The INSIGHT Clinical Research Network (CRN), an expansive and sophisticated database harboring over 23 million patient health records, has recently secured a renewed funding grant amounting to $13.5 million from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI). This vital funding infusion marks a significant milestone, ensuring the advancement of national-scale clinical research over the next four years. By enhancing capacities for a broad array of study designs—including observational and retrospective studies, randomized clinical trials, as well as machine learning applications—INSIGHT is set to maintain its pivotal role at the forefront of data-driven medical research.
INSIGHT CRN, recognized as one of the largest urban clinical networks nationwide, operates through a consortium of eight prominent academic health centers located in New York City and the Houston metropolitan area. Spearheaded by a leading team from Weill Cornell Medicine, the network’s collaborators span esteemed institutions such as Columbia University Irving Medical Center, Montefiore Health System, Mount Sinai Health System, NewYork-Presbyterian, NYU Langone Health, Houston Methodist, and the recent inclusion of Stony Brook Medicine, which contributes an additional 1.3 million patient records. This collective trove of electronic health records (EHRs) encompasses comprehensive medical histories, laboratory results, and diagnostic data, creating an unparalleled reservoir for research.
At the core of INSIGHT’s data architecture is the integration of rich, longitudinal patient information. Beyond standard clinical variables, the network ingeniously links electronic health records with claims data from commercial payers and government agencies, as well as non-medical determinants of health, such as socioeconomic status, housing instability, educational attainment, and food insecurity. This multidimensional data fusion profoundly expands the potential for patient-centered outcomes research, particularly in addressing health disparities and fostering health equity.
Leading this ambitious enterprise, Dr. Rainu Kaushal, the principal investigator, senior associate dean of clinical research, and chair of the Department of Population Health Sciences at Weill Cornell Medicine, underscores the transformative power of this database. According to Dr. Kaushal, INSIGHT’s robust and accessible data infrastructure is uniquely positioned to support research that improves health outcomes across diverse populations, particularly those historically underrepresented in clinical research. The capability to analyze real-world evidence at such scale is essential for bridging gaps in patient care and optimizing therapeutic strategies.
INSIGHT’s leadership team also includes Dr. Mark G. Weiner, professor of clinical population health sciences and medicine, and Dr. Thomas R. Campion, Jr., chief research informatics officer and professor of research in population health sciences. Together, they advance the network’s mission through innovative informatics solutions and by fostering collaborations that amplify scientific discovery. Their expertise ensures that the data is not only voluminous but also meticulously standardized and curated to meet the stringent criteria for clinical research validity.
Originally established in 2013 with a foundational $7 million grant, INSIGHT is integrated within PCORnet®, the National Patient-Centered Clinical Research Network. PCORnet itself is a pioneering initiative designed to accelerate patient-centered research by leveraging electronic data resources nationwide. During its initial phase, Weill Cornell Medicine and its collaborators developed a secure, cloud-based infrastructure to govern and facilitate data sharing with robust patient protections in place. The governance model notably incorporates patient representatives who play active roles in shaping research priorities, study designs, and dissemination strategies, thereby embedding the patient voice at every stage.
Over the past decade, INSIGHT has undergone three competitive renewals and attracted more than $100 million in research funding. This success speaks to the network’s rigorous data quality, governance, and ability to support cutting-edge clinical research studies. Patient and community engagement remain central pillars of INSIGHT’s operation, underscoring its commitment to co-creation and transparency. Employing the Accelerator Model, a multi-stakeholder engagement framework, the network fosters dynamic interaction among investigators, patients, regulatory bodies, and community advocates, ensuring that diverse perspectives inform every research initiative.
In its recent Phase 3 activities, the INSIGHT network played a crucial role in the RECOVER PCORnet Adult Initiative, a large-scale consortium dedicated to studying Post-Acute SARS CoV-2 Syndrome (PASC), commonly known as Long COVID. This initiative harnessed the power of real-world and EHR data spanning more than 40 healthcare institutions nationwide to better understand the heterogeneous manifestations of Long COVID. The groundbreaking work identified four primary clinical subtypes of the syndrome and delineated how long COVID risk varies across different demographic and clinical populations, providing invaluable insights for tailored treatment approaches.
Dissemination of these Phase 3 findings has been comprehensive, reaching academic platforms through nearly 100 peer-reviewed publications and numerous presentations at national conferences. Moreover, the wide media coverage—including prominent outlets such as NBC News, Today, and PBS—has ensured public awareness and facilitated the translation of research into actionable health policies. The network’s commitment to transparent and timely dissemination reinforces its goal of accelerating beneficial outcomes for patients and communities at large.
Looking ahead, the newly funded Phase 4 of INSIGHT aims to enhance four strategic pillars: engagement, data infrastructure, dissemination, and governance with research readiness. Critical advancements will include the development of real-time dashboards to monitor study progress and results transparently, repositories for sharing analytic code to promote reproducibility, and expanded presentations that showcase the full spectrum of INSIGHT and PCORnet’s research capabilities. Moreover, the network will continue refining the PCORnet® Common Data Model, a standardized framework that harmonizes data variables and definitions across contributing sites to maximize interoperability and analytic precision.
The network’s vision also encompasses the integration of innovative data streams, such as claims data, patient-reported outcomes, and nuanced social determinants of health. Such comprehensive data amalgamation will dramatically increase the dimension and depth of research inquiries possible, enabling studies with unprecedented scale and granularity. INSIGHT’s enhanced capacity positions it to lead investigations shaping novel therapies, emerging care models, and health policies that address social determinants and promote systemic social change.
Collaborative synergy lies at the heart of INSIGHT’s continued success. By actively working with other Clinical Research Networks across the country, INSIGHT shares best practices, harmonizes methodologies, and optimizes collective data assets. This inter-network collaboration within the PCORnet umbrella ensures that patient-centered research benefits from nationwide integration, promoting powerful discoveries that transcend geographic boundaries.
In addition to expanding traditional clinical research frameworks, the INSIGHT dataset increasingly supports the development and validation of advanced artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning models. These models are applied to complex clinical challenges such as predictive risk stratification, early intervention strategies, and personalized treatment plans across myriad chronic and acute conditions. Techniques ranging from target trial emulation to natural language processing of unstructured clinical notes enable the extraction of critical clinical insights not readily accessible through conventional analyses, thus empowering clinicians and public health experts with actionable intelligence.
As Dr. Kaushal eloquently summarized, the forthcoming four years of INSIGHT work will harness this expanding and richly detailed real-world database to address the most pressing health questions of our time. By fostering convergence between clinical research, informatics, and patient engagement, INSIGHT is poised to redefine how health outcomes are improved on both local and national scales. Its growing data infrastructure stands as a beacon of innovation and equity in modern clinical research.
Subject of Research: Patient-centered clinical research using large-scale electronic health record data to improve health equity and outcomes, with applications in chronic diseases and Long COVID.
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Web References:
- https://vivo.weill.cornell.edu/display/cwid-rak2007
- https://vivo.weill.cornell.edu/display/cwid-mgw4001
- https://vivo.weill.cornell.edu/display/cwid-thc2015
- https://news.weill.cornell.edu/news/2022/02/98-million-nih-grant-drives-clinical-research-into-long-covid
- https://news.weill.cornell.edu/news/2022/12/study-identifies-four-major-subtypes-of-long-covid
- https://news.weill.cornell.edu/news/2023/05/study-discovers-long-covid-risk-and-symptoms-vary-in-different-populations
References: (Detailed academic references not provided in source content)
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Keywords: Health equity; Health care policy
