Our story
Launched in November 2019 Discover-NOW was one of seven Health Data Research Hubs funded through the UK Research and Innovation Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund and delivered through Health Data Research UK– the national institute for health data science.
Still an active member of the HDR UK Hub Alliance, Discover-NOW is now scaling into a London-wide Secure Data Environment thanks to £3.6 million grant funding from the Data for Research and Development programme, a joint initiative between NHS England, the Department for Health and Social Care and the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS).
The London SDE is one of the sub-national secure data environments (SNSDEs), a network of SDEs developed by NHS England to support nationwide research into diseases and conditions affecting the population, to enable the development of new treatments and the analysis of how health and care is delivered to improve patient experiences and outcomes.
Once fully operational, the London SDE will be able to provide approved academic and commercial users access to anonymised data for London’s whole population of 10.8 million people. This will create one of the largest data assets in the world and offer unparalleled opportunities for discovery science to improve patient care.
Establishing Discover-NOW as the London SDE is a collaborative endeavour led by Health Data for London – a formal partnership between London’s NHS and universities, supported by London’s health innovation networks, including Imperial College Health Partners.