The broad aims of the Data Management and Informatics Core (DMIC) are to 1) provide data managementand medical informatics services to all studies supported by the Yale Pepper Center and 2) exploit andextend information technologies in order to devise innovative, efficient and generalizeable data systems foruse by Pepper Centers and other workgroups within and outside Yale. The DMIC will act to remove barriersto research into multifactorial geriatric health conditions. Key services that DMIC will provide includeelectronic and paper questionnaire design; participant tracking; study progress monitoring; data entry; dataquality control; preparation and documentation of datasets for analysis; statistical programming; databaseapplication programming; and staff and junior faculty training in data management and informaticsmethodologies. The DMIC will directly support seven Pepper studies, and will indirectly support fourteennon-Pepper research studies of multifactorial geriatric health conditions. Indirect support will consist ofinfrastructure, training, supervision and administration.In order to make effective and efficient use of emerging technologies and practices, the DMIC will continueits collaboration with the Yale Center for Medical Informatics (YCMI). Other collaborating centers include theVeterans Administration Cooperative Studies Program Coordinating Center (CSPCC), the UCLA PepperCenter Research Operations Core (ROC), and the Yale Center for Genomics and Proteomics.The DMIC provides the administration and infrastructure management for the larger Yale Program on Aging(POA) data management workgroup. POA resources that are managed by DMIC include ten data managersand programmers having more than 120 years cumulative experience in research studies; file servers, webhosts and database servers; an extensive data management and statistical software library; a commondatabase system for subject tracking, interviewer performance monitoring, and conduct-of-study analysis;and a library of geriatric data collection instruments.The DMIC will maximize efficiency by relying heavily on systems and procedures developed during prior .Pepper funding cycles. These systems are thoroughly tested and familiar to all POA data managers. Arecent technology upgrade to the POA computing environment ensures that the existing infrastructure will besufficient for the proposed study period.
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