鶹ý Vice-Principal ResearchLife Sciences graduate Ash Bassili’s company is set to revolutionize how research data is managed, shared, and secured. After graduating from Queen’s with a Bachelor of Science Honours , Ash went on to get a MSc in Information Technology (IT) Management from The Johns Hopkins University, which led him to a career in IT strategy and management consulting with SHL Systemhouse, IBM, PwC and EY. It was at SHL that Ash met his wife Deanne, who is now the co-founder of myLaminin.
Following their successful careers in consulting, Ash and Deanne could see there were gaps in how blockchain technology was being used.
“I felt like there was a lot of utility in blockchain that went beyond just cryptocurrency and NFTs,” says Ash.
After completing a blockchain certification from MIT Sloan School of Management, myLaminin launched a Verifiable Credential solution - a tamper-proof digital document that holds verified information about a person, organization, or thing in a digital wallet.
A month after their incorporation, myLaminin connected with Queen’s Partnerships and Innovation (QPI) and joined the Queen’s Startup Runway Incubation Program, which allowed the company to access additional resources such as the Go to Market Masterclass facilitated by QPI, and they participated in QPI’s Wings Acceleration Program for pre-revenue startups.
“I remember pitching at the end of the Wings program and Margo Langford (Director, Legal Counsel, Queen’s Vice-Principal [Research]) said to us ‘This is a really interesting concept – can it be applied to research data?’ And well, at the time, we didn’t know much about research data management,” says Ash. That conversation was the catalyst that led to a three-month pilot project, which then led to a 12-month researcher validation phase with Queen’s University.
“Through the course of this information gathering and validation, we came out with a pretty compelling research data management (RDM) platform designed for and by Principal Investigators, their research teams, and university administration,” says Deanne. “And now we have the most complete, most integrated, most secure RDM platform on the market – all because of the input from the Queen’s research ecosystem.
Around the same time, Ash connected with QPI’s Dr. Stephen Scribner, Director, Intellectual Property, to discuss the filing of patent applications to protect the invention. myLaminin was accepted into QPI’s Scale-Up Platform, a program funded by the , for start-ups and entrepreneurs, which enables QPI’s patent and commercialization services to be provided without charge. Stephen worked with Ash to draft patent applications which were filed in the Canadian and U.S. patent offices and are currently pending.
A Platform Built for Researchers
myLaminin is more than just a data storage solution—it’s a comprehensive global research data collaboration tool. It supports the entire research data management lifecycle, from the initial project creation, data sharing agreements as required by Queen’s Research Ethics and granting organizations, to the collection and consent of information, to analysis, archiving, and publication.
“We are really proud of how robust we’ve been able to make this platform,” says Ash, adding that the platform “includes features such as role-based access, real-time audit trails, eSignature support, ORCID, Borealis, and RAiD integration.”
It also supports institutional review board (IRB) protocols and allows for secure, real-time co-editing of documents, allowing multiple people to work within a document simultaneously.
myLaminin addresses the majority of cybersecurity and privacy controls required by most data protection standards including HIPAA, PHIPA, PIPEDA, 21 CFR Part 11, and NIST 800-171. And while it supports both cloud and on-prem data storage, for Queen’s researchers, all their data is hosted on infrastructure. This ensures that sensitive research data remains on-premises and under institutional control.
“It really does offer a complete package in terms of research data management and sharing optimization,” says Paige Beddoe, Associate Director, Research Engagement and Strategy with the CAC. “One of the most important features is that the data stays with us at Queen’s. We can also track exactly when a document was shared or downloaded, and who accessed it.”
This level of transparency and control is especially important for research involving personal health information (PHI) or proprietary data.
“A lot of research data is confidential,” Margo Langford says. “If data is emailed or transferred via USB, it’s not tracked appropriately. That can lead to data insecurity or breaches. With myLaminin, we have a system that can oversee the tracking of documents and ensure compliance with data sharing agreements.”
