# Method Core

> **NIH NIH P30** · INDIANA UNIVERSITY INDIANAPOLIS · 2024 · $218,465

## Abstract

Musculoskeletal (MSK) injuries and diseases are the leading cause of disability across the lifespan. The
pathophysiology of MSK disease is complex, and clinical research requires a broad range of data types including
electronic health record (EHR) data (patient characteristics, treatments, and clinical outcomes), standardized
physical performance measures, bone imaging, laboratory measures, omics data (e.g. genomics, proteomics,
metabolomics), patient reported outcome tools, and social determinants of health. A lack of integration of these
complex ‘big data’ sources impedes access and utilization by investigators. The goal of the Indiana Center for
Musculoskeletal Health-Clinical Research Center is to provide access to state-of-the-art informatics
resources and technology to define and characterize MSK biology and disease genotypes; computable,
molecular, functional, and clinical phenotypes; and the social factors, collectively mediating MSK health, disease
and disability across the lifespan, and to develop cures. In our initial P30 funding period, we established a
Musculoskeletal Informatics Methodology (MIM) Core, leveraging a large inter-organizational integrated
health information exchange of EHR data to detect several computable (assessed from the EHR) MSK
phenotypes, that incorporate diagnosis and other codes, medications, laboratory values and/or clinical text notes.
We integrated such computable phenotypes with the measurements (physical performance and bone
assessments) and associated biospecimens from the ICMH-CRC FIT Core, to support investigators in clinical
study design, feasibility assessments, and translating bench discoveries to humans. In the current proposal, the
MIM Core will expand our support of investigators in multi-disciplinary clinical and translational research
leveraging the use of novel informatics methods and resources, to improve musculoskeletal health. The MIM
Core will develop a large facile, secure Musculoskeletal Data Mart that integrates and makes ready for clinical
research, data from multiple resources including: 1) EHR systems of the Indiana Network for Patient Care, using
computable phenotypes to generate a cohort of more than 880,000 patients with MSK disorders, 2) community
data systems information on social determinants of health and other risk factors, and 3) the full data from the FIT
Core musculoskeletal phenotyping, biospecimens, and genomic data. This Data Mart will facilitate feasibility
analyses, grant support, and retrospective and prospective studies to support translational research from bench
to bedside and back. The MIM Core will also provide statistical support for clinical trial design, and informatics
and data science approaches such as applying natural language processing to extract EHR text data, health
informatics analyses of outcomes, integrative genomic analyses, and applying machine learning models to
predict clinical outcomes. These new and innovative initiatives will link the resear...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10888261
- **Project number:** 5P30AR072581-08
- **Recipient organization:** INDIANA UNIVERSITY INDIANAPOLIS
- **Principal Investigator:** Erik Allen Imel
- **Activity code:** P30 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $218,465
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-09-19 → 2027-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10888261

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10888261, Method Core (5P30AR072581-08). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10888261. Licensed CC0.

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