"The GISAID Initiative promotes the rapid sharing of data from all influenza viruses and the coronavirus causing COVID-19. This includes genetic sequence and related clinical and epidemiological data associated with human viruses, and geographical as well as species-specific data associated with avian and other animal viruses, to help researchers understand how viruses evolve and spread during epidemics and pandemics. GISAID does so by overcoming disincentive hurdles and restrictions, which discourage or prevented sharing of virological data prior to formal publication." (From "Mission")

The Child Health and Mortality Prevention and Surveillance Network (CHAMPS) includes data from sites in sub-Saharan Africa and south Asia, with the joint goal of generating and accumulating more precise, detailed, and robust data on causes of child mortality in locations across these regions with high child mortality. Deaths of stillbirths, neonates, and children ages 1 to 59 months (< 5 years) were investigated using a variety of methodologies, including minimally invasive tissue sampling (MITS), a post-mortem approach using biopsy needles for sampling key organs and body fluids, which has been validated as an acceptable proxy method to complete diagnostic autopsy for cause of death ascertainment. Molecular testing, classical microbiology, histopathology, and immunohistochemistry were used to assess samples obtained from MITS. Additionally, verbal autopsy was used and antemortem clinical data was collected. In-country panels of experts analyzed each death using all available data and determined the most plausible sequence and causes of death. In this study, the contribution of these methods for detailing cause of death data is demonstrated at a level of granularity previously unavailable in LMICs (low income and middle income countries) and the high acceptance rate for the MITS procedure in a range of LMIC settings is shown. The study describes the first insights regarding the advantages of this approach for under-5 mortality surveillance, which could highlight potential pathways to prevent child mortality. UMB participation in this study: Karen L. Kotloff and Milagritos D. Tapia (Department of Pediatrics, Center for Vaccine Development and Global Health and Division of Infectious Disease and Tropical Pediatrics, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA) are co-authors of the article on this study and Carol L. Greene, J. Kristie Johnson, Rima Koka, Ashka Mehta, Sharon M. Tennant (University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA) are members of The Champs Consortium. CHAMPS data is available online. Data specific to this study is also included in the article and its Supplementary Material.

The Global Health Data Exchange (GHDx) is a catalog that provides relevant data on population health. The catalog contains surveys, censuses, vital statistics, and other health-related data. The GHDx was created by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluations (IHME), an independent global health research center at the University of Washington. The GHDx is a place where information about data is brought together, discussed, and featured in the context of health and demographic research. The GHDx raises awareness about different groups collecting data worldwide and provides standardized citations to encourage appropriate acknowledgment of data owners’ contributions.