University of North Carolina
Over the feasibility phase of the Translator program, our team developed a disease-agnostic framework and approach for openly exposing clinical data that have been integrated at the patient- and visit-level with environmental exposures data: ICEES. This accomplishment required innovative scientific and technical advancements, as well as close and frequent engagement with our institutional regulatory bodies. Importantly, we have validated ICEES by demonstrating that it can be used to replicate the established relationship between exposure to airborne particulate matter and asthma exacerbations—our driving use case for R&D of ICEES. Moreover, we have used ICEES to replicate and extend confirmed or suspected relationships between exposure to airborne particulate matter, sex, obesity, diabetes, race, and asthma. Notably, we have demonstrated that ICEES supports: (1) open team science and collaboration; (2) accelerated translational discovery and dissemination; and (3) integration with the broader Translator ecosystem, including full compliance with Translator standards. Nonetheless, ICEES remains in prototype stage, and the service’s full potential has yet to be determined. Specifically, over the course of R&D of ICEES, and with user feedback, we have identified three major challenges that are the focus of the proposed work. We broadly aim to overcome these challenges and move ICEES from prototype to production as the ICEES+ KP.