Making Research Technology Work for Researchers

How clinical research informatics is helping NIH investigators navigate data, access modern tools, and pursue new avenues of scientific discovery.

Scientific research increasingly depends on the ability to access, organize, and analyze large amounts of complex data. For researchers, however, navigating multiple systems and technical processes can take valuable time away from the work itself. Developing tools that simplify these tasks and support collaboration is an important part of strengthening the research environment at the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Through the Clinical Research Informatics Supporting Principal Investigators (CRISPI) initiative, NIH is working to improve the technology and services available to its intramural research community. The initiative supports efforts to modernize clinical research infrastructure, improve data accessibility, and provide investigators with tools that address the practical challenges of conducting research.

Nicholas Dobbins, Ph.D., MLIS, Director of Clinical Research Informatics and CRISPI Co-Lead, works at the intersection of biomedical informatics, software development, and artificial intelligence (AI). His work focuses on developing intuitive, user-centered tools that help researchers work with biomedical data and explore new approaches to scientific discovery.

Addressing the Practical Challenges of Research

Research technology is most useful when it addresses a real need. For investigators, that may mean finding eligible participants for a clinical trial, collecting reliable study data, locating relevant information across databases, or reducing the technical expertise required to begin an analysis.

Dr. Dobbins’s background in biomedical informatics has focused on these types of challenges. His work includes developing tools for cohort discovery, extracting information from electronic health records, and applying natural language processing and large language models to biomedical research questions.

One example is Leaf, a self-service cohort discovery platform he developed that enables researchers to query biomedical databases and identify patient populations relevant to their studies. The platform also supports queries across participating research institutions, illustrating how informatics tools can help researchers explore data beyond the boundaries of a single system.

His research has also examined how machine learning approaches can translate clinical trial eligibility criteria into database queries. This work explores ways to make the process of identifying potentially eligible participants more efficient and reduce some of the manual technical work involved.

These efforts reflect a broader principle: research tools should be designed around the needs of the people using them. Making systems easier to navigate and data easier to explore can help researchers devote more time to study design, analysis, and scientific questions.

Building Research Infrastructure to Support NIH Investigators

At NIH, CRISPI applies this practical approach to the needs of the intramural research community. Its programs and initiatives span research data collection, secure AI resources, clinical data infrastructure, and tools intended to improve access to information across research systems.

For example, CRISPI provides REDCap services that help research teams design and manage electronic data capture systems, surveys, and study databases. These services include project development, training, and technical support throughout the research lifecycle. By helping teams establish reliable data collection processes, CRISPI supports the operational foundation needed for high-quality research.

The initiative is also supporting access to emerging technologies through NIH ChIRP, a secure generative AI platform that allows NIH researchers and staff to leverage large language models safely and securely within the NIH environment.

Other efforts are in development, including a Clinical Data Warehouse intended to provide a centralized environment for securely exploring and analyzing clinical research data. Additional initiatives include a Clinical Research Dashboard designed to bring protocol information together from multiple sources, as well as a Clinical AI Pilot supporting computationally intensive research applications.

Together, these efforts address different aspects of the research process. They also reflect the importance of building shared infrastructure that can support a range of investigators, studies, and scientific disciplines rather than relying on isolated solutions for individual projects.

Secure environments and appropriate data governance are especially important when working with clinical information. By developing infrastructure and evaluating emerging tools within the context of research needs, NIH can explore new technical capabilities while maintaining attention to privacy, security, and responsible data use.

A Collaborative Approach to Research Innovation

Improving research technology is an ongoing effort that involves investigators, informatics specialists, software developers, data experts, and institutional partners. Understanding researchers’ needs, coordinating across systems, and evaluating new approaches are all essential to developing tools that are useful beyond a single project.

CRISPI’s work contributes to this broader effort by bringing services and technology initiatives together to address shared challenges across the NIH research community. Dr. Dobbins’s experience in software engineering, database design, and biomedical informatics informs this work, particularly in the development of tools that make complex technical capabilities more accessible.

As research questions and technologies continue to evolve, the need for adaptable, secure, and user-centered infrastructure will remain important. Improving how researchers collect, discover, and analyze data can help reduce avoidable barriers and create more opportunities for collaboration.

Ultimately, the value of research informatics lies in how well it supports the scientific mission. By strengthening the tools and systems available to investigators, NIH can help create an environment in which researchers are better equipped to focus on discovery and advance knowledge for the benefit of public health.