Bridging Data to Advance Public Health

The Non-Medical Health Factors (NMHFs) Data Ecosystem is a virtual research environment built to analyze how socio-economic and environmental conditions drive clinical outcomes. Operating as an evolution of Georgetown University’s VRE at ICBI, the platform serves as a secure, centralized hub for advanced health research.

By integrating population-level environmental data with granular patient records, the Ecosystem empowers investigators to move beyond simple correlation and explore the direct causal mechanisms shaping individual health.

The Platform

The Virtual Research Environment (VRE)

The VRE is the foundational, cloud-based infrastructure that powers the NMHF Data Ecosystem. It offers a secure, multi-mission platform for research, education, and data sharing that aligns directly with the NIH's Strategic Plan for Data Science. To accelerate research, the platform consolidates several public data sources and makes them readily accessible to users, backed by dedicated technical support and user tutorials.

The platform supports:

  • Advanced Research: Accelerating translation from data to insights.
  • Education: Cultivating data science capabilities.
  • Data Sharing: Enabling secure, collaborative ecosystems.

Need Help?

Need Help getting started? We provide dedicated technical support and step-by-step tutorials to help you navigate the platform effectively.

Beyond support, we look forward to future research collaborations — get in touch to discuss how we can work together.

Explore Interactive Dashboards

Select a dashboard from the panel

Live

Explore Interactive Dashboards

To support your research, we have consolidated several public Non-Medical Determinants of Health (NMHF) databases from the U.S. Census Bureau, the CDC, and other trusted federal sources. We then developed a suite of interactive dashboards that allow you to dynamically visualize these non-medical health factors alongside specific health outcomes.

Please choose an option in the sidebar to explore these datasets tailored for general diseases or specific cancer registries.

About the NMHF Data Ecosystem

The Non-Medical Health Factors (NMHF) Data Ecosystem bridges a critical gap in health research by uniting population-level social and environmental data with patient-level clinical records in a single, secure environment. By integrating these distinct data layers, the Ecosystem empowers researchers to move beyond mere correlation and investigate how factors like housing, income, education, and neighborhood environments causally impact disease risk, treatment response, and long-term patient outcomes.

Our Infrastructure & Partnership

The Ecosystem is built and maintained by Georgetown University Medical Center's Innovation Center for Biomedical Informatics (ICBI). ICBI provides the vital data infrastructure, governance, and technical expertise required to transform complex biomedical data into research-ready assets.

To support the broader Washington, D.C. research community, ICBI:

  • Operates the Virtual Research Environment (VRE) powering the Ecosystem.
  • Maintains specialized platforms for data management, standardization, and analysis.
  • Partners with multi-institutional collaborators to expand data capabilities across the region.

Policy and Terms of Use

By utilizing this platform, establishing a user account, or conducting data transfers, you acknowledge and accept the User Terms of Use and the Data Processing Policy. This environment is offered as a complimentary resource dedicated to advanced research and health analysis. It is the sole responsibility of the investigator to guarantee that all submitted datasets are rigorously de-identified, remaining entirely devoid of Protected Health Information (PHI) or Patient Identifiable Information as defined by HIPAA. In our commitment to data governance, we maintain the authority to audit and immediately remove any non-compliant information. We encourage you to examine the full documentation to ensure a comprehensive understanding of your privacy obligations and our service standards.

Contact & Get Started

Ready to explore the future of NMHF research? Our team is dedicated to supporting your scientific journey.

Request Access

For inquiries about becoming an authorized user or to learn more about our data and tools, please contact us. Our honest broker, Kanchi Krishnamurthy, is available to assist with cohort discovery and data-related questions.

Stay Informed

Follow our progress and get updates on new data, tools, and research findings by joining our mailing list or attending our presentations at upcoming conferences.

User Resources

We are committed to providing comprehensive support, including:

  • User documentation and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)
  • Training datasets and workshops
  • A dedicated user forum for community support and knowledge sharing

Join us in building a healthier future, one data point at a time.

Need Help?

If you run into issues or need extra support: