Data for Health Workshop

The Data for Health Initiative is a collaborative effort aimed at harnessing the potential of health data to drive advancements in healthcare and improve public health outcomes. Following the introduction of the Data for Health Initiative with the Data for Health Conference in Berlin in June 2023, the initiative continued with the Harvard T.H. Chan School and the MGH Center for Integrated Diagnostics jointly organizing the Data for Health Workshop in Boston. Thought leaders from Europe and the United States presented, participated, and networked in an effort to harness the potential of health data to drive advancements in healthcare and improve public health outcomes.

The Data for Health Workshop in Boston aimed to explore and practically address key challenges and opportunities in the use of health data for healthcare advancements and public health initiatives. The workshop focused on fostering transatlantic collaboration, bringing together experts from the USA and Germany to develop practical solutions and strategies for utilizing health data effectively and responsibly.

The Data for Health Workshop was an two-day event that aimed to generate concrete deliverables that would be publicly available and shared with the Federal Minister, promoting the practical use of health data for tangible impact. Attendees of the workshop had the opportunity to discuss and produce actionable strategies and solutions that could be implemented in patient care, medical research, and health policy.

The workshop was opened with an introduction by Albert Hofman, Chair of the Department of Epidemiology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. The workshop was split into four topics:

Workshop 1 "Striking the Perfect Balance", Raising the Bar: Promoting Digital Health Adoption with State-Level Policies.
Workshop 2 "Bridging the Atlantic Divide", Collaborate on designing a transatlantic consent form for secure data exchange while ensuring compliance with regulations.
Workshop 3 "United in Health Data", Develop a federated administrative model for transatlantic data exchange, ensuring transparent governance and data privacy.
Workshop 4 "Data from Within", Explore ethical use of health data from brain-computer interfaces for medical breakthroughs while respecting privacy and ethics.

At the end of the workshop a thank you address was given by Prof. Dr. Karl Lauterbach, Federal Minister for Health in Germany. The results of the workshops were prepared in graphic form and then handed over to Prof. Dr. Karl Lauterbach. You can find the results on this website.

The next event is the symposium "Artificial Intelligence in Public Health Research" which will be organised by the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) on 9 - 10 November 2023 in Berlin. Further information can be found on the event website, where you can also register for the event.