In January 2025, the BHF Data Science Centre launched a fast-track funding call to support research using data to better understand heart disease, kidney disease and COVID-19.
One of the three projects we funded was led by Marlous Hall at the University of Leeds. The research team looked at inequalities in rates of chronic kidney disease after heart attack and how this changed as a result of the pandemic, using whole population data.
As well as funding the project, we helped the researchers access and prepare the data. As part of this Kidney Data Science Catalyst driver programme – the project team made use use of a new tool for identifying chronic kidney disease – a phenotyping algorithm developed by our Health Data Science Team and the three funded teams were brought together regularly to share ideas and learn from each other.
Public contributors were involved throughout, reviewing funding applications and shaping the project as it progressed. They also supported with illustrations that captured their views and experiences.
This case study shows how our work in big data, population health and public involvement can help speed up research and support work on kidney health inequalities.
Marlous Hall said:
“The Kidney Data Science Driver Programme allowed us rapid access to well-curated data which brought together a number of national electronic healthcare records and clinical registry data into one ready-to-analyse format – the governance process alone would take individual research teams months, if not years, to access.
“Working closely with the Health Data Science team and meeting regularly with the other research project teams has had great impact on the project – allowing us to focus directly on delivering a high-quality piece of research without re-inventing the wheel in data access and data wrangling and sharing our resources and methods between teams on complimentary projects throughout the process.”
Find out more about the Kidney Data Science Catalyst driver projects and how we support data-enabled research to address cardiovascular and kidney health inequalities.