StudyVault

StudyVault Features

Project-Wide Data Management Platform

StudyVault is an easy to use cloud-based data management platform that helps multi-national researchers, clinicians, and analysts to share research data securely online. The ability to work effectively as a project consortium can be integral to project success. StudyVault helps by centralizing study information, intervention details and research data.

Pintail deploy StudyVault as a hosted service for sharing encrypted research data. Each partner has the option to deploy optional on-site software that stores and manages ethically sensitive participant information. This software add-on works seamlessly with the StudyVault system so that you can access, update and query personal information in house while sharing anonymized data with your project partners.

Strict mode - data on cloud only

Multiple Modes of Operation Supported

StudyVault is available in three modes of operation: strict, standard, and retro.

In strict mode, only research data is held in StudyVault – no personal data is held. All data is encrypted as standard. This is appropriate for pre-clinical research and for clinical data sets where ethics requirements mandate a particular location, software system or management scheme for personal patient data (e.g. names, identifiers).

Standard mode of operation is appropriate for research data that may contain personal information. In such cases, local ethical guidelines may mandate that personal data that cannot be stored anonymously off-site. In this mode, anonymised research data is stored on the cloud whereas personal data is stored encrypted using local StudyVault technology in-house and is only accessible to researchers within that institute. The StudyVault interface provides seamless access to data from both local and cloud-based stores, integrated using an anonymous identifier.

The retro mode enables researchers to upload retrospective data sets to the cloud. Pintail works with research partners to map existing research data models into a suitable format for analysis, aggregation with other data sets and sharing using StudyVault. This enables search and query of retrospective data sets in combination with new prospective data sets.

Standard mode - data from cloud and local sources integrated by StudyVault

Security, Ethics and Data Protection Support

Security, ethics and data protection are the main concerns amongst research consortiums who may wrestle with adopting cloud computing. A cloud environment isn’t inherently less secure than an on-site environment – it’s all in our implementation. Pintail works with each project to ensure that the research management system is suitably secure and meets the ethics requirements of partner institutes.

All sensitive research results are encrypted, be they on the cloud or stored in-house or in transit. StudyVault uses standard cryptographic methods including AES and SSL . This enables the system to provide seamless data protection at all stages. StudyVault offers unique user authentication to ensure that only authorized users and project partners receive access. StudyVault protects and controls any confidential personal information with optional on-site software that keeps all sensitive data on-site, encrypted, but interoperable (by authorised users) with the research data stored on the cloud.

The system use unique partner authentication keys to enhance data security and control who can access data. StudyVault also enables administrators to view consolidated, real-time logging data and status information from every component of StudyVault so that they can view the trail of access, traffic, updates, data removal and recovery.