What is the SRE?

The UMB Secure Research Environment (SRE) is a centralized virtual environment designed to protect sensitive and restricted research data.  Secure virtual desktop environments and custom compute configurations allow researchers to access sensitive data under a higher level of control and data protection. Data is segregated per research project and only accessible by the research team that is assigned to their research environment.

The SRE is an isolated environment where users can use the software programs and tools available in the SRE to conduct their research and analyses. The ingress (input) of sensitive data into the SRE is managed by members of the Research Informatics Core (RIC) and/or the UMB IT support group. The egress (output) of any sensitive data or files from the SRE is also controlled by members of the Research Informatics Core (RIC) and/or UMB IT support group. The egress of non-sensitive data, e.g., summary or aggregated data that does not contain PHI or PII, can also be performed.

Why use the SRE?

The SRE is now a required computing environment for using University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS) clinical data for research purposes. At this time, other PIs are invited to use it as well.  Principal investigators will use the SRE to protect their sensitive research data and intellectual property.

The SRE is a virtual computing space specifically designed to secure sensitive data, such as PII and PHI, and intellectual property. UMB in partnership with UMMS has built the SRE using the Microsoft Azure cloud computing infrastructure and is accessible via Azure Virtual Desktop. The Azure environment and selected tools do meet HIPAA’s standards for handling protected health information/patient data and other sensitive, personally identifiable data. The UMB and UMMS Data Use Agreement specifies the use of the Microsoft Azure infrastructure for the purpose of securing sensitive data.

What analytical tools/applications are currently available in SRE?