About us

We’re here to improve people’s lives through better use of data

We are a multidisciplinary team of software developers, clinicians and academic researchers. We produce academic research papers, but we also use the same skills to build live, interactive, data-driven tools and services; as well as real, practical policy insights on how data can be used to improve lives.

• OpenPrescribing has 20,000 unique users every month
• TrialsTracker has received extensive global media coverage and help set the policy agenda
• OpenSAFELY is an open-source software platform, helping researchers do analysis onn more than 58 million people’s health records - without compromising their privacy

Our research covers a range of topics including: innovative informatics methods; variation in clinical care; behaviour change; research integrity; policy analysis; and more. We aim to embody new ways of working, and to be positive about the technical, regulatory and cultural barriers we encounter along the way.

Our aims and ambitions

We want to make private data more useful, without compromising privacy

We want to see:

more studies,
by more people, from a wider community,
that are better quality,
but lower cost
using more data
and open, reproducible methods
and done more safely, so that we always protect people’s privacy

What we believe in

Multidisciplinary teams get the best results. Our teams combine clinicians, data scientists, software engineers, information governance experts and many other disciplines. It’s essential to have that mix of experience and expertise working together - as a result, we do more, and we do it faster.

Being open helps us build trust. We’re transparent about how we use data. We share all our code openly, so anyone can see how it works. We’re open about all our methods and processes. We push for similar standards of openness from all our partners and stakeholders. Trust is essential when working with secure, private data - being open about what we do, and how we do it, is one way for us to earn that trust.

Doing is as important as thinking. We make software that acts in the real world, helping doctors understand medical prescribing behaviour at scale, or helping researchers to run experiments on real patient data, without compromising patient privacy.

We’re fearless, without being reckless. There are widespread systemic problems with how data is collected, stored, managed and used. We’re here to change things, to make big changes that benefit millions of people. Our ideas and methods can sometimes challenge the status quo, and we’re not afraid to do that. At the same time: we’re scientists, and professionals. We tread carefully.