title: A Multiagent System for Dynamic Data Aggregation in Medical Research.
abstract: The collection of medical data for research purposes is a challenging and long-lasting process. In an effort to accelerate and facilitate this process we propose a new framework for dynamic aggregation of medical data from distributed sources. We use agent-based coordination between medical and research institutions. Our system employs principles of peer-to-peer network organization and coordination models to search over already constructed distributed databases and to identify the potential contributors when a new database has to be built. Our framework takes into account both the requirements of a research study and current data availability. This leads to better definition of database characteristics such as schema, content, and privacy parameters. We show that this approach enables a more efficient way to collect data for medical research.
authors.affiliation: Applied Intelligent Systems Laboratory, HES-SO VS, Sierre, Switzerland; Distributed Information Systems Laboratory, EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Alevtina
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-9669-1250
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dubovitskaya
authors.affiliation: Accounting and Information Management, Maastricht University, Maastricht, Netherlands.
authors.forename: Visara
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Urovi
authors.affiliation: Information Security Group, UPC, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Imanol
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Barba
authors.affiliation: Distributed Information Systems Laboratory, EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Karl
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Aberer
authors.affiliation: Applied Intelligent Systems Laboratory, HES-SO VS, Sierre, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Michael Ignaz
authors.initials: MI
authors.lastname: Schumacher
mesh_terms: D003219:Confidentiality; D016208:Databases, Factual; D006801:Humans; D016347:Medical Records Systems, Computerized