German National Cohort data accessible for research
With the opening of the TransferHub at the end of March 2022, scientists from the entire German-speaking world will have access to data from the initial investigation carried out by NAKO, the German National Cohort Health Study. The TransferHub was developed by NAKO as a tool to provide scientists with technical access to NAKO study data. Employing the data directory contained in the Hub, registered users can see which study data NAKO has collected from the 205,000 participants (including quality assurance).
The TransferHub is NAKO's web portal for data requests for scientific evaluations. The NAKO TransferHube anables scientists to
- view descriptions of the available data,
- create and submit data-use-requests online, and
- track the processing status of individual data-use-requests.
Scientific cooperation now possible
"This opening represents an important step for NAKO, because until now the TransferHub was used exclusively internally by the research institutions involved in NAKO," says Professor Tobias Pischon, head of the "Molecular Epidemiology" research group at the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association (MDC) and NAKO board member. "The initial NAKO-internal restriction allowed us to test procedures and check functions. Now the study data is also available to scientists at other research institutions in German-speaking countries."
"We have been working towards this step for many years and are looking forward to the scientific collaborations that will result," adds Professor Annette Peters of Helmholtz Munich and Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich, and Chair of the Board of the NAKO Health Study.
In the near future, it is planned to make the data available to EU researchers and subsequently to the entire international scientific community.
Further information
