Data and information sharing initiative 

Widespread and inclusive data sharing practices are crucial to speed progress towards better cardiovascular health across the world. 

Background

The GCRFF is working to improve and standardise data sharing among its partners to support both shared and individual research goals – and to expand its global impact.  

Using the American Heart Association’s (AHA) Precision Medicine Platform, the initiative brings together grant data from most GCRFF partners into a single, secure database – currently accessible to partners only. 

This initiative has two aims:  

  1. Gain strategic insight on the international cardiovascular research funding landscape

    By uncovering areas that may be either under- or over-funded, funders can adjust their programs to achieve greater impact and reduce duplication locally. This insight also supports the development of GCRFF joint initiatives to address critical and underrepresented cardiovascular health challenges.  

  2. Identify new opportunities for collaboration 

    With integrated data, GCRFF funders can more easily identify and align priorities, which opens new opportunities for sustained international collaboration. This has been shown to lead to transformative, higher-impact results compared to research performed exclusively within borders, and provides opportunities to share best practice and insights.

Data Challenge

To further work in this area, in 2024 the GCRFF launched its first international data challenge. The competition invited researchers from academic institutions to use artificial intelligence and data analysis to answer the following research question: ‘How can the organizations that fund cardiovascular and stroke science most effectively fund research to drive discoveries and improve lives?’  

To read more about the details of this Data Challenge, please see here. 

Winners announced!

The GCRFF are thrilled to share the winning team of the first Global Cardiovascular Research Funders Forum (GCRFF) Data Challenge.

The team at Monash University delivered a standout submission, Fuelling the Heartbeat of Cardiovascular Research, which combined natural language processing, multi-source publication and citation metrics, and data visualizations to identify critical trends in the allocation of funding for CVD research and opportunities to enhance the publication and translational impact of grants. Congratulations for this innovative and impactful approach!

Get in touch 

This GCRFF workstream is led by the American Heart Association. For any questions, please get in touch at jacksonz@bhf.org.uk.