1 in every 5 people will have a lung condition in their lifetime, such as asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The UK’s abundance of secure health data provides a unique opportunity to better understand causes, prevention, diagnosis and treatment of respiratory diseases, helping to improve outcomes for those affected.

At present, it is difficult for researchers to access and link datasets on lung health for large-scale healthcare innovation. Changes are needed to help enable the improvement of collection, storage and safe use of respiratory-related data by data controllers, to empower impactful research and inform policy.

What is the Respiratory Data Science Catalyst?

The Respiratory Data Science Catalyst is a unique partnership which will facilitate and accelerate health data research into chronic and acute respiratory conditions. It is aiming to improve respiratory health by enabling data-led research, and its work will encompass several themes, including:

  1. Developing near real-time dashboards
  2. Using population-level health systems data in research
  3. Defining respiratory disease and its consequences
  4. Defining opportunities in NHS Imaging, Spirometry data, and environmental data
  5. Using smartphones and wearables data in research
  6. Enhancing follow-up in respiratory data
  7. Developing data-driven clinical trials
  8. Training researchers and clinicians
  9. Involving people affected by respiratory health.

Introductory webinar

On Tuesday 29th October 2024, the Catalyst hosted its introductory webinar. You can view a recording of the webinar below.

Contact Us

For the Catalyst to succeed and deliver the change that is needed in Respiratory Health, it is vital it listens to voices across the community, and involves them in its plans to succeed.

The Catalyst wants to engage with stakeholders who have an interest or expertise in improving Respiratory Health, including patients, researchers, clinicians, societies, and industry partners.

If you would like to get involved, please contact the Respiratory Data Science Catalyst on respiratorycatalyst@hdruk.ac.uk.

Respiratory Data Science Catalyst logo