New Directorship of IPDLN for 2019 and 2020
Congratulations to Australia’s Population Health Research Network (PHRN) and South Australia Northern Territory DataLink (SA NT DataLink) who will take on the directorship of the IPDLN for 2019 and 2020. Dr. Merran Smith, chief executive of the PHRN, will be the IPDLN director for this term.
IPDLN Members – Vote for the 2019-2020 IPDLN Director
Every two years, the members of the International Population Data Linkage Network (IPDLN) elect a new director for a two-year term. The director and their home institution are responsible for managing the IPDLN, and the director chairs the IPDLN Executive Committee. Our call for applicants for the directorship has closed, and we received two excellent nominations. Voting can now begin to elect the next director for 2019 and 2020. The 2020 IPDLN Conference will be organized by the next director.
All members of the IPDLN are eligible to vote. The winning applicant will be announced at the 2018 IPDLN Conference in Banff, Alberta in September. Voting closed August 3, but election submissions are still available for review.
2018 IPDLN Conference - Registration now open
The 2018 IPDLN Conference will be held at the Banff Centre, located in Banff National Park in Alberta, Canada. The conference will take place September 12-14, with a pre-conference day September 11.
With our theme, Linking Data - Improving Lives, we have created a forum for the presentation and discussion of research and innovation in the area of Linked Population Data Science and Policy Impact. The overall themes build on previous work done by IPDLN as well as relevant emerging health data linkage areas such as such as data and linkage quality, data linkage methodology, pan-jurisdictional and cross-sectoral data linkage, emerging data types, privacy, regulation and governance, data analytics, and data linkage for policy development.
Thank you to our 2018 IPDLN Conference sponsors!
About the Network
Every two years, directorship of the Network moves sites. The Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES) and the O’Brien Institute for Public Health have assumed co-directorship for 2017-2018.
Interim Executive Team 2017-18
- William A. Ghali – Co-Director (Canada)
- Michael Schull – Co-Director (Canada)
- David V. Ford – Member (UK)
- Kimberlyn McGrail – Member (Canada)
What is data linkage?
Secondary use of linked administrative data is often referred to as ‘data linkage,’ ‘record linkage,’ or ‘linked data.’ This is typically population based longitudinal data that has originally been collected for another purpose. Linkage may take place across data sets in a single domain (i.e. health) or across domains (i.e. health, education, environment, early childhood, etc.)
Why is it important?
Data linkage is an invaluable tool for population health research. It provides a completely unbiased picture of the entire population, is cost-effective relative to other data collection mechanisms, and enables studies to be done that could not otherwise be performed.
The Network role
The International Population Data Linkage Network (IPDLN) facilitates communication between centres that specialize in data linkage and users of the linked data. The producers and users alike are committed to the systematic application of data linkage to produce community benefit in the population and health-related domains.
Over 30 participants from Canada, the UK, Australia and New Zealand attended the 2008 inaugural meeting of the IPDLN (then known as the IHDLN), held in London, UK and hosted by the Research and Development Directorate of the National Health Service. The IPDLN now boasts over 400 members.