In the relentless pursuit of groundbreaking solutions to health challenges, we stand at the threshold of a new era—one defined by transformative integration, collaborative innovation, and accelerated scientific advancement. The creation of UVA’s Resource and Data Exchange (RDE) is a visionary initiative, designed to serve as the catalyst for unprecedented strides in efficient research. Building on the success of the integrated Translational Health Research Institute of Virginia (iTHRIV) Portal and Research Data Commons, and integrating with existing and upcoming systems such as the IRB-HSR database, Huron, REDCap, and the Clinical Data Warehouse, the Research Data Enclave provides a much-needed expansion of the University’s research data resources – allowing researchers to support team science and accelerate scientific innovation across Grounds.  

The recent success in responding to critical health crises, from Ebola to the ongoing challenges posed by COVID-19, underscores the crucial role of integrated and harmonized data in impactful research and translational science. Recognizing data integration as the cornerstone for team science, personalized healthcare, and participatory health solutions, there is an urgent need to address the existing challenges in developing comprehensive systems for integrating diverse datasets. Despite successes targeted at specific, critical infectious diseases and specialized genomic data sets, the development and availability of systems and processes to manage diverse data sets remains a major challenge. To meet this challenge, the UVA Resource and Data Exchange has the following key elements: 

(1)        Stand-alone, customizable web portals (RDE instances) that are configured by instance owners based on the specific scope and aims of the research as well as their intended audience or user base;

(2)        A shared index of resource and data assets across these domain specific RDE instances;

(3)        Technical harmonization using common data and interface standards;

(4)        Data preprocessing and transformation using code workbooks that will allow users to access available data for their projects and join on common data elements; and

(5)        Integration with UVA analytics platforms Building upon the success of the iTHRIV Portal and the Research Data Commons, the Resource and Data Exchange has evolved into a customizable information and data management platform. Its adaptability empowers other research organizations within the University of Virginia and across the Commonwealth to rapidly adopt and benefit from a unified approach, reducing redundancy in data-related efforts and fostering data interoperability and discoverability across research silos when appropriate while supporting granular access controls.

This initiative represents a transformative step towards turning data into knowledge, positioning UVA as a leader in data resource sharing, research capabilities and infrastructure. By integrating diverse datasets, encompassing environmental, geographic, socioeconomic, and educational dimensions, the RDE is elevating the University to new heights, offering unparalleled resources for scientific inquiry.

The RDE supports the indexing and storage of research data obtained from disparate sources to support efforts in understanding how best to direct research efforts and support communities. The collection of disparate data is critical to our understanding of important societal problems and formulating solutions. The Enclave can assemble and harmonize sufficiently large and diverse data sets on an on-going basis to support scientific analysis and, hence, make truly significant and impactful contributions to even the most challenging scientific and societal problems.

The Resource and Data Exchange (RDE) team has been consolidated under the School of Data Science (SDS) as of September 22, 2025, with several members transitioning over from the School of Medicine. The process of planning this expansion and redesign from the foundational iTHRIV product involved a re-discovery process encompassing design, business analysis, and digital strategy disciplines and resulted in deliverables including wireframes with prototyping built in Figma, detailed specifications, and a development workplan based on clear objectives and design guidelines approved by the product owner. Ancillary documentation on RDE user roles and permissions and instance configurations as well as architecture diagrams was also produced to support development and communication with future RDE instance owners and their leadership.

With a view to meeting both current and future year SIF milestones in the most efficient manner possible, the net outcome of that planning process was a re-envisioning of the user experience redesign as a full rebuild that carries forward the proven features and business logic of the working production version of the product. A key factor in this outcome was ensuring that all software frameworks and dependencies were updated to their latest versions for all components of the RDE framework, not just the user interface / frontend. This was of paramount importance for taking advantage of the latest security patches, performance improvements, and feature enhancements. The updates to these frameworks and software packages necessitated so many changes to the source code, a rebuild was the only logical option.

Additional trade-offs weighed in deciding to proceed with the rebuild included a substantial improvement in maintainability and eliminating technical debt while requiring additional time to deliver. RDE leadership has identified five initial RDE instances that have since been deployed: UVA RDE for Health Research, UVA Academic, Environmental Institute, Biocomplexity Institute, and Autism Drive. The deployment of these five instances is a major expansion of the RDE network beyond the original iTHRIV platform and demonstrates the full breadth of configurability of the new product. These instances demonstrate the RDE’s versatility across domains, from supporting sensitive health data and cross-school collaboration to replacing costly bespoke systems with a single configurable solution.

Meanwhile, new collaborations – including a planned Virginia Tech Carilion (VTC) instance funded by the VCCRN – underscore the growing sustainability and cross-institutional reach of the RDE initiative. RDE instance and custom product enhancements have been written into several large UVA grant proposals this past few years: NIH P30 Center for Diabetes Research, NSF Research on Research Security, ARPA-H Biomedical Data Fabric, and the NIH Autism Data Science Initiative. While those particular proposals were not funded, we expect to be part of resubmissions. These opportunities demonstrate a common recognized need for RDE information and data harmonization and sharing across a diverse range of disciplines. As our first new RDE instances launch in the coming months, we hope they help illustrate the range of possible uses. Communications will help spread awareness so that the product can be incorporated into more large-scale proposals, ensuring the future sustainability of the product.

The RDE team has also engaged with UVA Licensing and Ventures Group (LVG) this year to prepare for the launch of a private company that will support sale of RDE software licenses and support services to external entities.
 

UVA’s Resource and Data Exchange facilitates the collection and dissemination of research resources and data by providing a customizable platform that supports collaboration within and across a diverse range of fields. As a central university resource for ethically and securely integrating data from multiple sources, including but not limited to protected health information, the RDE enables team-based science and collaborative research in tackling the most important societal problems from precision health care and human development to environmental science and climate change.

UVA RDE (Live)

https://uva.rdexchange.org/

The central, university-wide RDE instance supports research data management and resource discovery across UVA. It includes tools to help users find and access UVA-licensed datasets and other shared research assets.

UVA RDE for Health Research (Live)

https://health-research-uva.rdexchange.org/

This specialized instance focuses on health research. It includes content from the original iTHRIV Portal and Research Data Commons, along with newly added resources, projects, and datasets.

It is designed for highly sensitive data, including HIPAA-regulated information, with secure infrastructure managed by UVA Health IT.

Autism Drive RDE (Live)

https://autismdrive.rdexchange.org/

Autism Drive connects individuals and families across Virginia with autism-related resources and UVA researchers.

This platform replaces a previous custom-built application, with all content successfully migrated to RDE in 2025.

Additional RDE Instances (Deployed)

RDE instances have also been built for the Biocomplexity Institute and the Environmental Institute. These sites are currently being populated with content and will be publicly announced by instance owners.

Future RDE Instances (Planned)

The RDE platform continues to expand through new institutional initiatives and grant-funded projects. Its flexible design supports a wide range of research and operational needs, including:

• Multi-institutional collaborations
• Federated data storage across systems
• Domain-specific research environments

New instances can typically be launched in under two weeks once configuration is finalized, enabling rapid support for emerging research needs.

Contact [email protected] if interested in a demo or if you would like to include the RDE in a proposal.