Brown D1, Liu I1
1Monash University, , Australia
Biography:
Dianne is a research data governance consultant working with clinical quality registries (CQRs) and the broader research community at Monash University. Dianne began her career working globally for a strategy consulting firm and joined Monash in 2015, developing a Health Research Data Governance Framework that took a novel value chain approach to data governance. She has established a new approach to DMPs, data dictionaries and provision of support to researchers in undertaking their responsibilities for research data. She also coordinates a COPs in data linkage and supports service providers in the governance of the research data on their systems.
Iris Liu is a Research Software and Systems Engineer at Monash University. She works across research, technology, and operations to help researchers and professional staff make better use of the systems that support research. Her work focuses on research platforms, systems integration, and data management, with an emphasis on creating solutions that are practical, reliable, and easy to use.
Much of Iris's work centres on REDCap and its role within the broader research ecosystem. She has been involved in improving REDCap governance, streamlining project onboarding, integrating research systems, and developing processes that reduce administrative burden for both researchers and support teams. Having worked at hospitals, research institutes and universities, she enjoys bridging the gap between technical implementation and research needs and working with people from different backgrounds to improve the way research services are delivered.
Abstract:
REDCap is not new nor shiny; like Facebook, Salesforce and Qualtrics it is in its twenties. Unlike those behemoths, however, its license (from Vanderbilt University) is free for non-commercial research use, it’s controlled by each research institution and it’s not very pretty. 8,000+ institutions in 160+ countries have implemented it to securely collect, store and manage research data. Significant variance of implementation and governance exists across these institutions as Vanderbilt has given institutions a broad range of controls to set according to their risk-appetite, size and context. Equally, resourcing varies as within the eco-system of research, REDCap is often the “Little Red Caboose”, the powerful backstop for hundreds of projects, that is rarely recognised and thus at risk of being under-resourced.
Task:
How do you resource, technically implement (with the right level of governance) and integrate REDCap into an institution’s research service offering given:
– Resources require the right metrics to measure REDCap’s contribution;
– Technical implementation with adequate governance requires understanding of how the service is being used, the underlying infrastructure of the institution and thus the risk; and
– Integration, so it’s easier for researchers to use, requires adaptation to existing systems.
Action:
Monash University undertook a review and rebuild of its request and governance system for REDCap.
Result:
New request system that is integrated with other sensitive platforms and the research administration system (limiting re-entry), higher visibility of contribution to funded projects, better governance of how researchers are using the system and lower support/ administration burden.
