All research activities, including technical work and project management, take place in the centrally located CICL research facility that is designed to enhance the cohesion and communication among project team members as well as smooth and efficient operations.
The CICL is located within a recently renovated, dedicated research space in the Brigham and Women's Hospital, a primary teaching hospital of the adjacent Harvard Medical School.
Image Analysis Workstations
Dedicated workstations for cardiovascular image analysis are located within the central CICL research facility and are fully equipped to facilitate file access and transmission of de-identified studies for advanced analyses as well as real-time technical queries. Analysis and measurements are performed by trained personnel on each workstation, using specialized image analysis tools that allow for selected screen capture and automated saving of measured values to a centralized database via electronic form generation. This secure, server-based database includes internal audit trail features for detailed tracking of any additions or changes to the data. The database is accessible only to authorized personnel through password protection. All saved entries are signed and date- and time-stamped. In addition, both saved measures and raw image data are backed up locally. As well, printed forms are placed in a designated secure area and maintained for hard copy back up of data tracking.
Data Security
All computer workstations are maintained and supported by Brigham and Women's Hospital / Partners Corporation Information Systems. All workstations have institutional level virus protection software, are automatically locked when not in use, and require a staff-specific user name and password for logon. The CICL maintains strict policies regarding safeguarding passwords and they require them to be changed on a regular basis. All study-related work is saved within the study-designated folder on a secured, shared network drive. This network is accessible only by CICL staff members who are granted permission by the CICL Administrative Director. Institution-wide back-up of all server data is performed nightly, and CICL project-specific data are additionally stored on secured servers with remote redundant back-up protection. The Partners Corporation operates under a full compendium of policies related to Emergency Management and Disaster Recovery policies that address data recovery and upstart after any unexpected and unforeseen catastrophe.