About Cohort Discovery

Cohort Discovery helps researchers and innovators to rapidly determine the size of the population which may be relevant to their research question within different datasets, without having to directly contact the individual organisations that hold the data.  

Users can specify defined characteristics relevant to their proposed analysis (e.g. the number of female asthmatics between the ages of 25 and 35) through the Cohort Discovery user interface. These search terms are then sent as a real-time query to multiple pseudonymised datasets across multiple Data Custodians, with results returned in the form of a numerical count of individuals that meet those specific criteria. 

Researchers can then understand whether a dataset contains a cohort (or group) of interest and if so, contact the Data Custodian to find out more or submit a Data Access Request. The Gateway enables researchers and innovators to easily submit standardised requests to multiple custodians identified through Cohort Discovery. This saves time and effort for both the researcher and the Data Custodian.