Biomedical Data Sciences Research Group

The UHasselt Biomedical Data Sciences Research Group, headed by Liesbet Peeters, investigates new methods to handle and analyse big data in health and care, with a specific focus on the chronic disease multiple sclerosis (MS). The group aims to identify new biomarkers for disease activity and disease progression and on developing decision-support systems for treatment effectiveness in a real-world setting.

Liesbet Peeters founded the MS DataConnect initiative within the University Multiple Sclerosis Center (UMSC) which connects partners involved in multiple sclerosis care, rehabilitation and research, with partners involved in database management, data sharing procedures, IT development and machine learning. Liesbet is also one of the main initiators and core partners of the international Multiple Sclerosis Data Alliance (MSDA) initiative, which brings together many stakeholders envisioning a patient-centred data ecosystem  to co-create innovations for the treatment and care of people with MS. The alliance developed the federated MSDA architecture that was used in the COVID-19 &MS Global Data Sharing Initiative.