Real-World Clinical Data: Strengths, Challenges and Use Cases

In this webinar, the featured speakers will explore how de-identified data from an electronic health record (EHR) at a major academic medical center is used to support real-world data research.

The speakers will outline the types of structured and unstructured data available from EHRs and highlight the differences between them. The session will also cover the challenges of reviewing unstructured sources across millions of clinical encounters and explain how these issues can be addressed through data abstraction and harmonization techniques.

Real-world clinical data from EHRs is becoming an increasingly valuable research tool. Structured fields, such as diagnoses, lab values and medications, are stored in discrete, research-ready formats. In contrast, unstructured content, such as free-text notes, is not typically available in discrete fields within research databases.

Yet unstructured documentation often contains important clinical context that is not apparent from structured data alone. These may include scoring systems, family history, treatment response and provider assessments. These factors are critical to understanding disease progression and treatment patterns. Accessing this type of data at scale is difficult without specialized tools.

The webinar will also feature real-world use cases where variables were extracted from unstructured notes and made usable for research. Examples will demonstrate how this approach enables deeper clinical insights that structured data alone cannot provide.

By the end of the session, participants will have a clearer understanding of how unstructured EHR data can complement structured fields to support more complete and accurate research.

Register for this webinar to learn more about accessing EHR data to gain actionable insights for real-world data research.

Speakers

Amber Watson, PharmD, Assistant Medical Director, NashBio

Amber Watson is the Assistant Medical Director at NashBio, a clinical big data company specializing in real-world clinical, genomic and imaging data to advance the discovery and development of new therapeutics and diagnostics. In her role, Amber supports clinical initiatives that translate complex healthcare data into actionable insights. She partners with stakeholders across research, product and data teams to ensure the clinical integrity of data resources and to guide best practices that enable innovation and client success.

Prior to joining NashBio, Amber contributed to academic, clinical and healthcare technology settings, supporting research, clinical consulting and scientific communications. She is a Board Certified Medical Affairs Specialist (BCMAS) and holds a Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) degree from the University of Tennessee Health Science Center. Amber is passionate about transforming clinical insights and real-world data into meaningful applications that support better healthcare decision-making.

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Steven Held, MD, Medical Director, NashBio

Steven Held is the Medical Director of Nashville Biosciences (NashBio), a for-profit subsidiary of the Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC). NashBio leverages its real-world clinical and genomic data to advance the discovery and development of new, more personalized therapeutics and diagnostics. Steven oversees the clinical team’s contributions to project delivery and provides clinical input for business development opportunities.

Steven received his Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of South Carolina and a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He has over 20 years of post-graduate experience in a variety of practice environments and, more recently, in industry. He is board certified in internal medicine (ABIM), anatomic pathology (ABP), clinical pathology (ABP) and hematopathology (ABP). He enjoys assisting clients with interpreting and maximizing the power of real-world clinical data.

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Leeland Ekstrom, PhD, Chief Executive Officer, NashBio

Leeland Ekstrom is the CEO and co-founder of Nashville Biosciences, LLC (NashBio), a for-profit subsidiary of Vanderbilt University Medical Center. NashBio’s mission is to make complex healthcare data easy to use. The company partners with biopharma, diagnostics and other life sciences companies to help drive the discovery and development of new therapeutics and diagnostics by leveraging unparalleled multi-modal genomic and real-world data resources coupled with powerful bioinformatics tools.

Leeland holds a PhD in Health Sciences & Technology and Nuclear Engineering from MIT. Prior to founding NashBio, Leeland was an Associate Principal with McKinsey & Company. As a consultant, Leeland focused on innovation-related (e.g., genomics/personalized medicine, R&D productivity) and commercial (e.g., marketing & sales optimization, go-to-market strategy) engagements for a wide range biopharma, diagnostics, medical device and health system clients. He led McKinsey’s Personalized Medicine initiative, authoring several external publications and supporting consulting teams around the world.

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