Duke participates in several Clinical Data Research Networks (CDRNs), making it easier to conduct multi-site studies by enabling access to well-curated EHR data at all member institutions, including Duke.

Leveraging the CDRN program provides many benefits to your research:

  • Quickly obtain counts of patients meeting your eligibility criteria

  • Assess feasibility of multi-site studies and engage in data-driven site selection

  • Find collaborators at other member institutions

  • Navigate the associated regulatory processes

Our team can help you learn about the Duke CDRN program and the process for accessing CDRN resources. 

Contact us to learn more about our available resources and services.

CDRNs available to Duke investigators

STAR Clinical Research Network  (PCORnet member network)

  • Scope of data or reach: local, regional, and national

  • Population: More than 25 million (STAR) and more than 47 million per year (PCORnet)

  • Who is involved: 

  1. Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC)
  2. Essentia Health
  3. Meharry Medical College (MMC)
  4. Duke University Health System
  5. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
  6. Wake Forest University School of Medicine
  7. Medical University of South Carolina
  8. Mayo Clinic, headquartered in Minnesota
  9. Stanford University School of Medicine

With data on over 15 million patients, the STAR CRN consists of academic health centers, community hospitals and a range of outpatient practices including primary care, specialty practices and safety net facilities that serve diverse populations. Through this network, we have access to a broad array of clinical data, informatics tools, patients, providers, and systems to address an array of research questions, as well as opportunities to collaborate on various studies.

The objective of the STAR CRN is to robustly support comparative effectiveness studies, pragmatic clinical trials, health system innovation, and other needs of researchers, patient partners, and other partner organizations. The STAR network is particularly focused on research to improve health in the southern United States which has the highest rates of obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, certain cancers, and other conditions, as well as significant disparities in health status and health care delivery.

National Clinical Cohort Collaborative (N3C)

COVID Enclave

  • Scope: local and national

  • Population: 22.8 million

  • Who is involved: 988 sites

The National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) provides stewardship for N3C, one of the largest secure collections of harmonized clinical health data in the United States. N3C systematically collects data derived from electronic health records from different institutions and harmonizes these data into data enclaves. The enclaves offer spaces for collaborative research. In addition, the enclaves can connect to other data sets, which creates a more complete picture of health outcomes.

Initially created in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, NCATS is piloting the use of the original N3C infrastructure for additional health conditions. Duke is a contributor to the COVID Enclave and is planning to contribute to the Cancer Enclave.