On Monday, October 7, 2024, the AIM-AHEAD Federated Network held an orientation for its 2024-25 awardees. The Federated Network Leadership Team, consisting of Dr. Paul Avillach, Program Director; Dr. Tianxi Cai, Co-PI; Dr. Griffin Weber, Co-PI; Dr. Gabriel Brat, Co-PI; and Dr. Usha Sambamoorthi, Co-PI, hosted the event.

The AIM-AHEAD Federated Network allows awarded sites to participate in collaborative research and share data across sites without needing patient-level data to leave the local site. While all patient-level EHR data remain behind the firewalls of the local site, the research team is expected to facilitate sharing aggregated data with research project leads to support AIM-AHEAD federated network research projects.

Federated Network Awardees — (Name, Institution, Project Name)

• Patricia Mabry, HealthPartners Institute, AIM-AHEAD Federated Network Site for the Midwest: Longitudinal EHR Data to Address Questions on Medical, Dental, and Behavioral Health
• Aaron Rapp, University of the Virgin Islands, Advancing Health Equity And Inclusion In The United States Virgin Islands: The Utilization Of Electronic Health Records In AIM-AHEAD Federated Network To Support AI/ML Models For Underrepresented Populations
• Sophia Shalhout, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, AI/ML to Investigate Disparities in the Management of Cancer-Related Pain
• Leyla Warsame, Fairview Health Services, FAIR-AI - FAIRview Health Services Federated Equitable AI Initiative

The funding period will run for 24 months, starting October 1, 2024. Year 1 will end on September 30, 2025, with Year 2 running from October 1, 2025, to September 30, 2026. Awardees will participate in a variety of activities, including but not limited to:

• Establish the AIM-AHEAD Federated Network Data Governance with all participating sites.
• Obtain local IRB approval and associated agreements to request EHR data from institutions for participating in research activities, including sharing summary-level results as part of the AIM-AHEAD Federated Network.
• Assemble EHR data locally along with proper data dictionary and summary statistics from their institution to be used for AIM-AHEAD research projects.
• Participate in EHR data harmonization across sites by providing expertise and knowledge about local data.
• Facilitate the analysis of EHR data using AI/ML algorithms developed by the AIM-AHEAD researchers, including running these algorithms on their local harmonized EHR data and sharing summary-level data such as patient characteristics and algorithm output with the project team.

Related Links

Federated Network - https://www.aim-ahead.net/federated-network/