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Program Snapshot

The Common Fund Data Ecosystem (CFDE) aims to enable broad use of Common Fund data to accelerate discovery. CFDE is organized around five Centers that integrate data, resources, and knowledge from many Common Fund Programs. The resources created by the Centers will empower the research community to use Common Fund data sets for novel scientific research that was impossible before. 

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The Common Fund Data Ecosystem (CFDE) aims to enable broad use of Common Fund data to accelerate discovery. Common Fund programs generate a wide range of diverse and valuable data sets and knowledge designed to be used by the research community. However, these data and knowledge reside in different locations, and it is challenging to work with multiple digital resources in an accessible and user-friendly way. To help remedy this problem, the CFDE has created an online discovery portal (CFDE Portal) to help make Common Fund data sets FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable) and to enable researchers to search across Common Fund data sets to ask scientific and clinical questions from a single access point.

The CFDE Centers integrate data, resources, and knowledge across Common Fund Programs. Together, these resources will empower the research community to use Common Fund data sets for novel scientific research that was impossible before. This may include hypothesis generation, discovery, or validation that leads to new insights in health and disease. The CFDE is also supporting pilot projects that engage a broad community of end-users, collect feedback on the utility of Common Fund data resources, and enable novel cross-cutting biological questions to be formulated and addressed.

More information can be found in the materials from past NIH Council of Councils presentations, including the Council of Councils Working Group report on CFDE and the presentation and background materials for the concept clearance of CFDE.

This page last reviewed on June 4, 2025