Vision: CIPHER will harness existing strengths in health informatics research to address translational delays between knowledge discovery, intervention assessment and adoption, and population impact by: developing collaborations to link previously isolated silos of expertise (observational, interventional, biomedical and social science); improving knowledge exchange between academic, practitioner and policy leads; and liberating information trapped in data islands. CIPHER will add value by maximising the utility of available routine health-related data on the full UK population, provide robust methods to link such data to UK cohorts, surveys and non-health administrative data, enhanced by collection of novel population level data on health status, behaviours and exposures. Embedding cohorts, trials and survey data within this total population structure will meet the aims of the initiative by providing the data, methods and skills to enhance observational and interventional research capacity and efficiency, support policy decisions, and quantify the impact of investment in scientific research on population health and wellbeing. CIPHER combines applicants from Swansea (SU), Bristol (BU), Cardiff (CU), Brighton, Leicester and Sussex Universities with experts from Curtin, Monash, Ottawa and Western Australia Universities, ensuring novel methodological developments and high quality trans-national research.

Aim: to improve population health and wellbeing through the use of e-health informatics research.

Objectives: 1. provide a focus for rigorous innovative research using electronic health records;

2. undertake and promote innovative linkage and analysis of large health-related datasets including social, economic and spatial data; and

3. build multi-disciplinary capacity in e-health information research. These aims & objectives are addressed in sections 2-6, and particularly within Research Programmes 1-4.