First-of-its-Kind COVID-19 Database Launched in Pune, Capturing Vital Clinical Data

Pune, 31st May 2024: Pune Knowledge Cluster (PKC), together with various stakeholders launched a first-of-its-kind COVID-19 database, which hosts retrospective COVID-19 clinical data from 2000 patients across Pune. While talking about the conceptualization and development of the database,

Dr. Priya Nagaraj (CEO, Pune Knowledge Cluster) said, “The database is a great example of how a cluster approach can be used effectively to bring various stakeholders to work together to solve problems of national relevance at scale.”

Highlighting the collaborative effort, she said that the passion, commitment and collective vision of all the partners involved, namely the hospitals – BJ Medical College, Noble Hospital and Symbiosis University Hospital and Research Centre; the research organizations – CSIR-National Chemical Laboratory, and the companies – AIQoD (Formerly- GI Bots) and EPIC-Health Information Management (EPIC-HIM) was instrumental in bringing the database to fruition.

Dr. Rajesh Karyakarte (Professor and Head of Microbiology Dept, B.J. Govt. Medical College), said, “Through this database, we can ensure that India puts a step forward in contributing towards medical research for infectious diseases, which we have been unable to do so far, especially in the previous pandemic situations.”

Dr. Ameet Dravid (MD, Internal Medicine, Noble Hospital) added, “The world is hungry for data, and it should be put out at the right time. We hope that the insights from this database can be extended for building databases for other diseases, which can be used for understanding realtime disease progression.”

The database captures over 100 different clinical parameters, collected from patient IPD files – including: vitals, supplemental oxygen, lab investigations, pre-existing conditions (such ashypertension, diabetes, cancer) etc.

While talking about the challenges faced during digitization of the data, Dilip Deshmukh (Cofounder and Chief Mentor, EPIC-HIM) said, “It was important to not only capture the data but also have it in a format that could be analysed. Making the system scalable was also crucial so as to make sure that more data points can be added in the future.”

PKC and partners stressed that the database is open source and the primary aim is to make the data available to all interested stakeholders for further exploratory use. Insights from the stakeholders will be crucial in scaling up the database and helping it evolve into a more user-friendly version. The database can be accessed on PKC’s website at: https://www.pkc.org.in/pkc-focus-area/health/covid-19-pune-clinical-database/

The Pune Knowledge Cluster is one of the seven Science and Technology Clusters established by the office of the PSA under The City Knowledge and Innovation Cluster Initiative (CKIC). PKC aims to bring together Academic Institutions, R&D organizations, Industries, Industry Associations, NGOs, Civic Bodies, and Local and State governments to collectively work for the betterment of Pune City by leveraging the science and technology capabilities of its partner organizations.