Meet ITM Leaf

Your Gateway to Clinical Research Explorations

Get access to millions of patient datapoints in just seconds.

Take the guesswork out of evaluating cohort feasibility.

Search data across diseases, populations, and health systems.

OVER 2.2 MILLION PATIENTS


Five Years in the Making

Now you have a really helpful research tool at your fingertips thanks to the Institute for Translational Medicine (ITM) and its collaborators across Chicago and the National Institutes of Health National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS).

Leaf is the first discovery tool of its kind in Chicagoland. With just a few clicks, you can explore data across patient populations and filter according to things like age, medical conditions, and even procedures. ITM Leaf was made possible thanks to support from NCATS’ Clinical and Translational Science Awards Program grant number UL1TR002389. Please cite the grant in your work to ensure tools like this can continue to help researchers like you!

Testimonials

Eric Bhaimia, D.O.

Assistant Professor
Division of Infectious Diseases
Rush University Medical Center
The Leaf cohort discovery tool provides a gateway for clinicians and researchers to perform impactful research.  In Leaf, researchers can take an idea or observation and query the databases.  This ensures that research efforts are focused on addressing the healthcare needs of today, and how they may impact tomorrow.

Graeme Forrest, MBBS

Professor of Medicine

Department of Internal Medicine
Division of Infectious Diseases
RUSH Medical College
As a clinical researcher running clinical trials and implementation science, having rapid access to data both locally and regionally into the number of patients that could be enrolled or impacted by a study is critically important with many submissions. Now having access to the LEAF database has already helped considerably in determining opportunities for future studies. I am able to enter the diagnoses I am interested in, the types of populations that are affected, in this case oncology and it gives me numbers of patients seen with that condition in the last 3 years, locally and at other sites nearby. As a pre-screening tool, it helps justify numbers on research submissions and when applying for prospective studies for my site. Before this was available, it was a guess, or I had to wait for data from the repository, now I can do it in minutes from my computer. If you are a researcher, leaf will simplify the process to justify powering a study and make querying data before research and IRB submission a lot faster.

How can this information help you?

See if there are enough patients who would qualify for your study, or use the information to prepare an IRB protocol or grant proposal!


The Leaf cohort discovery tool provides a gateway for clinicians and researchers to perform impactful research. In Leaf, researchers can take an idea or observation and query the database. This ensures that research efforts are focused on addressing the healthcare needs of today, and how they may impact tomorrow.

Who can access Leaf?

Researchers at the University of Chicago, RUSH, and Loyola University Chicago who are eligible to be on an IRB-approved study can access LEAF using your institutional credentials. You don’t need an approved IRB protocol to access Leaf. 
Leaf is behind a security firewall, so you’ll need to connect via your institution’s VPN or be on campus to access it.

Get Started with ITM Leaf

Access your ITM institution’s Leaf platform

Click your institution's logo below to get started! Remember to login using your VPN or campus connection.

Want to Learn More? Watch These Videos on How to Use the Tool

1

Intro

2

Basic query

3

Federated query

4

Tips

Learn more about the ITM Leaf Data Model here >

Excited to dive in or have any questions? Connect with Suzi Birz at Suzi.Birz@uchicagomedicine.org.

Learn more about Leaf and how it was created in this paper from the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association.

About the Institute for Translational Medicine (ITM)

The Institute for Translational Medicine (ITM) helps you live your best life by making research breakthroughs happen and getting those discoveries into the real world to improve your health as soon as possible.
The ITM is a partnership between the University of Chicago and RUSH in collaboration with Advocate Aurora Health Care, Illinois Institute of Technology (Illinois Tech), Loyola University Chicago, and NorthShore University HealthSystem that’s fueled by about $51 million in grants from the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences at the National Institutes of Health through its Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSA) Program.
We’re part of a network of more than 50 CTSA Program-supported hubs across the country working to slash the time it takes to develop and share new treatments and health approaches. We work with you and for you to make participating in health research easy, so that together we improve health care for all.
Join the movement and learn more about how we help researchers, physicians, community members, industry, government organizations, and others. Visit us at chicagoitm.org and connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and LinkedIn @ChicagoITM.