Data operations meeting

Operationalizing Data Sharing, Learning, and Planning throughout RePORT International

RePORT International’s Data Core hosted its Data Operations meeting on December 8, 2025, with approximately 35 data managers and investigators in attendance. A lively discussion took place regarding data sharing, capacity building, specimen prioritization, and resources. In essence, the meeting served to clarify how to propose feasible and well-thought-out studies using RePORT specimens and data. The status was provided for Cohort B data harmonization, the ongoing asymptomatic TB protocol, and the launch of the post-TB sequelae study. Sheetal Verma, Rutgers PI for the biomarkers protocol, shared some exciting news about the progress of the study and how data will be shared for future studies.

Data Sharing and Transfers

Sue Siminski from Frontier Sciences presented on data flow and data use agreements (DUAs) for RICC, highlighting Frontier Science’s secure and compliant infrastructure. She explained the various data collection methods, secure data transfers, and data processing steps, emphasizing the need for DUAs to transfer participant-level data. A concern was raised about the importance of individual data use agreements and the need for country-level investigators to be involved at every stage of the data-sharing process. There was consensus that this involvement would be a part of the concept proposal process.

Research Resources

Among the resources shared by Ann Tufariello (Rutgers) were the Collaborate with Us and Common Protocol Toolkit webpages. Ann walked people through the various documents to be referred to for ongoing and proposed research. This included the revision of the Clinical Manual of Procedures, which is expected to be finalized early in 2026.

Rajita Bhavaraju (Rutgers) discussed RICC capacity-building initiatives, including its Post-Doctoral Fellowship and Future Leaders Program, courses, and the Virtual Learning Room (VLR). She encouraged the audience to contribute to the VLR and the Weekly Education Bulletin, as well as to mentor and be faculty for training events.

Proposed Research and Specimen Retention

For new proposals, presentations were made about the revised concept sheet workflow and standards of practice. Alex Benns of Frontier Sciences discussed RADAR – The RePORT International Data and Specimen Availability Dashboard. Alex reviewed the dashboard’s content and noted feedback about future versions. This was followed up by his discussion of data harmonization efforts within the Consortium. Alex, along with Stephany Duda (Vanderbilt) and David Hom (Rutgers), the chairs of the Data Harmonization Working Group, led discussions around best practices for data collection, use, and sharing throughout the meeting. Finally, Soyeon Kim (Frontier Sciences) provided an overview of RePORT’s revised specimen valuation guidance, as well as provided recommendations for keeping select specimens based on study design, type of research outcome, and specimen rarity.

Special thanks to RICC Program Manager Daphne Martin for her tireless behind-the-scenes work in tying everything together! If you have any questions or feedback about the meeting, please email tbricc@njms.rutgers.edu.