Application Procedures

Intake Interview (Recommended)

Investigators should avail themselves of the opportunity to discuss their data needs with the CTSC’s Biomedical Informatics Specialist prior to submitting an application. This is especially important if they do not have a detailed familiarity with the structure or format of available data. Please arrange a meeting with Laurie McPherson (lmcpherson@salud.unm.edu ).

Submission of Application

Please complete the Data Request in advance (all documents available for download on the Forms page). You may also wish to complete the Data Specification Worksheet, or you can work with staff to do this during an optional intake meeting. An example request and some useful links are available at Constructing Your Data Specifications. When submitting your Data Request please attach copies of your study protocol, HRRC approval, research informed consent or waiver, and HIPAA authorization or waiver, where applicable. (Requests for activities preparatory to research require less documentation). Submission may be done in person, by fax transmission, by emailing a PDF, or via postal mail to:

Laurie McPherson
Biomedical Informatics Specialist
Clinical & Translational Science Center (CTSC)
University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center
MSC08 4560
1 University of New Mexico
Albuquerque, NM 87131-0001

Fax: (505) 272-9675
Phone: (505) 925-4123
Email: lmcpherson@salud.unm.edu

Review of Applications

Requests will be subject to review and approval by the CTSC’s Data Warehouse Committee, with notification to TriCore or other cooperating data repository. The committee meets on the 2nd and 4th Tuesday of each month. In addition, HRRC approval or exemption will be verified. If the request is deemed problematic the investigator will be contacted with an explanation and provided with assistance in re-defining the request. Most approved studies will not be initially charged a fee. However, eventually larger or more work intensive projects may be required to pay a fee.

As requests are approved, data access will be granted only to persons submitting a signed copy of the Data Use/Transfer Agreement. Fulfillment of applications is contingent of observance of proper safeguards of the data. These safeguards are described in the next section on Data Handling Requirements.