Tufts CTSI Informatics is Helping Tufts Medicine Scale Research Efforts

Researchers often ask, “Why did my cohort change?” Clinical data evolves over time, and in research settings it can be difficult to explain those changes or to reliably reproduce a prior data extraction. Historically, access to high fidelity physiologic and medical device data was limited, and collaboration between Tufts CTSI Informatics and Tufts Medicine Information Systems was inconsistent. These challenges slowed study startup and made it more difficult to scale research efforts.

 

The team—including Brian Gross, MSc, BSEE, RRT, SMIEEE, Kyrylo Simonov, PhD, Jack Bold, and Ashlin Harris, PhD—has strengthened the Tufts Research Data Warehouse (TRDW) into a dependable, user-friendly research platform. Researchers can now identify which data were used for each study and understand when and why those data changed. This transparency enables consistent reproducibility of results and eliminates unexpected or disruptive data updates.

 

Tufts CTSI has expanded and enhanced the clinical data available for research by incorporating additional high-quality data sources and establishing clear traceability from clinical systems into the TRDW. Improvements in system reliability, security, and patient privacy protections further ensure that research is conducted responsibly and in full compliance with regulatory requirements. In parallel, Informatics shifted from ad hoc solutions to delivering stable, reusable, innovation services that better support research operations. High-fidelity physiologic, medical device, and alarm data are now accessible in a sustainable and scalable way.

 

These advancements enable earlier and more efficient identification of potential study participants. Working closely with Tufts Medicine, Informatics implemented automated eligibility tools integrated with Epic. These tools reduce manual effort, improve recruitment reliability, and support greater scalability. This collaboration embedded these capabilities into routine operations while ensuring strong alignment with clinical care.