FASEB Launches DataWorks! Help Desk

Tuesday, January 10, 2023

FASEB today continued its efforts to facilitate a culture of data sharing and reuse by launching DataWorks! Help Desk. A component of the FASEB DataWorks! initiative, DataWorks! Help Desk is designed to be a hub for resources and solutions specifically for researchers in the biological and biomedical sciences.  

Supporting a Critical Need
The sharing and reuse of data are critical to advancing the scientific enterprise. Shared data enable validation of research results and promote data reuse for future research studies—all key to supporting FASEB’s mission of advancing health and welfare by promoting progress in the biological and biomedical sciences. 

“The FASEB DataWorks! Help Desk, through its array of offerings unique to biological and biomedical research, supports a critical need for effective data management sharing and reuse, thereby fostering and optimizing dissemination of research results to advance science,” says Kevin C. Kregel, PhD, Executive Vice President and Provost at the University of Iowa and FASEB President. 

DataWorks! Help Desk is a key step forward in FASEB’s quest to support life sciences researchers by providing the tools and resources needed to enable data sharing and reuse to accelerate scientific discovery. 

The goals for the service include

• Ease researchers’ ability to navigate data management and sharing in their research, 
• Provide key guidance ahead of implementation of the NIH 2023 Data Management and Sharing Policy, and 
• Provide a distinct service for the biological and biomedical sciences using FASEB’s expertise. 

“Our intention is to grow a service which biological and biomedical researchers value, trust, and utilize to solve their data challenges. We will do this leveraging FASEB’s unique expertise and integrating with the dynamic global research data community,” says Katherine McNeill, MS, MBA, FASEB DataWorks! Program Director. “In the coming months, we will be deepening Help Desk guidance tailored to subdisciplines of the biological and biomedical sciences, as well as rolling out consultation services—for individuals and institutions—to answer researchers’ data questions,” she adds.

In 2021, FASEB launched DataWorks!, an initiative that brings the biological and biomedical research communities together to advance human health through data sharing and reuse. Four components comprise DataWorks!:

• DataWorks! Salon is a conversation space for the biological and biomedical research community to exchange ideas and design effective practices for data sharing and reuse;
• DataWorks! Help Desk provides guidance for the biological and biomedical research community to navigate and adopt data sharing and reuse policies and practices;
• DataWorks! Prize recognizes biological and biomedical research teams that integrate data sharing and reuse to advance human health; and
• DataWorks! Community enables biological and biomedical researchers and teams to hone skills and mentor peers in data management and sharing.

For more information, visit FASEB DataWorks! and DataWorks! Help Desk.