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Requesting Data Access

Overview

All data access in the TRE is governed by a formal request and approval workflow. Requests are reviewed and actioned by your DS Administrator as part of Reviewing & Approving Requests. Data cannot be accessed without explicit approval — this page covers how to submit a request, track its status, and what becomes available once it's approved.

Types of Access Requests

Request Type Description When to Use
Dataset Access Request Grants access to an entire dataset from the Catalog. When you need to work with all records in a dataset without applying specific filters.
Cohort Access Request Grants access to a defined subset matching your study criteria. When you have built a cohort using the Query Builder (see Building a Cohort) and need access to the resulting de-identified, person-level records.

Requesting Access to an Entire Dataset

  1. Select Datasets → navigate to the Catalog tab.
  2. Click on the dataset you wish to access.
  3. Click the Request Cohort icon in the top-right corner of the Dataset Summary screen.

  4. Complete the access request form:

    Field Description
    Name A descriptive name for the request (e.g., Entire_MIMIC).
    Justification A clear explanation of why you need access to the entire dataset.
    Tags Optional key-value tags for easy retrieval (e.g., Key: Condition, Value: AFib).

  5. Click Submit.

    Dataset access request form

The request is now submitted to your DS Administrator for review.

Requesting Access to a Cohort

After building and validating a cohort using the Query Builder (see Building a Cohort):

  1. From the Cohort Summary dashboard, click the Request Cohort icon in the top-right corner.

    Save Cohort icon on the Cohort Summary dashboard

  2. Complete the access request form:

    Field Description
    Name A descriptive name for the cohort (e.g., AFib_metoprolol_cohort).
    Description A brief summary of the cohort's composition.
    Justification The research justification for requesting access to this cohort.
    Tags Key-value tags for searchability. Click Add New and enter a Key and Value for each tag.

    Cohort access request form

  3. Review all entries for accuracy, then click Submit.

Tracking the Status of Your Requests

After submitting an access request, monitor its status from the Cohorts tab:

  1. Select Datasets → navigate to the Cohorts tab.
  2. Your submitted requests are listed with their current status.
Status Description
Pending Approval The request has been submitted and is awaiting review by your DS Administrator.
Approved The request has been approved. You now have access to the dataset or cohort.
Rejected The request has been declined. Contact your DS Administrator for details.

Click the Refresh icon in the top-right corner of the Cohorts screen to check for status updates.

For a consolidated view of all your pending and resolved requests — including workstation provisioning, file uploads, and file downloads — navigate to My Requests in the left-hand navigation pane.

What Happens After Approval

Approved Dataset and Cohort Dashboards

Once your request is approved, the dataset or cohort appears under the Cohorts tab with an Approved status. Clicking it opens the full Cohort Dashboard, which includes:

  • Aggregate statistics and distribution visualisations.
  • A Kaplan-Meier Survival Curve — displayed when scrolling down within the dashboard, providing survival analysis insights for the cohort population.

  • A Person Table — anonymised person-level records, searchable by Person ID.

    Screenshot: Record-level table at the bottom of the Dataset Summary Dashboard, with the Person/Specimen toggle dropdown visible in the top-right corner of the table

  • A Specimen Table — specimen-level records. Switch to this view using the drop-down in the top-right corner of the table area.

Approved cohorts are also available as direct inputs to pipeline runs — select a cohort from the Cohorts tab when configuring pipeline parameters.

Person Dashboard

To drill into the record of an individual patient:

  1. Open the Person Table within the Cohort Dashboard.
  2. Click on a Person ID to open the Person Dashboard.

The Person Dashboard includes:

  • Medical History — anonymised medical history with a Sankey Chart visualising the progression of conditions and treatments over time. Screenshot: Person Dashboard Medical History section showing the Sankey chart of condition and treatment progression

  • Drug Exposure — toggle between a Plot View (graphical timeline) and Table View (tabular listing with drug name, start date, and end date). Screenshot: Person Dashboard Drug Exposure section in Plot view, showing a timeline of drug exposure periods

    Screenshot: Person Dashboard Drug Exposure section in Table view, showing drug name, start date, and end date columns

  • Specimen tab — a summary of genomic variants found in the patient's sample.

Specimen Dashboard

To explore genomic variant data for a specific specimen:

  1. In the Cohort Dashboard, switch the table view to Specimen using the drop-down.
  2. Click on a Specimen ID to open the Specimen Dashboard.

The Specimen Dashboard provides:

  • Clinical Significance — classification of variant clinical significance.
  • Variant Class — types of variants identified (e.g., SNP, insertion, deletion).
  • Impact — predicted functional impact of each variant.
  • Consequence — consequence type for each variant (e.g., missense, synonymous).

  • Variant Occurrence Table — a detailed table of all variants, including genomic coordinates, allele frequencies, and annotation details.

    Screenshot: Specimen Dashboard showing variant data visualisations and the Variant Occurrence Table

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