Harnessing the Power of Informatics for Multisite Clinical Research Studies in Sleep Medicine

by Alice Braga, Ph.D. | Sleep Research Network

Sleep medicine is a data-rich field. From brainwaves to breathing patterns, a single night’s sleep study generates a massive amount of information. Now, imagine collecting that data from thousands of participants across dozens of research sites. The logistical and analytical challenges are immense. This is where health informatics steps in, offering powerful tools to manage and interpret complex datasets in multisite clinical research.

What is Healthcare Informatics?

At its core, health informatics is the science of how to use data, information, and knowledge to improve human health and the delivery of healthcare services. It’s an interdisciplinary field that involves computer science, information science, and healthcare. Think of it as the bridge between raw health data and meaningful clinical insights.

How Can Informatics Help Multisite Clinical Trials in Sleep?

  • Standardized Data Collection: Ensuring that data recorded in one center is compatible with data from another is crucial. Informatics establishes uniform data dictionaries and electronic data capture systems so that everyone is speaking the same “data language.”
  • Centralized Data Management: Instead of data being siloed at individual sites, informatics allows for the creation of central repositories. This streamlines data access, improves security, and simplifies analysis.
  • Enhanced Collaboration: Researchers across different sites can access and analyze data in near real-time, fostering collaboration and accelerating the pace of discovery.
  • Improved Recruitment: By analyzing electronic health records (EHRs), researchers can more easily identify eligible participants for clinical trials across various healthcare systems.

By harnessing the power of informatics, the field of sleep medicine can overcome many of the challenges associated with large-scale research. This ultimately leads to more robust findings, faster discoveries, and better outcomes for patients struggling with sleep disorders.

The Sleep Research Network (SRN) is working with other initiatives such as the National Sleep Research Resource to prioritize and understand what common data elements would be the most useful to our research community towards enabling efficient clinical trials and data sharing efforts. The SRN is supported by the Sleep Research Society (SRS) and welcomes researchers who want to collaborate, learn, and grow.

  • ✅ Apply for SRS Membership to gain access to educational resources, funding opportunities, and a global community
  • 📩 To learn more about the Sleep Research Network (SRN), contact Melissa McKinzie at coordinator@srsnet.org.