Applying the FAIR Data Principles to the Registry of Vascular Anomalies (VASCA).

Background: Connecting currently existing, heterogeneous rare disease (RD) registries would greatly facilitate epidemiological and clinical research. To increase their interoperability, the European Union developed a set of Common Data Elements (CDEs) for RD registries.

Objective: To implement the CDEs and the FAIR data principles in the Registry of Vascular Anomalies (VASCA).

Methods: We created a semantic model for the CDE and transformed this into a Resource Description Framework (RDF) template. The electronic case report forms (eCRF) were mapped to the RDF template and published in a FAIR Data Point (FDP).

Results: The FAIR VASCA registry was successfully implemented using Castor EDC (Electronic Data Capture) software.

Conclusions: FAIR technology allows researchers to query and combine data from different registries in real-time.