DKTK Clinical Data Science Group

The DKTK Clinical Data Science Group is an interdisciplinary and multicentre working group initiated by the Clinical Communication Platform (CCP). Its core task is the development and implementation of innovative research projects relevant for clinical care utilizing real world oncological data. These data from all participating DKTK sites and CCP partners are available for research purposes via the CCP infrastructure.

To fulfil its core mission, the group pursues four goals:

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  • The DKTK Clinical Data Science Group serves as a forum to connect DKTK data scientists from different scientific and medical disciplines. The benefits of data-driven cancer research can only be fully exploited through the continuous interdisciplinary collaboration of researchers from medicine, biology, informatics, statistics and data science. The DKTK Clinical Data Science Group forms the basis for this endeavour.
  • As an interdisciplinary and multicenter networking tool, the DKTK Clinical Data Science Group is expected to grow into a focal point for future grant applications for research projects. The clinical and scientific expertise and interdisciplinary composition of the group provides a great potential to shape the landscape of data-driven cancer research in Germany by developing large-scale projects.
  • The DKTK Clinical Data Science Group will build a publication pipeline for federated analyses. The clinical data of the cohort of oncological patients forms the basis of this research. Data analyses are carried out in a federated process, which means that the clinical data do not leave the site of their storage. Instead, the analyses are brought to every site. A large, network-wide federated analysis was performed on data of more than 600,000 patients. It found that comprehensive cancer documentation is available for about 233,000 patients since 2013. These analyses and a description of the multicenter cohort of the German Cancer Consortium’s Clinical Communication Platform were published in 2023 in the European Journal of Epidemiology.
  • Finally, the research work of the DKTK Clinical Data Science Group has a catalyst function, providing a directive for the strategic development of CCP infrastructure. The interdependence of IT infrastructure and its scientific use can thus develop a positive dynamic that facilitates accessibility to data and complex analyses.
     

Researchers from DKTK sites and CCP partner sites that are interested in joining the DKTK Clinical Data Science Group are welcome to contact the CCP. Dr. Daniel Maier is the main point of contact for all inquiries relating to the DKTK Clinical data science group.