Discover-NOW, a unique partnership led by Imperial College Health Partners (ICHP), will be the Health Data Research Hub for Real World Evidence in the UK. One of seven pioneering data hubs to be set up this October, it will enable cutting-edge research for health discoveries and will aim to give patients across the UK faster access to pioneering new treatments.
Discover-NOW will bring together NHS organisations, globally recognised academic, commercial and charity partners as well as patients and the public to revolutionise the way health information is used to treat and prevent disease in the future. We will scale our already leading data eco-system working in partnership with technology and academic partners such as Google, IBM, NorthWest EHealth, Imperial College London and Medopad.
Historically health research has predominantly used data to look retrospectively. Through safe and secure curation of patient information, Discover-NOW will provide leading clinicians, researchers and scientists with access to de-identified linked patient information at scale in near to real time. This will enable them to look prospectively to identify new patterns in disease thus helping us to better manage many conditions and, in some cases, prevent them happening in the first place.
Starting with Type 2 Diabetes, Discover-NOW will also use real world data to improve understanding of many long-term conditions. This initial work is in partnership with AstraZeneca, one of the hub’s largest contributors, and will focus on finding new solutions to help people struggling to manage their Type 2 Diabetes.
Discover-NOW has the potential to benefit millions of people, however, we will only realise these benefits if we have the support and trust of our communities and wider population. We are therefore proud to be supporting one of the most progressive public engagement programmes to build trust and confidence in how health information is used. It is only through working in partnership with our communities that we will understand their expectations with regards to how their information should be used, enabling us to design a Hub that operates in line with these thus building trust.