Sharing Data, Sharing Science

The world’s largest funder of biomedical research seeks to ensure research data is open and discoverable.

A year after the novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, appeared, vaccination programs are already underway to protect millions of people around the world. Drug development at this remarkable speed depends on access for the global community of researchers to the very latest science.

A new policy for data management and sharing of the US National Institutes of Health (NIH), the world’s largest funder of biomedical research, will ensure such data is open and discoverable, explains Dr. Carrie Wolinetz. acting chief of staff as well as associate director for science policy and director of the office of science policy at NIH.

“We see responsible data management and sharing to be part of the important stewardship of the biomedical research enterprise,” she tells CCC’s Chris Kenneally.

“It underlies the advancement of science. It ensures that we are able to advance rigorous and reproducible research, that we can validate results. And we think it promotes public trust in research by fostering transparency and accountability,” says Dr. Wolinetz, who advices the NIH Director on science policy matters of significance to the agency, the research community, and the public, including data management and sharing policies.

NIH’s promotion of open data sharing, she says, will also “maximize the contributions of human volunteers who participate in biomedical research by ensuring that their data is responsibly accessible and maximizes their time and contributions to the enterprise.”