EHDEN - D4.4 - Report on educational and training material for the developed analytical tools

The EHDEN Project aspires to educate, via the EHDEN Academy, project colleagues and all relevant external stakeholders within Europe (and beyond), in particular the wider OHDSI global network as a key collaboration community supporting this. It is noteworthy that such bodies as the European Medicines Agency, and the European Commission itself highlight the need for upskilling in this domain and the opportunity for educational resources.

Initially, the aim was to train selected Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) selected through our open call process to ensure a consistent methodology for the mapping (ETL) of Data Partner source data to the OMOP common data model. This has led to the establishment of the EHDEN Academy, a Moodle-based, open-source platform. Six modules were created in 2019 as a basis for the initial curriculum and learning path, focused on SMEs. However, these courses are also of great value for others in the community.

The EHDEN Academy has been successfully used in training the 26 SMEs in the first two open calls, and more will be trained in further calls over the duration of the EHDEN project.

To enhance the project’s offering, the educational content was launched publicly on 23rd April 2020 with a plan to expand the courses and material for a wider audience, inclusive of Data Partners, researchers, regulators, HTA bodies, and anyone conducting observational research. Additional courses are being produced and content expanded.

Uptake of the Academy has been positive, and the curriculum will be widened with learning paths and modules through the remainder of 2020 and beyond to support observational health research on a wider scale. An Executive Board, Project Management Team and Faculty have been established to operate the Academy, with representation from Academic and EFPIA partners, as well as OHDSI colleagues.

A sustainability plan for the Academy is being developed, focusing on scenarios for community expansion and financial scenarios for independent continuance alongside the EHDEN project.