JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

The COVID-19 pandemic exposed significant limitations in existing data infrastructure, particularly the lack of systems for rapidly collecting, integrating, and analyzing data to support timely and evidence-based public health responses. These shortcomings hampered efforts to conduct comprehensive analyses and make rapid, data-driven decisions in response to emerging threats. To overcome these challenges, the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) launched the Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics (RADx) initiative. A key component of this initiative is the RADx Data Hub—a centralized, cloud-based platform designed to support data sharing, harmonization, and reuse across multiple COVID-19 research programs and data sources.

Objective:

This paper presents the design, implementation, and capabilities of the RADx Data Hub, a cloud-based platform developed to support FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable) data practices and enable secondary analyses of COVID-19-related data contributed by a nationwide network of researchers.

Methods:

The RADx Data Hub was developed on a scalable cloud infrastructure, grounded in the FAIR data principles. The platform integrates heterogeneous data types—including clinical data, diagnostic test results, behavioral data, and social determinants of health—submitted by over 100 research organizations across 46 U.S. states and territories. The data pipeline includes automated and manual processes for de-identification, quality validation, expert curation, and harmonization. Metadata standards are enforced using ontology-driven tools such as the CEDAR Workbench and BioPortal. Data files are structured using a unified specification to support consistent representation and machine-actionable metadata.

Results:

As of May 2025, the RADx Data Hub hosts 178 studies and over data and metadata 1,700 files, spanning four RADx programs: RADx-UP, RADx-Tech, RADx-rad, and RADx-DHT. The Study Explorer and Analytics Workbench components enable researchers to discover relevant studies, inspect rich metadata, and conduct analyses within a secure cloud-based environment. Harmonized data conforming to a core set of Common Data Elements (CDEs) facilitate cross-study integration and support secondary use. The platform provides persistent identifiers (DOIs) for each study and supports access to structured metadata that adheres to the CEDAR specification, available in both JSON and YAML formats for seamless integration into computational workflows.

Conclusions:

The RADx Data Hub successfully addresses key data integration challenges by providing a centralized, FAIR-compliant platform for public health research. Its adaptable architecture and data management practices are designed to support secondary analyses and can be repurposed for other scientific disciplines, strengthening data infrastructure and enhancing preparedness for future health crises.