Finding real-world data for research and evidence generation
Real-world data are generated across many settings, including routine healthcare, administrative systems, disease registries, biobanks, population studies and digital technologies. Identifying data that are relevant and fit for a particular research question is an essential first step in evidence generation.
This page provides a curated selection of public, academic and institutional resources for discovering and accessing real-world data. It is intended as a practical starting point rather than a comprehensive directory.
Commercial data providers are not directly listed or evaluated on this site. Some of the independent catalogues and discovery platforms linked below may, however, include information on commercially available data sources.
Find Real-World Data
General discovery resources
HMA–EMA Catalogues of Real-World Data Sources and Studies
A central resource for identifying and characterising real-world data sources internationally. The HMA–EMA Catalogues provide structured information on data sources, studies, institutions and research networks, allowing users to find and compare resources using standardised metadata. They replaced the former ENCePP Resources Database and EU PAS Register in 2024.
Health Data Research Gateway
A UK-based discovery platform that allows researchers to search health and related datasets and biosamples, explore cohorts and identify data custodians. For participating resources, the Gateway also supports the process of requesting access to data.
French National Health Data Metadata Catalogue
The national metadata catalogue maintained by the French Health Data Hub provides a structured entry point for identifying health data available in France, including information on variables, data custodians and access arrangements.
Global Health Data Exchange
Developed by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, the Global Health Data Exchange provides an extensive international catalogue of health and demographic datasets, including surveys, censuses, registries, vital statistics and other population-health resources.
FReSH — France recherche en santé humaine
Coordinated by Inserm, FReSH is a multidisciplinary catalogue for discovering individual-level health research data in France, including cohorts, registries, surveys and clinical studies. It builds on the former Epidemiology France Portal and uses standardised metadata to support data discovery and reuse.
Specialised discovery resources
BBMRI-ERIC Sample and Data Portal
A European infrastructure for finding biobanks, biological samples and associated data. Its tools support searches across participating biobanks and collections based on disease, sample and donor characteristics.
Orphanet — Rare Disease Registries and Biobanks
Orphanet provides searchable information on patient registries and biobanks focusing on rare diseases. Resources can be identified by disease or gene, making it a useful starting point for locating data collections in rare conditions.
Browse by Data Source
The following sections provide selected examples of important real-world data sources, organised according to the type of information they contain. They illustrate different data environments and access models rather than attempting to provide comprehensive lists. Finding a potentially relevant source is only the starting point: population coverage, variables, longitudinality, linkage possibilities, data quality and access conditions should then be assessed against the research question to determine whether the data are fit for purpose.
Electronic Health Records & Clinical Data
MIMIC-IV — United States
Hospital electronic health records · Credentialed access
MIMIC-IV is a large de-identified clinical dataset derived from routine hospital care at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. It contains detailed information from hospital and intensive-care records and can be linked to complementary MIMIC resources covering emergency care, clinical notes and imaging. Access requires researcher credentialing, appropriate training and acceptance of a data-use agreement.
Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD) — United Kingdom
Primary-care electronic health records · Controlled access
CPRD provides longitudinal anonymised health data derived primarily from UK primary care. These data can be linked to additional healthcare and administrative sources and are widely used in pharmacoepidemiology, disease epidemiology and health-services research. Access is available for approved research under established governance procedures.
Claims & Administrative Health Data
CMS Research Data / ResDAC — United States
Medicare and Medicaid data · Controlled and limited datasets
The US Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services make a wide range of administrative healthcare data available for research. The Research Data Assistance Center (ResDAC) helps researchers understand the available files, identify appropriate datasets and navigate the data-request process.
APCD Council — United States
All-payer claims · State-level resources
All-Payer Claims Databases bring together claims from multiple payers within participating US states. The APCD Council provides information and resources for identifying state APCDs and understanding their characteristics and access arrangements.
Système National des Données de Santé (SNDS) — France
National administrative health data · Controlled access
The French National Health Data System brings together large-scale administrative healthcare information covering the national population. It supports research, health-system evaluation, public-health surveillance and other uses conducted within an established legal and governance framework.
National Database of Health Insurance Claims and Specific Health Checkups (NDB) — Japan
National claims and health-check data · Controlled research access
Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare maintains the NDB, a large-scale nationwide administrative database combining health-insurance claims with specific health-check and health-guidance data. Approved secondary use is available through established application and governance procedures.
Findata — Finland
Linked health and social data · Permit-based access
Findata is Finland’s national authority for the secondary use of health and social data. It provides a central mechanism for requesting permission to use data from multiple public-sector data controllers and can support the combination and preprocessing of data for approved research.
Registries, Cohorts & Biobanks
Registries, longitudinal cohorts and biobanks can provide detailed information on diseases, long-term outcomes, biological characteristics and healthcare trajectories. Access models range from public aggregate data to controlled analysis environments.
UK Biobank — United Kingdom
Population cohort and biobank · Controlled access
UK Biobank follows approximately 500,000 participants and combines extensive phenotypic information with health records, imaging, genetic and other biological data. Approved researchers can use the resource for health-related research in the public interest.
All of Us Research Program — United States
Longitudinal research cohort · Tiered access
The NIH All of Us Research Program combines electronic health records, participant surveys, physical measurements, wearable-device data and genomic information from a large and diverse US population. Researchers access the data through a secure Researcher Workbench using tiered access arrangements.
SEER — United States
Population-based cancer registries · Registered access
The National Cancer Institute’s Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program collects population-based information on cancer incidence, patient and tumour characteristics, treatment and survival. Research datasets are available through established access mechanisms and analytical tools.
