i2b2/SHRINE

UCLA Informatics for Integrating Biology & the Bedside (i2b2) is a web-based Cohort Discovery application that enables UCLA investigators to identify potential research study cohorts using clinical data resources obtained through the UCLA Health System. Users can conduct interactive searches of data derived from patient care activities at Ronald Reagan UCLA Santa Monica Medical Center UCLA Medical Center and other UCLA-affiliated clinics and departments. 

Harvard’s i2b2 (Informatics for Integrating Biology and the Bedside) software system supports an open source data warehouse that enables clinical researchers to use existing clinical data for discovery research. The i2b2 platform currently enjoys wide international adoption by the CTSA network, academic health centers, and industry. Within the UCLA CTSI, the i2b2 data warehouse system forms the cornerstone for research access to clinical data across the CTSI. All four CTSI partner institutions are using i2b2 or are currently in the process of implementing it. UCLA has implemented it atop its xDR repository; Cedars populates it directly from its Epic EHR; Harbor, through its parent organization, the LA County Department of Health Services (LAC DHS), implemented i2b2 along with their Cerner EHR system; and CDU is implementing i2b2 to serve a number of community clinics (Venice Family Clinic, San Fernando Valley Health Center, and the LA Net coalition).

The Shared Health Research Information Network (SHRINE) software system links i2b2 data warehouses across institutions to help researchers compile larger groups of patients fitting specific study criteria than they could from any individual institution. In a SHRINE network, investigators can use the SHRINE web-based query tool to determine the number of patients at participating organizations who meet a given set of inclusion and exclusion criteria, which are expressed by dragging and dropping items from a concept ontology into an intuitive user interface for constructing Boolean queries. Because counts are aggregate, patient privacy is protected. SHRINE is currently being used in the LADR and NCATS ACT networks.

For more information, please visit the i2b2 site.

Last updated
January 11, 2024