The Personal Health Informatics Research Group (PHIT) is working on a new project to make de-identified (anonymous) health app data from three large research studies available to other researchers and the public.
Funded and supported by the Australian National Data Service (ANDS), the group led by Associate Professor Niranjan Bidargaddi will create an interface to upload research data to a publicly accessible point that allows other researchers to use it in their studies.
“Our collaboration with ANDS will allow for our research data to be more visible, easier to locate and have greater impact,” says Associate Professor Niranjan Bidargaddi.
The project will include data from three large studies, which have been conducted by the PHIT group in the past or are currently underway.
Two collections include data collected from a large trial investigating whether using mobile apps improves the mental health of young people.
“Our collaboration with Reachout.com, Australia’s leading online mental health service for young people, was a unique opportunity to collect information on the mental health of young people and data from well-being apps they use. We think that this data could be of tremendous value for other researchers,” says Dr Peter Musiat, Research Fellow on the project.
The third study is currently underway in collaboration with the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI) Mind and Brain Theme, and aims to collect genetic and health data, as well as data collected through mobile apps from individuals suffering from depression.
“This new type of data will make it possible to measure behaviours and emotions of individuals suffering from major depressive disorders from their real environment, monitor symptoms over time, and contribute towards developing personalised treatments,” says SAHMRI Mind and Brain Theme Leader, and clinical advisor to the project, Professor Julio Licinio.
Megan Winsall, Research Officer on this project, explains how the process of making data openly available works:
“Before we can share our data with others, we need to link data from different sources (e.g. online questionnaires, mobile apps), carefully de-identify data, as well augment and document it.,” she says.
“This will allow other researchers to know exactly what has been measured, when, how and in what context.”
For more information about this project contact Niranjan Bidargaddi at niranjan.bidargaddi@flinders.edu.au