A Human-Centered Intelligent Search Experience: Highlights of the SDOH Data Discovery Platform

Public health research increasingly depends on integrating diverse datasets related to the social determinants of health (SDOH), such as demographics, environmental conditions, economic indicators, and community resources. Yet researchers, especially those new to SDOH domains, often face challenges in discovering relevant data due to specialized terminology and fragmented distribution across multiple agencies. We will provide the highlights of the SDOH & Place Data Discovery application, which combines a metadata management system with a search and discovery web interface built through human-centered design. The platform provides standard facet-based search as well as a conversational interface that leverages LLM for natural language interpretation. Our platform will lower the barrier to entry for SDOH research and empower researchers to more easily identify, understand, and utilize place-based health determinants data critical for their analysis.