OU Launches New Real-World Evidence Research Capability Through OHDSI Training and Atlas Deployment

The University of Oklahoma recently hosted its inaugural Real-World Data and Observational Health Data Sciences and Informatics training workshop through the Office of Clinical Research Informatics and the Biomedical and Behavioral Methodology Core, bringing together a multidisciplinary group of clinical and data scientists from across the university's three major campuses in Norman, Oklahoma City and Tulsa. The workshop was designed to build institutional capacity for conducting large-scale real-world evidence research using the international OHDSI network.

The 12 selected participants represented an intentionally balanced cohort of six clinical scientists and six data scientists. This team-science approach reflects the growing need for close collaboration between domain experts and advanced analytics specialists in modern healthcare research. Participants received hands-on training in study design, cohort definition, patient-level prediction, and large-scale observational research methods used by leading academic medical centers worldwide.

A major milestone highlighted during the workshop was the launch of the Atlas platform for OU Health. Atlas provides investigators with secure access to a de-identified representation of OU Health clinical data transformed into the international OMOP Common Data Model. For the first time, OU researchers can interactively explore patient populations, develop computable phenotypes, assess feasibility for clinical studies, and prepare analyses using the same infrastructure employed by major OHDSI collaborators around the globe.

The workshop also marked an important step in OU's ability to participate in distributed OHDSI network studies. The OHDSI collaborative includes hundreds of institutions worldwide and has produced influential real-world evidence studies published in leading journals such as The New England Journal of Medicine, The Lancet, JAMA, and Nature Medicine. By adopting OHDSI standards and training a local workforce capable of conducting these analyses, OU is positioning itself to contribute to future multi-site studies that address pressing questions in treatment effectiveness, medication safety, healthcare delivery, and population health.

This initiative was supported through the Oklahoma Shared Clinical and Translational Resources program and an NIH-funded administrative supplement focused on expanding institutional capabilities in real-world data science, clinical research informatics, and workforce development. The workshop represents a key milestone in advancing the goals of the OSCTR program by creating a sustainable workforce capable of conducting reproducible real-world evidence studies using local clinical data resources and participating in national and international research networks.

Beyond the immediate educational impact, the event establishes a foundation for future collaborations among researchers across the OU Health Campus, Norman and Tulsa campuses. Participants completed the workshop having successfully executed large-scale OHDSI analyses using local data resources, creating a pipeline of investigators prepared to leverage real-world evidence methods in their own research programs.

As healthcare increasingly relies on real-world data to complement traditional clinical trials, this initiative positions OU among a growing number of institutions contributing to an international ecosystem dedicated to generating evidence from routine clinical care at unprecedented scale.