Scottish Health Informatics Programme (SHIP) .

The Scottish Health Informatics Programme (SHIP) is an ambitious inter-disciplinary, multi-institutional research programme that will result in high impact research findings, and create a legacy platform for research using electronic patient records (EPRs) in the United Kingdom. The bid has five key deliverables: To provide access to an exciting new national research facility, firmly embedded within and supported by NHS Scotland, providing the basis for numerous future studies using EPRs. To develop and evaluate innovative approaches to the storage, interrogation and linkage of external third party datasets, including genomic information, to EPRs. To provide training and workshops, as well as a biennial international conference; the only inter-disciplinary conference of its type which brings together world leaders in this field. To undertake public engagement activities, building on considerable experience in the field of public s attitudes to genetic studies, to define a transparent and publicly acceptable approach to the governance of EPR research. To produce novel research using EPRs and major longitudinal cohort databases, specifically in the areas of clinical trials, pharmacovigilance, diabetes epidemiology, and research resulting from the linkage of EPRs to socioeconomic and environmental data.