK and the ARDC’s joined up infrastructure reflects the combined efforts to generate the health and medical evidence needed to improve health outcomes for society.”