Lessons from CanPath on demystifying data harmonization
About the webinar
Data harmonization is essential for producing high-quality, multi-region, multi-cohort research, but it’s often misunderstood or underestimated. In this webinar, experts from Maelstrom Research will share best practices for managing and harmonizing large-scale cohort data, using the Canadian Partnership for Tomorrow’s Health (CanPath) as a case study.
Data harmonization refers to the process of making data from different sources comparable by aligning variables, coding systems, and metadata to a common standard, ensuring consistency, interoperability, and accuracy in research.
Whether you’re part of a research cohort, a data manager, or a researcher working with harmonized datasets, this session will provide actionable guidance on improving your data’s structure, coding, and documentation. Learn how to better align your metadata, prepare your data for harmonization, and understand what’s required to ensure high standards across studies.
This webinar is ideal for:
- Researchers using or planning to use harmonized cohort data
- Cohort studies aiming to improve their data quality and interoperability
- Anyone interested in learning how to apply harmonization techniques to enhance the value and impact of their data
This webinar will be presented in English with a bilingual Q&A. Come prepared with your questions in English or French.
About the presenters
As a Principal Investigator at the RIMUHC, Dr. Isabel Fortier is leading the Maelstrom Research Initiative. Maelstrom aims to provide the international research community from diverse disciplines with resources to leverage and support data harmonization and integration across studies. The team develops methods and software; generates comprehensive catalogues of study metadata; and supports partner initiatives to manage and harmonize data using data infrastructures adapted to their needs.
As Project Manager at Maelstrom Research, Anouar Nechba, M.Sc. coordinates data harmonization activities for several large-scale national and international research initiatives, including the Canadian Partnership for Tomorrow’s Health, the COVID-19 Immunity Task Force, and the Healthy Life Trajectories Initiative. He is responsible for organizing and tracking harmonization workflows, coordinating efforts across multidisciplinary teams, and supporting the implementation of shared procedures for managing and documenting data from partner initiatives.