NIH and FDA leaders tap diverse sources for big data initiatives

The National Institutes of Health and Food and Drug Administration are developing ways to bring data from multiple populations and sources—including electronic health records—into their work to improve care and outcomes.

Leaders from both agencies spoke Wednesday before the House Energy and Finance Committee in a hearing on implementing the 21st Century Cures Act, updating the committee on progress they’ve made toward improving patient care through data and other requirements of the law.

Information from EHRs is essential for precision medicine, according to Stephanie Devaney, deputy director of NIH’s All of Us precision medicine research initiative. The NIH has partnerships with four of the largest EHR vendors to smooth out data-sharing to get access to that information.

Through...