The national infrastructure

Supporting cohorts in the age of massive data

Cohorts follow populations with common characteristics over time, in order to identify the occurrence of health events of interest (disease or dysfunction in the body).

These exceptional observation tools are based on individual data collected over a long period of time, which can be mobilised for health research and studies.

However, in a growing context of massive and heterogeneous data, systematic data collection and data openness, health cohorts face a number of challenges.

These relate to the protection of privacy, data sharing, the integration and maintenance of technical monitoring tools and high-performance IT systems and, more generally, their sustainability, as the value of a cohort tends to emerge over time.

3 exemple de modes de recueil des données : téléphone, face-à-face, auto-complétion

Data provided by volunteers, by a variety of means: telephone, interview, self-questionnaire, etc.

Serving data science in epidemiology

With its roots in the academic world of health research, France Cohort has cutting-edge expertise in the science and analysis of health data, and is able to offer tools and services tailored to the needs of researchers.

To help them manage the many challenges they face, the France Cohortes national infrastructure :

  • supports research teams running health cohorts throughout the life of the cohort,
  • pools a range of specialised integrated services associated with a secure, high-performance public IT platform,
  • facilitates the collection, processing and ethical re-use of data, guaranteeing respect for the rights and confidentiality of volunteers in cohort studies.
Les services de France Cohortes : recueil, sécurisation, traitement, mise à disposition contrôlée des données

Specialist services for collecting, securing, processing and sharing research data

The ultimate aim of France Cohortes is to :

  • promote and sustain projects and the scientific exploitation of data produced by health cohorts,
  • encourage the emergence of knowledge that can be used to prevent disease and improve care for all or part of the population.

France Cohortes is supported by a Programme d'investissement d'avenir (PIA) managed by the french Research agency, and is placed under the aegis of the Inserm (coordinator), Ined, Université Paris-Saclay, Université Paris Cité and Sorbonne Université.