Clinical Research Resources
Loyola University Chicago has a variety of informatics resources designed to support clinical research. Loyola has its own in-house data repository with a limited dataset of patients from Loyola University Health System’s Epic electronic health record called the Clinical Research Database (CRDB). Additionally, Loyola participates in several collaborations with Chicago-area hospitals and national networks to make multi-center datasets available for research. Examples of these datasets include those designed for the Institute for Translational Medicine (ITM) Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA), Chicago Area Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Network (CAPriCORN), and Patient-Center Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI). The Leaf application is a cohort discovery tool with data from three ITM institutions: Loyola, University of Chicago, and Rush University.
More information about the available clinical research resources can be found on their pages:
- The Clinical Research Database (CRDB)
- Leaf (ITM Cohort Discovery Tool)
- Chicago Area Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Network (CAPriCORN)
- Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ): Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP) Databases
- Institute for Translational Medicine (ITM)/Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA)
Datasets for COVID-19 Research:
- National Center for Advancing Translational Science (NCATS) - National COVID Cohort Collaborative (N3C)
- Patient-Center Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) Patient-Centered Clinical Research Network (PCORnet) COVID-19-specifc common data model (COVID-19-CDM)
How to request data:
- Aggregate level data from the CRDB is available as preparatory for research without an IRB, however all other requests require IRB approval.
- Loyola Epic EHR or CRDB clinical data can be requested using the Clinical Data Request Form.
- For other datasets please see the resource pages for specific request procedures and requirements.
Institutional Review Board (IRB) Approval
Clinical research involves human subjects research, and so must be reviewed by an Institutional Review Board (IRB) for approval prior to collecting any data. The only exception is aggregate level data that is not personally identifying and can be considered preparatory for research. Even if a study only involves retrospective data from a database it must be reviewed by the IRB to determine if the study is exempt. Studies that involve only retrospective data, or data that involves past events and has already been collected, usually only require exempt or expedited IRB review.
Loyola has two Institutional Review Boards, one for the Lakeside Campus and one for the Health Sciences Campus. Both IRBs have detailed information on how to prepare research materials such as the study protocol and how to submit a study for IRB review, as well as useful documents such as protocol templates on their websites.
Loyola University Chicago has a variety of informatics resources designed to support clinical research. Loyola has its own in-house data repository with a limited dataset of patients from Loyola University Health System’s Epic electronic health record called the Clinical Research Database (CRDB). Additionally, Loyola participates in several collaborations with Chicago-area hospitals and national networks to make multi-center datasets available for research. Examples of these datasets include those designed for the Institute for Translational Medicine (ITM) Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA), Chicago Area Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Network (CAPriCORN), and Patient-Center Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI). The Leaf application is a cohort discovery tool with data from three ITM institutions: Loyola, University of Chicago, and Rush University.
More information about the available clinical research resources can be found on their pages:
- The Clinical Research Database (CRDB)
- Leaf (ITM Cohort Discovery Tool)
- Chicago Area Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Network (CAPriCORN)
- Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ): Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP) Databases
- Institute for Translational Medicine (ITM)/Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA)
Datasets for COVID-19 Research:
- National Center for Advancing Translational Science (NCATS) - National COVID Cohort Collaborative (N3C)
- Patient-Center Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) Patient-Centered Clinical Research Network (PCORnet) COVID-19-specifc common data model (COVID-19-CDM)
How to request data:
- Aggregate level data from the CRDB is available as preparatory for research without an IRB, however all other requests require IRB approval.
- Loyola Epic EHR or CRDB clinical data can be requested using the Clinical Data Request Form.
- For other datasets please see the resource pages for specific request procedures and requirements.
Institutional Review Board (IRB) Approval
Clinical research involves human subjects research, and so must be reviewed by an Institutional Review Board (IRB) for approval prior to collecting any data. The only exception is aggregate level data that is not personally identifying and can be considered preparatory for research. Even if a study only involves retrospective data from a database it must be reviewed by the IRB to determine if the study is exempt. Studies that involve only retrospective data, or data that involves past events and has already been collected, usually only require exempt or expedited IRB review.
Loyola has two Institutional Review Boards, one for the Lakeside Campus and one for the Health Sciences Campus. Both IRBs have detailed information on how to prepare research materials such as the study protocol and how to submit a study for IRB review, as well as useful documents such as protocol templates on their websites.