Data Enclaves: Microsoft Azure and the Unified Learning Environment for Analytics & Data (ULEAD)

UCLA Health has established security protocols around virtual machines (VMs) for protected health information (PHI) within the Azure cloud. As UCLA’s preferred cloud environment, in 2019 the CTSI’s Biomedical Informatics Program (BIP) started to provision requested data sets into this environment. Working with OHIA, BIP defined default configurations and software, like those available in Amazon Web Services (AWS); these configurations were developed based on CTSI’s understanding of common data analysis needs. ULEAD is a cloud-based, secured, unified virtual environment, in which users can analyze and visualize data using select tools and datasets. The objective of the ULEAD platform is to protect PHI data while making it available in a secure manner for UCLA Health Community. It offers the UCLA Health community many benefits, including: enhanced data security; streamlined process for data access; reduced burden of data release approval as the data will remain in a secure environment; access to compute resources that are more powerful than users’ local laptops or desktops; scalable architecture to support growing business needs. This ULEAD platform is particularly useful for external collaborators, who now can access but not replicate or remove data from UCLA.

For more information, visit the ULEAD webpage.

Last updated
November 15, 2023