Supporting Compliance and Collaboration
myLaminin’s ability to trace consent documents and manage data sharing agreements is a game-changer for research legal teams. It can automatically identify which data within a study has not been consented for secondary use – something that previously required manual tracking in spreadsheets.
“Institutions can also leverage built-in Adobe Acrobat Sign eSignature agreement capabilities and users associated with institutions in the can log in using their existing credentials, eliminating the need for new accounts,” Ash explained during a recent demonstration to a researcher who was setting up their new study at Queen’s. It gives PIs greater control over their research data, team, and facilitates research librarian support of PIs for metadata management and research dataset publication.
The platform’s blockchain foundation provides an immutable audit trail, logging every interaction with the data. This is particularly valuable during audits or when demonstrating compliance with grant requirements and research ethics protocols.
“In an ideal world, we’d have 100% compliance with research data sharing and security,” says Margo. “But we still have gaps. myLaminin helps close those gaps by providing visibility into how data is shared and used.”
A Collaborative Development Process
Ricardo Smalling, Legal Counsel and Director - Research Security, Data, and Privacy with Queen’s Research Services, was involved with the platform’s validation phase at Queen’s, describes the development process as highly collaborative.
“There were two key phases,” he explains. “First, we piloted the existing platform and adapted it to Queen’s processes and systems, and then we entered a one-year validation phase where researchers tested the platform and provided feedback. Ash and Deanne were always willing to learn and make adjustments based on that input.”
That willingness to collaborate has resulted in a platform that is not only secure but also user-friendly.
“It’s easy for researchers to use,” says Ricardo. “Other options from the CAC are more involved. myLaminin is customized to Queen’s needs. Ash and Deanne have been diligent in their approach to listening to project requirements and working with researchers to meet those needs.”
The platform is currently offered as a fee-for-service tool, with costs typically covered by research budgets. Several Queen’s research teams are already using it, and the university is exploring ways to expand access through ongoing use agreements.
“From an accountability and security standpoint, it’s better than other options available,” says Ricardo. “It’s an option that researchers should be made aware of.”
Enabling Secure, Global Research
One of myLaminin’s most powerful features is its ability to facilitate secure collaboration across institutions and borders. For example, researchers working on a study can invite collaborators from other universities or countries to access specific data sets—without compromising data sovereignty. “If a researcher in Dublin, Ireland is collaborating with a team at Queen’s, they can access the data securely through myLaminin without it ever leaving Canadian servers,” explains Ash.
This capability is especially important in today’s research environment, where international collaboration is common but data privacy regulations vary widely. myLaminin ensures that data remains compliant with local laws while still enabling meaningful collaboration. myLaminin also supports Indigenous Data Sovereignty and is looking to establish an Indigenous Data Technology Stack to facilitate the enforcement of the OCAP (Ownership, Control, Access, and Possession) principles.
“Even with all the risks, we encourage people to work together,” says Ricardo. “myLaminin allows us to do that – securely.”
Looking Ahead
As the research landscape continues to evolve, platforms like myLaminin are becoming increasingly essential. With growing concerns around data privacy, cybersecurity, and compliance, institutions need tools that can adapt to changing requirements while supporting the collaborative nature of academic research.
Ash and Deanne Bassili are continuing to work closely with researchers and administrators to refine and expand the platform. In fact, myLaminin is the first vendor globally to integrate with the new persistent identifier (PID) for research activity – the RAiD established by the Australian Research Data Commons (ARDC). Their goal is to make myLaminin a standard tool for research data management – not just at Queen’s, but across Canada and beyond.
“We’re proud of what we’ve built,” says Ash. “And we’re grateful to Queen’s for being such an integral part of that journey.”
Get in touch with the Centre for Advanced Computing
Researchers looking for the data sharing tool that would best meet their needs should review the options available on the Research Storage Finder, a tool created to help researchers find the data storage option best-suited for their project. Although myLaminin is not currently listed in the tool, it is currently available to researchers by reaching out to Paige Beddoe at the Centre for Advanced Computing.