Arizona State University (ASU) College of Health Solutions, with support from The Rockefeller Foundation, launched Evidence Commons, a comprehensive repository of published COVID-19 research focused on diagnostic tests and testing practices.
With more than 3,000 published papers, Evidence Commons provides access to the diagnostic-related research critical to enhanced scientific collaboration and pandemic mitigation and prevention. Evidence Commons was developed as part of the ASU COVID-19 Diagnostics Commons, a comprehensive educational website focused on COVID-related testing information.
Testing remains a critical tool in the fight to end the pandemic, but research on the use and efficacy of tests and testing protocols has remained hard to locate and access. This new repository is aimed to support those interested in data about COVID-19 tests where they can easily access thousands of publications on tests and testing protocols all in one place.
“Testing has been essential throughout the pandemic, yet research on test technologies is hard to find and access. The Rockefeller Foundation’s grant to ASU to establish Evidence Commons will increase the visibility of science based published research on COVID-19 tests. Broad access to this data will foster increased collaboration within and between the academic and diagnostics industry communities which is critical for innovation and future pandemic preparedness,” says Andrew Sweet, VP, global Covid-19 Response and Recovery at The Rockefeller Foundation.
The Evidence Commons dashboard makes tests searchable using criteria such as test technology, sample type, test location, and study population. This filtering capability offers an ideal tool for researchers, scientists, government, and corporate decision makers, and reporters to easily and quickly identify testing studies that meet specific criteria. Evidence Commons also provides a link to the source publications and is updated weekly.
“COVID-19 tests have often been misunderstood, misinterpreted, and under-appreciated as a critical tool to fight the spread of this virus. Evidence Commons creates easy, single-site access to a comprehensive and interactive database of hundreds of testing related publications in an organized way,” says Mara Aspinall, professor of practice in the College of Health Solutions at ASU and co-founder of the Biomedical Diagnostics program within the College.
Evidence Commons is the latest effort by the ASU College of Health Solutions to make critical testing and diagnostic data and research available to the public.
Prior to the development of Evidence Commons, ASU, with support from The Rockefeller Foundation and RADx-UP, launched Testing Commons in July 2020, which offers a searchable repository of all COVID-19 tests in the market and in development, organized by test type, technology, regulatory status, country of origin, and more.
The Evidence Commons, Workplace Commons, and Testing Commons suite of resources can all be accessed via the ASU College of Health Solutions Diagnostics Commons website.
