Evaluating the harmonisation potential of diverse cohort datasets

Semantic Harmonization of Alzheimer's Disease Datasets Using AD-Mapper

Background

Despite numerous past endeavors for the semantic harmonization of Alzheimer's disease (AD) cohort studies, an automatic tool has yet to be developed.

Objective

As cohort studies form the basis of data-driven analysis, harmonizing them is crucial for cross-cohort analysis. We aimed to accelerate this task by constructing an automatic harmonization tool.

Methods

We created a common data model (CDM) through cross-mapping data from 20 cohorts, three CDMs, and ontology terms, which was then used to fine-tune a BioBERT model. Finally, we evaluated the model using three previously unseen cohorts and compared its performance to a string-matching baseline model.

Results

Here, we present our AD-Mapper interface for automatic harmonization of AD cohort studies, which outperformed a string-matching baseline on previously unseen cohort studies. We showcase our CDM comprising 1218 unique variables.

Conclusion

AD-Mapper leverages semantic similarities in naming conventions across cohorts to improve mapping performance.

National and international collaborations to advance research into vascular contributions to cognitive decline

Cerebrovascular disease is the second most common cause of cognitive disorders, usually referred to as vascular contributions to cognitive impairment and dementia (VCID) and makes some contribution to about 70 % of all dementias. Despite its importance, research into VCID has lagged as compared to cognitive impairment due to Alzheimer's disease. There is an increasing appreciation that closing this gap requires large national and international collaborations. This paper highlights 24 notable large-scale national and international efforts to advance research into VCID (MarkVCID, DiverseVCID, DISCOVERY, COMPASS-ND, HBC, RHU SHIVA, UK DRI Vascular Theme, STROKOG, Meta VCI Map, ISGC, ENIGMA-Stroke Recovery, CHARGE, SVDs@target, BRIDGET, CADASIL Consortium, CADREA, AusCADASIL, DPUK, DPAU, STRIVE, HARNESS, FINESSE, VICCCS, VCD-CRE Delphi). These collaborations aim to investigate the effects on cognition from cerebrovascular disease or impaired cerebral blood flow, the mechanisms of action, means of prevention and avenues for treatment. Consensus groups have been developed to harmonise global approaches to VCID, standardise terminology and inform management and treatment, and data sharing is becoming the norm. VCID research is increasingly a global collaborative enterprise which bodes well for rapid advances in this field.