Are you aware that Illinois researchers have free access to Research Electronic Data Capture (REDCap)? The renowned data collection and management application launched on the University of Illinois campus last May and Illinois brain health researchers are starting to take advantage of its capabilities. Hillary Schwarb, PhD, a research scientist at IHSI and at the Beckman Institute’s Biomedical Imaging Center, uses Illinois REDCap for her team’s “Champaign-Urbana’s Got Brains: Imaging Healthy Aging” project at the Beckman Institute. She shares her “Illinois REDCap Story” below:
I am using REDCap for our “Champaign-Urbana’s Got Brains: Imaging Healthy Aging” project at the Beckman Institute. This study employs both unique Illinois MRI technologies as well as standard protocols and processing with the goal of capturing the healthy aging process, with a strong focus on community engagement. This is a large scale-study in which healthy seniors from the community (ages 50-90) complete an MRI, physical health assessments, and cognitive assessments to get a unique snapshot of each individual’s brain health. Data collected for this project will serve as a foundation for building a database which can be used as a baseline in comparative clinical assessments in the future.
We chose to work with REDCap for several reasons. REDCap provides a user-friendly environment for data collection and data export that can be highly regulated and is HIPPA compatible. Protecting participant privacy is (of course) a top priority and REDCap is a streamlined system that allows for easy data entry and secure communication with participants. REDCap also provides an organizational structure that ensures accurate data entry which is essential for this large project that includes survey responses, physiological measurements, cognitive tests, and much more.
