Workshop Description
UCLA Health serves well over half a million patients annually, and as a result, UCLA possesses a vast database of Electronic Health Records (EHR). The stemming Discovery Data Repository (DDR) serves as an invaluable resource for researchers. This introductory workshop will cover the basics of writing queries to extract the relevant datasets for EHR-related research projects – from a simple list of patient visits to generating feature sets for complex phenotypes. Topics covered include introductory SQL, medical record concepts and organization, and best practices. Additionally, an entire day is dedicated for the UCLA ATLAS Precision Health Biobank which integrates genetic information and de-identified medical records to enable precision health research. No prior experience with SQL nor health records are assumed.
Workshop Topics
Day 1
- Introduction
- Environment
- SQL Basics
- Relational databases, relations
- SELECT, WHERE clauses
- Set operations
Day 2
- SQL
- Multiple relations
- JOIN operations
- Grouping and aggregation
- Subqueries, temporary tables
Day 3
- ATLAS item 1
- …
- ATLAS item n
Day 4
- DDR concepts
- Diagnoses
- Comorbidities
- Vitals
- Labs, Medications
- Complex, real-life exercises
- End-workshop remarks
Technical Requirements
DDR access required. Note that this takes several weeks to approve so please signed up before the deadline. Please verify that you can access this environment prior to the course and contact TBA if there are any issues.
Instructor
Dr. Lingyu Zhan is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Psychiatry and Human Genetics under the supervision of Dr. Roel Ophoff. He comes from a biological background with a specialization in statistical methods and computational tools. He is interested in understanding the genetic basis of human complex traits, with an emphasis on rare and structural variations. His current research focuses on the genetics of neuropsychiatric diseases and large-scale sequencing data analysis, as well as big data involving biobank and health records.
Email: zhanlingyu812@gmail.com
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Workshop Details
Prerequisites: None
Length: 3 days, 3 hrs per day
Level: Introductory
Location: Boyer 529
Seats Available: 28
Fall 2025 Dates
Dec. 2, Dec. 3 and Dec. 4
1:30 PM – 4:30 PM
REGISTRATION IS CLOSED
UCLA MEDNET AFFILIATES ONLY.
