Poster ID
P-24
Poster Title
Biomedical Data Hub: Building A Trusted Infrastructure For Interoperable and Scalable Secondary Use of Biomedical Data in Singapore
Authors
Zinaida Perova, Max Fun, Ming Zhen Tan, Aloysius Lim, Hazel Wong, Victor Ong, Zi Ying Koh, Jiahui Dong, Shina Peh, Wing Cheong Wong, David Vu
Abstract
While biomedical data offers unprecedented opportunities for precision medicine, institutional fragmentation and complex governance limit large-scale analysis. The Biomedical Data Hub (BDH) is a new national initiative in Singapore addressing these barriers. Utilizing Global Alliance for Genomics and Health (GA4GH) frameworks as a strategic roadmap, BDH is building a trusted, end-to-end platform for the secure secondary use of biomedical research data.
BDH supports the full data lifecycle, providing a complete ecosystem for data owners and users. The Metadata Catalogue enables researchers to discover datasets and evaluate their potential use. The Repository provides a secure environment for managing multimodal biomedical data, supporting curation, standardization, and long-term retention. The Trusted Research Environment (TRE) provides tools and scalable compute, enabling advanced analytics and AI model training and validation. Beyond infrastructure, BDH facilitates streamlined data access workflows and ecosystem training.
To drive interoperability, BDH coordinates the National Data Curation Team (NDCT), uniting experts from major hospitals, research institutions, and healthcare organisations. The NDCT implements common data models such as OMOP and evaluates curation tools. Planned work includes development of domain-specific minimal information (MI) standards and adoption of relevant GA4GH standards.
Guided by FAIR principles and the Five Safes framework, BDH balances data utility with essential privacy protections. Our architecture is underpinned by a comprehensive governance framework grounded in ISO 27001 and ISO 38505 standards. This is operationalized through workflows that enforce the policies of data owners' Data Access Committees (DACs). Additionally, BDH employs advanced privacy-preserving technologies—including de-identification and data masking pipelines—to minimise re-identification risks and prepare for standardized federation protocols.
By combining standards-based interoperability, robust governance, and scalable compute, BDH reduces ecosystem fragmentation and enables secure cross-institution collaboration while preserving data ownership. BDH provides a foundational layer for trusted biomedical data sharing, accelerating responsible research and AI-driven health innovation while preparing Singapore for future federated international collaboration aligned with GA4GH principles.
BDH supports the full data lifecycle, providing a complete ecosystem for data owners and users. The Metadata Catalogue enables researchers to discover datasets and evaluate their potential use. The Repository provides a secure environment for managing multimodal biomedical data, supporting curation, standardization, and long-term retention. The Trusted Research Environment (TRE) provides tools and scalable compute, enabling advanced analytics and AI model training and validation. Beyond infrastructure, BDH facilitates streamlined data access workflows and ecosystem training.
To drive interoperability, BDH coordinates the National Data Curation Team (NDCT), uniting experts from major hospitals, research institutions, and healthcare organisations. The NDCT implements common data models such as OMOP and evaluates curation tools. Planned work includes development of domain-specific minimal information (MI) standards and adoption of relevant GA4GH standards.
Guided by FAIR principles and the Five Safes framework, BDH balances data utility with essential privacy protections. Our architecture is underpinned by a comprehensive governance framework grounded in ISO 27001 and ISO 38505 standards. This is operationalized through workflows that enforce the policies of data owners' Data Access Committees (DACs). Additionally, BDH employs advanced privacy-preserving technologies—including de-identification and data masking pipelines—to minimise re-identification risks and prepare for standardized federation protocols.
By combining standards-based interoperability, robust governance, and scalable compute, BDH reduces ecosystem fragmentation and enables secure cross-institution collaboration while preserving data ownership. BDH provides a foundational layer for trusted biomedical data sharing, accelerating responsible research and AI-driven health innovation while preparing Singapore for future federated international collaboration aligned with GA4GH principles.