Many organizations possess valuable datasets that in theory could be accessed and analyzed by researchers around the globe to answer complex questions about Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD). But in reality, for a variety of regulatory and technological reasons, this data tends to be locked away in siloes. 

Federated and Distributed data Sharing Appliance (FDSA), an integral part of the AD Workbench product suite, addresses this challenge. It provides both those holding data sets and researchers conducting analyses a foundation for widespread data sharing. Ultimately, FDSA will help the research community convert data into breakthroughs that transform people’s health. 

The FDSA is a plug-in for data stores that enables data contributors to easily publish remote datasets, making previously inaccessible research data available for discovery and analysis. Data contributors add their metadata to the AD Workbench catalog so that researchers can discover, request, and access these remote datasets. FDSA supports interoperability across platforms while prioritizing data security. Designed with a user-centric approach, it minimizes the workload for data contributors while allowing them to manage data access requests and audit analyses in a streamlined way. 

Through the AD Workbench, researchers can discover FDSA-enabled remote datasets, request access to those datasets, use a tool called Query Builder to perform remote queries and conduct research analyses from AD Workspace.  

Find additional product spec details here

Find FDSA architecture here

The FDSA is offered free of charge by the AD Data Initiative to help data contributors and researchers collaborate.

Access user guides, release notes, additional product specs, and more.

For support and more information, email fdsa.support@alzheimersdata.org.