The NIH Common Fund cultivates large publicly available biomedical and behavioral datasets. These data may be used by the research and medical community to make new discoveries or generate new hypotheses. In an upcoming workshop on July 24-25, the NIH Common Fund would like to identify barriers that currently exist to using the data and learn what outreach, training, and support can be provided to the biomedical community. 

The purpose of this workshop is to build relationships with representatives from historically underserved and underrepresented in science to enhance the use of Common Fund data resources. In the current landscape of collecting ethically sourced biomedical datasets to inform predictive health models, it is incumbent upon the Common Fund to ensure that these datasets are not only representative of all individuals and groups but also made available to individual researchers from historically underserved institutions to ensure that these data equitably provide insights into public health challenges. This workshop will bring together differing perspectives from an array of individuals that represent their communities to gather their thoughts and opinions about challenges and opportunities with regards to NIH Common Fund data science resources. Furthermore, the workshop aims to:

• Improve the utility and interoperability of Common Fund data resources to increase utilization of these resources.
• Identify the most effective forms of outreach, training, and support to increase the use of Common Fund data resources.
• Enable researchers from historically underserved and underrepresented populations to use Common Fund data resources and identify any barriers currently exist to doing this well.
• Disseminate existing tools, resources, trainings, etc. with these representatives. 
• Understand the landscape of current data resources, tools, and approaches that the community can share with NIH.
• Enhance OSC staff’s understanding of each group and their areas of interest. Furthermore, it is the hope that this workshop will serve as a force multiplier with attendees sharing information about the Common Fund and NIH resources with other members in their community. 

The workshop will be held on July 24-25, 2024, beginning at 9 AM ET. A detailed agenda for this 1.5-day workshop is available at this link. To learn more about the event and register, visit the registration site.