Harmonizing ALS research data across multimodal data sets using the OMOP Common Data Model.

Abstract

Three nonprofit organizations-ALS Therapy Development Institute (ALS TDI), Answer ALS, and the Critical Path Institute (C-Path)-collaborated to harmonize distinct ALS research datasets using the Observational Medical Outcomes Partnership (OMOP) Common Data Model (CDM). This effort was designed to make otherwise separate ALS resources more comparable, enabling larger and more informative cross-cohort analyses. The teams coordinated vocabulary mapping, identified OMOP vocabulary gaps, and submitted new concepts to the Observational Health Data Science and Informatics (OHDSI) community for approval. Harmonized data from ALS TDI and Answer ALS were merged in the Neuromine data portal, while their clinical and digital health technology (DHT) datasets are also available through C-Path's Rare Disease Cures Accelerator-Data Analytics Platform (RDCA-DAP). This collaboration aligns with current regulatory priorities for data sharing and offers a model for harmonizing rare disease data. A robust, public GitHub repository was established to share real-time updates with the ALS research community.