How the University of Limerick is preparing Ireland's cancer data for the European Health Data Space (EHDS)

April 10, 2026 · KATIE CREMIN

We are contributing to Ireland’s growing readiness for the European Health Data Space (EHDS), as national efforts accelerate across digital health infrastructure, interoperability, and secondary‑use data governance. The EHDS, which entered into force in March 2025, establishes a shared European framework for secure access, sharing, and reuse of health data—supporting both improved patient care and responsible research.

Supporting National Alignment on Secondary Use and Interoperability

Ireland’s national programme for EHDS secondary use, HealthData@IE, continues to advance work on governance, standards, and the future Health Data Access Body. A recent HIQA evidence review identified the OMOP Common Data Model as the leading international standard for structuring health data for research and analytics—an important direction for national alignment.

Our Role: Building EHDS‑Ready Cancer Data

Through the all‑island eHealth‑Hub for Cancer, we are helping prepare Ireland’s cancer data ecosystem for EHDS participation. By transforming and harmonising cancer datasets across multiple hospital systems using OMOP, we are enabling secure, federated analytics and supporting cross‑border research collaboration.

We recently shared updates from this work at:

OHDSI Europe Meeting (Rotterdam, April 18th)

ELIXIR‑UK Human Data Group (March 18th)

DG RTD / DG SANTE Workshop on National Cancer Data Nodes (May 7th)

Working Toward a Connected, Standards‑Driven Future

Through the eHealth‑Hub for Cancer and our involvement in the EU‑funded CANDLE programme, we are helping shape a more interoperable, data‑driven future for cancer research across Europe. Our work supports the European Cancer Mission and contributes to a health data ecosystem where secure, standards‑based collaboration benefits patients, clinicians, and researchers.