United States Renal Data System (USRDS) — United States
Kidney disease registry and administrative data · Public and controlled access
USRDS is a national data system covering chronic kidney disease and end-stage renal disease in the United States. It combines information from multiple sources and provides public reports, analytical tools and research datasets.
Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients (SRTR) — United States
Transplant registry · Public and controlled research access
SRTR provides information on solid-organ transplant candidates, donors and recipients in the United States. Public reporting and interactive tools are complemented by patient-level datasets available for approved research.
Population & Public Health Data
Population-level data can support research on disease burden, mortality, health determinants, healthcare utilisation and differences between populations and health systems.
WHO Data and Global Health Observatory — Global
Global health indicators · Open access
The World Health Organization provides country, regional and global information across a broad range of topics, including mortality, disease burden, risk factors, health systems, inequalities and population health.
Eurostat Health Database — Europe
Population and health-system statistics · Open and controlled access
Eurostat provides harmonised health statistics across European countries, covering health status, determinants of health, healthcare resources and activities, expenditure and causes of death. Selected survey microdata are also available for scientific research under specific access arrangements.
OECD Health Statistics — International
Health and health-system indicators
OECD health data support comparisons across countries in areas such as health status, healthcare utilisation, resources, expenditure, quality and health-system performance.
Canadian Research Data Centre Network (CRDCN) — Canada
Statistics Canada microdata · Secure research access
CRDCN provides researchers with secure access to confidential Statistics Canada microdata through Research Data Centres across Canada. Available resources include survey master files and a growing range of administrative data, including hospitalisation records and other linked population datasets.
CDC Data Catalog — United States
Public-health datasets · Open data portal
The CDC Data Catalog provides a broad entry point to datasets published by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, covering infectious and chronic diseases, vaccination, environmental health, surveillance and other population-health topics.
CDC/NCHS Vital Statistics and CDC WONDER — United States
Mortality, births and population health · Open and restricted access
The US National Center for Health Statistics provides national vital-statistics information, including data on births and deaths. Public-use datasets can be downloaded for analysis, while CDC WONDER provides an interactive interface for querying mortality and other population-health datasets.
Digital Health & Sensor Data
Digital health technologies generate forms of real-world data outside traditional healthcare encounters, including information from wearable devices, mobile applications, physiological sensors and other connected technologies, as well as patient-generated and patient-reported data collected through digital channels.
These data can provide continuous or high-frequency information on behaviour, physiology and everyday functioning. As with other RWD, their provenance, completeness, measurement properties and fitness for a particular research purpose need to be carefully considered.
PhysioNet — International
Physiological signals and clinical datasets · Open and credentialed access
PhysioNet provides a large collection of physiological and clinical datasets under different access models. Its resources include electrocardiography, heart rate, activity and other physiological measurements generated through clinical monitoring, sensors and wearable technologies.
Large longitudinal resources are also beginning to integrate digital data with more traditional sources. The All of Us Research Program, for example, combines wearable-device information with electronic health records, surveys, physical measurements and genomic data.
Data Networks & Research Infrastructures
Increasingly, real-world evidence is generated through distributed networks and secure analytical infrastructures rather than by transferring patient-level data into a single central repository.
These approaches can support common data structures, federated analyses, reproducible analytical methods and privacy-preserving access across multiple data partners.
DARWIN EU — European Union
Distributed regulatory data network · Federated analysis
The Data Analysis and Real World Interrogation Network provides the European medicines regulatory network with access to real-world healthcare data from multiple European data partners. Studies use common analytical approaches while patient-level data remain under the control of participating organisations.
FDA Sentinel — United States
Distributed regulatory data network · Restricted access
FDA Sentinel is a distributed data network used to support medical-product safety surveillance and regulatory evidence generation in the United States. Participating Data Partners retain control of their claims, electronic health record and other healthcare data, which are standardised using the Sentinel Common Data Model and analysed through distributed queries. Direct access to the distributed database is restricted.
PCORnet — United States
Distributed clinical research network · Common data model
PCORnet enables multi-site research across participating US healthcare organisations. Data partners transform electronic health record and other data into a common data model, allowing common analytical questions to be implemented consistently across the distributed network.
OpenSAFELY — United Kingdom
Secure analytics platform · NHS electronic health records
OpenSAFELY enables approved research using pseudonymised NHS electronic health records within secure analytical environments. Patient-level data remain within controlled environments while researchers develop reproducible analytical code and receive disclosure-checked outputs.
OHDSI and the OMOP Common Data Model — International
Data standardisation and distributed analytics · Open collaborative network
Observational Health Data Sciences and Informatics is an international open-science community centred on the OMOP Common Data Model. OMOP provides a common structure and vocabulary for heterogeneous observational data, allowing shared analytical methods to be applied across electronic health records, claims, registries and other data sources.
An Evolving European Data Environment
The European Health Data Space (EHDS) Regulation establishes a common framework for the secondary use of electronic health data across the European Union for research, innovation, public health, policy-making and regulatory activities.
The Regulation entered into force in March 2025 and is being implemented progressively. Rules on secondary use will begin to apply to most data categories from March 2029, with additional categories, including genomic data, following from March 2031. As implementation progresses, the EHDS is expected to increasingly influence how health data can be discovered, requested and analysed across Member States.
About This Selection
The resources presented on this page are selected for their potential usefulness to researchers working with real-world data. Inclusion does not constitute an endorsement, and the list is not intended to be exhaustive.
Priority is given to resources maintained by public institutions, academic organisations, research infrastructures and other non-commercial initiatives. Commercial data providers are not directly listed or evaluated.