RexMart: Empowering Analysts to Configure Research Data Marts to Improve End-User Data Exploration

<p>We set out to build a powerful configuration layer for semi-technical analysts and end users on top of relational database technology. This configuration layer empowers data analysts to define data feeds and transformations, data mart schemas, as well as query builder display properties. A data exploration tool that can readily be configured by both analysts and end-users is more likely to meet users’ needs at a lower cost than fully custom software while providing greater data quality and auditability than spreadsheets.</p

A Novel Approach for Efficient Submission of Research Data to the National Database for Autism Research (NDAR)

<p>Researchers seeking to share their data with coordinating centers such as the National Database for Autism Research (NDAR), face numerous barriers to establishing new connections and maintaining existing ones. We sought to dramatically reduce the time and money required to establish and maintain the interoperability of data between research centers, by establishing a process where manual recoding of data is replaced by data sharing instructions in the form of extraction and transformation scripts. Over the course of seven typical (20-60 subjects, 400-1000 fields each) data submissions to NDAR, the need for duplication, retranscription, or restructuring of the source data was fully eliminated. Separating the extraction and transformation scripts from data files also eradicated the impact of additional data collection on the time required to repeat successful transmissions. Revision controlled management of these scripts also provided a new benefit: traceability of the transformation process itself. Now, point-in-time retrieval of extraction scripts and explanations for modifications to the data sharing interface are possible. This method has proven to be successful and efficient for interfacing research data with NDAR. It presents little-to-no impact to transmitting investigators’ data, ensures high data integrity, trivializes the complexities of repeatedly modifying a growing dataset over time, and introduces traceability to the collaborative process of integrating two collections of data with one another.</p

RexMart: An Open Source Tool for Exploring and Sharing Research Data without Compromising Data Integrity

<p>Behavioral and biomedical researchers value data integrity, data exploration, and data sharing, but traditional research databases have unacceptable trade-offs among these important data management functions. This case study examines the design, development, and evaluation of RexMart, an open-source application designed to optimize data integrity, exploration, and sharing with easily accessible querying tools including the powerful query language HTSQL.</p

An Open Source, Integrated Data Management System for Medical Registries: A Case Study using RexDB (Informatics to Support Clinical Trials)

<p>Disease- and procedure-specific registries are powerful tools for the improvement of long-term patient care. Unfortunately, registries are typically too expensive for smaller practices and organizations to develop and maintain. This case study examines an affordable and scalable alternative, RexDB®, an open-source solution that can integrate institutional (EHR) and primary research data.</p