MDClone Launches New Phase of Collaboration With Washington University in St. Louis

ST. LOUIS, Feb. 6, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- MDClone has announced the launch of a new phase of collaboration with the Institute for Informatics (I²) at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Based in Israel, MDClone has developed a big data platform that allows researchers to analyze health care data while preserving patient privacy.

After launching a successful pilot phase of the platform in 2018, MDClone and the Institute for Informatics will work together to broaden implementation of the company's big data platform, called the MDClone Healthcare Data Sandbox. The Sandbox addresses both technical and regulatory challenges involved in providing health care data for analysis and research. By analyzing large amounts of anonymized health care data, Washington University researchers ultimately hope to improve care provided to patients.

"We're excited about the results of the pilot phase and the opportunity to continue working with the Institute for Informatics," said Ziv Ofek, Founder & CEO of MDClone. "The creative spirit at the institute and across Washington University is exactly the environment we sought when we launched this partnership. We are only just beginning to discover the opportunities for improving health care by providing access to large sets of data for researchers to explore." 

To preserve patient privacy, MDClone creates a synthetic copy of health care data collected from actual patient populations. While the synthetic dataset is virtually identical to the original data, there's no identifying information that can be traced back to individual patients.

"To both protect patient privacy and be able to analyze health data in a meaningful way, we required a platform that would give us the ability to generate data sets that look and feel like data from real patients," said Philip Payne, PhD, director of the Institute for Informatics. "The synthetic data that was produced by this platform is statistically identical to data from real patients, but it can't be associated with individual patients. This solution also allows us to quickly ask and answer important research questions that can improve the care we provide to patients and the health of the communities we serve."

To validate MDClone's platform, teams at Washington University selected three pilot studies to compare MDClone's synthetic data against the original data. In one project, researchers evaluated factors that influence pediatric admissions to the intensive care unit, another looked at whether a machine learning algorithm can predict sepsis, and a third evaluated the prevalence of sexually transmitted infections by location. The projects were selected because of interest to the health care community and the diversity of health care data and statistical models required for analyses. In each pilot study, the statistical analyses showed the synthetic data is a valid stand in for the original data.

"Previous approaches to de-identifying patient data for research studies resulted in health care data that often was incomplete or challenging to analyze," Payne said. "We're working to create the future of data-driven medicine, so we can improve the care of our patients, their families and their communities."

About MDClone

MDClone introduces the world's first Healthcare Data Sandbox, unlocking healthcare data to enable limitless exploration, discovery and collaboration. The Sandbox is a big data platform that eliminates the barriers between data and those who can use it to transform care. Powered by its breakthrough Synthetic Data Engine, the Sandbox overcomes patient privacy restrictions, and together with its robust analytic capabilities data and insights are now at anyone's fingertips. www.MDClone.com 

Media Contacts:
MDClone
Osnat Fridman
Marketing Director
[email protected]

Institute for Informatics (I²), Washington University in St. Louis
Alice Hoette
Communications Manager
+1-314-273-2212
[email protected] 

SOURCE MDClone