The primary objective for developing preclinical common data elements (CDEs) is to produce a well-defined lexicon for describing and reporting how preclinical data are collected with the goal of enhancing rigor, reproducibility and transparency in study performance. The goal of CDEs is to develop a tool to improve standardization of data collection such that experimental details and procedures are reported in a standard transparent manner that allows for rigor and reproducibility. Additionally, it is important for data to be collected, reported and curated in a standardized manner and format that will allow researchers to share data across sites and reuse data for either secondary analyses or big data analyses.
The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) continues to lead and provide support for the development and refinement of preclinical CDEs and data standards for neurotrauma preclinical research in partnership with the DoD and Veterans Affairs (VA) through the VA-funded interagency resource center PRECISE-TBI and International community partners.
NINDS has launched the Neurotrauma Preclinical Common Data Elements (CDE) & Data Standards (NT-PRECEDS) Program in January 2025. NT-PRECEDS at NINDS is a parallel and complimentary effort with interagency partners funding Federal Interagency Traumatic Brain Injury Research (FITBIR) and Pre-Clinical Interagency Research Resource-TBI (PRECISE-TBI).
NT-PRECEDS Program
The Neurotrauma Preclinical Common Data Elements (CDE) & Data Standards (NT-PRECEDS) Program at NINDS is a parallel and complimentary effort with interagency partners funding Federal Interagency Traumatic Brain Injury Research (FITBIR) and Pre-Clinical Interagency Research Resource-TBI (PRECISE-TBI).
Goals of NT-PRECEDS program: The primary focus and overall goal is to provide support for the development, curation, and harmonization of preclinical CDEs for three Neurotrauma projects: Traumatic Brain injury, Post-Traumatic Epilepsy (PTE) and Spinal Cord Injury (SCI). This effort is led by Dr. Hibah O. Awwad who oversees the management, coordination and progress of the program.
The goals of the NT-PRECEDS program at NINDS will be achieved via 4 objectives:
Developing, curating and harmonizing preclinical CDEs for 3 Neurotrauma projects: Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), Post Traumatic Epilepsy (PTE) and Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) projects.
Developing a set of “core” preclinical CDEs and metadata CDEs harmonized across all 3 neurotrauma preclinical projects, to become the NIH-endorsed preclinical CDEs that will be cataloged in the NLM NIH-endorsed CDE repository.
Developing semi-automated tools that will facilitate the use of preclinical CDEs by researchers for data collection, data analysis, data reporting and data sharing. The program will initially address one of the challenges by supporting data scientists to develop a tool to transform raw datasets and map them to Data elements (DE). This will include the ability to browse, identify and select DEs & CDEs before starting their project. This will address the initial barrier of utilization of CDEs by making this API interface user-friendly and making CDEs findable and interoperable; especially for preclinical researchers that are new to data science and data sharing.
Dissemination of progress and updates on preclinical CDEs & data standards to preclinical investigators: Discussions/Conversations with preclinical research scientists related to topics that include current data standards, rigor & reproducibility (ARRIVE guidelines), data harmonization, using CDEs to collect data, analyze data and publish data, share data in various repositories, relevance to clinical CDEs. This will occur through a variety of methods including, but not limited to webinar series, presentations at national meetings, tutorial documents & recorded videos shared to an NINDS-public facing website.
Acknowledgement: The NT-PRECEDS program is supported by funds from the Vivian L. Smith Foundation. Contractor support is provided by Publicis Sapient Contract Team.
NINDS Preclinical CDE Repository
The NINDS Preclinical CDE Repository hosts the preclinical CDEs that are currently being developed by the NeuroTrauma PREclinical CDE & Data Standard (NT-PRECEDS) program at NINDS
NT-PRECEDS Steering Committee
The NT-PRECEDS Steering committee you will play a key role, including but not limited to, helping to identify critical issues, shaping and harmonizing the preclinical CDE data standards in neurotrauma research within the various contexts of use of scientific research data.
The steering committee consists of the CDE leads for each project, NINDS and NIH staff and federal partners listed below:
NT-PRECEDS Working groups
Executive Committees:
- TBI Executive Committee
- PTE Executive Committee
- SCI Executive Committee
Working groups:
- Neurotrauma Core Working Group
- Data Science Working Group
SubWorking groups:
- Behavioral Outcomes (TBI/PTE)
- EEG and Seizures (TBI/PTE)
- Functional Outcomes (SCI)
- Genomics (TBI/PTE/SCI)
- Histopathology (TBI/PTE/SCI)
- Imaging (TBI/PTE)
- Injury Models (TBI/PTE)
- Injury Models (SCI)
- Lipidomics (TBI/PTE/SCI)
- Metabolomics (TBI/PTE/SCI)
- Pharmacology and Interventions (TBI/PTE/SCI)
- Proteomics Biomarkers (TBI/PTE/SCI)
- Reviewing Existing CDEs (SCI)
- Rigor and Experimental Design (SCI)
Resources/Links
- NT-PRECEDS Webinar Series (Coming soon)
- IdeaScale (Coming soon)
Updates/History of Preclinical CDE projects
Contact Us
- NINDS Preclinical CDE Team:
- Publicis Sapient Team:
For NINDS Clinical CDEs, please visit the NINDS CDE Repository