Big Data for Complex Disease

Big Data for Complex Disease focuses on bringing together different types of information about patients to better understand opportunities to improve health care through the prediction, diagnosis, treatment or even prevention of complex disease. The work will initially focus on cancer and cardiovascular disease (CVD) the complex diseases responsible for the majority of disease and death in the UK and globally (CVD includes a range of disease such as heart attacks, strokes and Arrhythmia).

This programme will use data from the whole UK population (60-65 million people), providing new tools and opportunities to understand how complex diseases effect each other and how peoples characteristics impact the chance of getting and outcomes of these diseases. This challenge will be an opportunity to bring experts in these different diseases types together and work as a team to improve patient care.

This work is funded by the UKRI Medical Research Council, UKRI Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, UKRI Economic and Social Research Council, Department of Health and Social Care, National Institute for Health Research (England), Chief Scientist Office (Scottish Government), Health and Care Research Wales, Public Health Agency HSC (Northern Ireland), British Heart Foundation and Cancer Research UK

For a wide range of complex diseases, deriving intelligence from nationwide, multisource, linked health relevant data has the potential to yield crucial insights that accelerate and enhance opportunities for innovation in disease detection, diagnosis, treatment, improved care, better outcomes and more rational health policy. Cancer and cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are the two commonest causes of morbidity and mortality in the UK and globally, with incidence, morbidity and mortality increasing over the last several decades as the world’s population has aged. Slowing these global trends requires approaches that recognise and exploit the power of whole, large population-scale health relevant data to catalyse health data science and its translation (The NHS Longterm Plan, August 2019; CVD-COVID-UK Project). We also need to break down traditionally siloed disease and expertise specific domains, rising to the challenge of jointly addressing cancer, CVD, other complex diseases, their inter-relationships and their sequelae. Crucially, we need to use the intelligence gained to translate into real benefit for citizens and patients and influence national and international policy and best practice.

Objectives
The Big Data for Complex Disease (BDCD) Driver Programme will address three core challenges that focus on deploying whole population, national linked health data:
1. To better predict development of cancer and CVD and to stratify risk for better early detection, early diagnosis and prevention.
2. To improve understanding of the inter-relationship between these complex diseases to ensure that data-driven insights fully inform strategies for the prevention, early diagnosis and management of both treatment sequelae and long-term risk.
3. To examine and better understand the impact of inequalities to influence and mitigate the negative impacts on incidence and outcomes associated with age, gender, ethnicity, geography and deprivation.

Impact and legacy
With an initial focus on cancer and CVD, but with clear potential through leverage to expand to other complex diseases, the Big Data for Complex Disease (BDCD) Driver Programme will address these challenges, bringing together expertise, data assets and research infrastructure from across the UK to create an enduring Data Foundation that will underpin research into these conditions and their interrelationships over the next decade and beyond.