The SIRECS project

José Ángel Expósito Losada

Catalan Agency for Health Information, Assessment

and Quality (CAIAHQ)

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Bilbao

Catalonia

(Population around 7.5 millions)

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In Catalan SIRECS stands for Information System of Centres and Institutes of Biomedical and Healthcare Research

-It is a data repository based on a previous data registry of the public Catalan Universities run by the Secretary for Universities and Research called UNEIX (= pooling data) that is working since 2002.

-It is addressed at biomedical and healthcare research centres endowed by the Catalan Health Department.

- The SIRECS repository has expanded UNEIX with the collection of the data from biomedical and healthcare research centres, and these data have been adapted to the UNEIX way to report.

The SIRECS project

What is it?

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The SIRECS project

Who is who?

• The Catalan Department of Health is the driving force behind the project.

•The Catalan Agency for Health Information, Assessment and Quality (CAHIAQ) is the coordinator and executor of the information system.

•The Secretary for Universities and Research runs the database.

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-It is a collaboration between a research agency (CAIAHQ) and research institutions to document data of science investment.

-It collects data directly from the research centres.

-Uses this data to assess the centres’ performance.

The SIRECS project

Similarities with other initiatives

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The SIRECS project

-It is focused on inputs:

1.Personal data (human resources)

2.Competitive and non competitive resources

3.Participation in research programmes and networks

- (... and outputs):

4. Clinical trials.

Differences with other initiatives

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To offer biomedical research centres a homogeneous management tool in the Catalan System of Research & Development

To allow a better follow up of the investment made by these centres

To unify the work methodology of the Catalan biomedical research centres (e.g. annual activity reports)

To match the resources with the needs of established knowledge and priorities

The SIRECS project

Objectives (I)

To put together the productivity: relation between inputs (human, technical and budgetary resources) and outputs obtained (products)

To make easier the benchmarking among the Catalan biomedical research centres

To portray the research in Catalan health science periodically

To provide sound data that contribute to the assessment of Catalan biomedical research centres

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The SIRECS project

Objectives (II)

Some of the objectives of the Strategy Plan are:

To define an assessment process of research centres based on results.

To invest efficiently in the excellence of research.

To promote knowledge translation and asses the social impact.

The aim of SIRECS is to be the tool to achieve these objectives.

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The SIRECS project

The SIRECS role in the R & I Plan of the Catalan Department of Health. 2012 – 2015.

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The SIRECS project

The SIRECS project is the first of its kind in Spain.

It will be potentially expanded to collect research outputs other than clinical trials (i.e. publications, thesis, spin-offs, patents...), and might be also applied to other places in Spain different from Catalonia.

What is the situation in Spain?

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The SIRECS project

Other global initiatives (I):

• RAISS tool (RAND/ARC Impact Scoring System), UK

• NIHR (National Institute for Health Research) collection programme, UK.

• MRC (Medical Research Council) e-Val programme, UK and Africa

• SFTC (Science and Technologies Facilities Council) e-Val, UK and internationally

• Collection of output data, Switzerland

• Collection of output data by the Health Research Board (HRB), Ireland

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The SIRECS project

Other global initiatives (II):

• Lattes (Brazil). A Curriculum and institutions database of Science and Technology areas in Brazil

• CASRAI (Consortia Advancing Standards in Research Administration Information) Data exchange and reuse between research teams, institutions, and funding agencies throughout the entire life-cycle of research activity.

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The SIRECS project

What information is collected? (I)

1. Personal (Human resources)

2. Competitive and non competitive resources

3. Clinical trials

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The SIRECS project

What information is collected? (II)

The information is collected yearly. We are now collecting the 2010 data.

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The SIRECS project

What information is collected? (III)

1. Personal (Human resources)

- Name, National ID number, country of birth.- Research centre and date of beginning (and end) of the contract- Position (researcher, clerk, manager...)- Hours/week devoted to research, teaching, health care and management. - Educational background: (graduate, doctorate, etc.)

... Among many other

2. Competitive and non competitive resources

- Start and end date of the project- Which subsidy it is (programme, call, institution that provides the money...)- Principle investigator of the project.- Amount of the subsidy.- Is it a coordinated activity with other centres?- Is the researcher the coordinator of a multicentre study?

- ... Among many other

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The SIRECS project

What information is collected? (IV)

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3. Clinical trials

- Beginning and end date (if available) of the trial- Unique identifier number of the trial- Who is the principal researcher- Therapeutic group of the disease according to the International Classification of Diseases (ICD 10)- Drug or vaccine group according the ATC Classification (Anatomical, Therapeutic, Chemical classification system)- Or medical device code according to the Global Medical Device Nomenclature.- Phase of the trial if possible (I, II, III, IV)

The SIRECS project

What information is collected? (V)

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The SIRECS project

SIRECS /UNEIX repository

Automatic validation (2/a day)

Information collected * and sent

Data Exploitation

Research Centre

* According to the SIRECS protocols

Errors and warnings report

sFTP (Secure File Transport

Protocol)

No errors or warnings

Correction

Errors or warnings

How the information is validated?

Thank you for your attention!