Taiwan Biobank: making cross-database convergence possible in the Big Data era - PubMed (original) (raw)

Taiwan Biobank: making cross-database convergence possible in the Big Data era

Jui-Chu Lin et al. Gigascience. 2018.

Abstract

The Taiwan Biobank (TWB) is a biomedical research database of biopsy data from 200 000 participants. Access to this database has been granted to research communities taking part in the development of precision medicines; however, this has raised issues surrounding TWB's access to electronic medical records (EMRs). The Personal Data Protection Act of Taiwan restricts access to EMRs for purposes not covered by patients' original consent. This commentary explores possible legal solutions to help ensure that the access TWB has to EMR abides with legal obligations, and with governance frameworks associated with ethical, legal, and social implications. We suggest utilizing "hash function" algorithms to create nonretrospective, anonymized data for the purpose of cross-transmission and/or linkage with EMR.

Keywords: EMR; biobank; linkage; precision medicine.

© The Author(s) 2017. Published by Oxford University Press.

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Figures

Figure 1:

Figure 1:

Flowchart of the BIIP. There are 6 featured policy aspects of the BIIP: talent recruitment, amendments of the law, increased access to electronic medical records and the Taiwan Biobank, development of intellectual property rights, providing financial support, and market and product development. By implementing these 6 policies, the BIIP aims to establish a biomedical corridor that extends from north to south, with 3 major biomedical centers that will be hubs for the development of Taiwan's biomedical industry. Under such a framework, a translational medical platform based on the integration of EMR and the Biobank will be the backbone for streamlining biomedical research. IP: intellectual property.

Figure 2:

Figure 2:

Flowchart describing the hash function framework. One of the key features of hash function algorithms is that they transform identifiable personal data into a unique 128-character code. The Taiwan Biobank will develop and enter into a protocol with the NHID and adopt a hash function framework. When it is necessary to access EMRs in the NHID, all identifiable data processed will be replaced by hash values returned by a hash function, so access to EMRs will proceed in an anonymous manner.

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