£1 million towards the creation of a Big Data Institute

Funding towards the Clinical Trial Service Unit & Epidemiological Studies Unit's (CTSU) involvement in the planned Oxford University Big Data Institute

The University of Oxford is establishing a new Big Data Institute (BDI for short) to help analyse large and complex sets of results that are being generated from scientific research, including research into the heart and circulatory system. It will bring together a wide range of clinical information from research studies, medical registries of patients, medical records, imaging information and other physical assessments. This will all be combined with extensive genetic information that has been obtained about the potential inherited errors that can cause disease. An existing unit at the University of Oxford called the Clinical Trial Service Unit is already a world leader in disease research and their work, much of which has been supported for many years by BHF, will also feed into the work of the BDI. By analysing such a large amount of information, the BDI will generate more-accurate pictures of disease characteristics than can be done at present. For example, genetic risk factors can be combined with information on lifestyle behaviour to help identify who is most at risk of heart and circulatory disease, and how they can be targeted. The BDI’s work will involve collaboration with leading researchers from institutions around the UK (University of Cambridge, Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospital, Imperial College London and University College London) and the USA (Vanderbilt University and Stanford University). The BHF will provide £1million to help complete the building of the BDI on the university campus. The building will create 7,000m2 of collaborative space for 350 research staff, at a total cost of around £30 million. Building is scheduled to start in the first quarter of 2014, with staff beginning to occupy the new institute in late 2015.