u/redturtle1997

We're running a pilot clinical study and management has asked me to build them a secure database, something the organisation genuinely owns and can build on for future studies, rather than just Excel files in SharePoint.

Before I get into tool-specific questions, I want to ask the general one: for a small org with no internal IT team, what does "having your own database" actually look like in practice? Do you end up with your own cloud environment (Azure/AWS) that you own outright, or does "ownership" in this context usually mean something more modest, like owning the exported data itself, while the collection system lives somewhere else?

I have sponsorship available if we go the institutional route, that's not the blocker. What I'm trying to work out is what the end state actually looks like for an org our size.

Here's how I've broken down the options so far, and where I'm unsure:

1. REDCap

• a) Hosted by an institution (university/hospital), do we still end up with our own Azure environment for the exported data, or does "our database" just mean our own storage/SharePoint area at that point?
• b) Hosted by a commercial REDCap vendor, same question. Does the org still need its own Azure, or does owning the exported data in something simpler cover it?

1. A different platform entirely (Castor or similar, bundled hosting): same question again: is there still a reason to also stand up our own Azure environment, or does that become unnecessary once the vendor is holding everything?

Basically: at what point, if any, does a small org actually need its own cloud environment, versus just owning a clean, well-structured export from wherever the data was collected?

For people who've actually built this for a small org, what did "the database" end up being, concretely? Would genuinely appreciate real examples over general advice.

We're running a pilot clinical study and management has asked me to build them a secure database, something the organisation genuinely owns and can build on for future studies, rather than just Excel files in SharePoint.

Before I get into tool-specific questions, I want to ask the general one: for a small org with no internal IT team, what does "having your own database" actually look like in practice? Do you end up with your own cloud environment (Azure/AWS) that you own outright, or does "ownership" in this context usually mean something more modest, like owning the exported data itself, while the collection system lives somewhere else?

I have sponsorship available if we go the institutional route, that's not the blocker. What I'm trying to work out is what the end state actually looks like for an org our size.

Here's how I've broken down the options so far, and where I'm unsure:

1. REDCap

• a) Hosted by an institution (university/hospital), do we still end up with our own Azure environment for the exported data, or does "our database" just mean our own storage/SharePoint area at that point?
• b) Hosted by a commercial REDCap vendor, same question. Does the org still need its own Azure, or does owning the exported data in something simpler cover it?

2. A different platform entirely (Castor or similar, bundled hosting): same question again: is there still a reason to also stand up our own Azure environment, or does that become unnecessary once the vendor is holding everything?

Basically: at what point, if any, does a small org actually need its own cloud environment, versus just owning a clean, well-structured export from wherever the data was collected?

For people who've actually built this for a small org, what did "the database" end up being, concretely? Would genuinely appreciate real examples over general advice.

We're running a pilot clinical study and management has asked me to build them a secure database, something the organisation genuinely owns and can build on for future studies, rather than just Excel files in SharePoint.

Before I get into tool-specific questions, I want to ask the general one: for a small org with no internal IT team, what does "having your own database" actually look like in practice? Do you end up with your own cloud environment (Azure/AWS) that you own outright, or does "ownership" in this context usually mean something more modest, like owning the exported data itself, while the collection system lives somewhere else?

I have sponsorship available if we go the institutional route, that's not the blocker. What I'm trying to work out is what the end state actually looks like for an org our size.

Here's how I've broken down the options so far, and where I'm unsure:

1. REDCap

• a) Hosted by an institution (university/hospital), do we still end up with our own Azure environment for the exported data, or does "our database" just mean our own storage/SharePoint area at that point?
• b) Hosted by a commercial REDCap vendor, same question. Does the org still need its own Azure, or does owning the exported data in something simpler cover it?

2. A different platform entirely (Castor or similar, bundled hosting): same question again: is there still a reason to also stand up our own Azure environment, or does that become unnecessary once the vendor is holding everything?

Basically: at what point, if any, does a small org actually need its own cloud environment, versus just owning a clean, well-structured export from wherever the data was collected?

For people who've actually built this for a small org, what did "the database" end up being, concretely? Would genuinely appreciate real examples over general advice.

Running a small local Meta campaign with the Engagement, Messaging objective (Messenger destination, no website involved). Added a couple of narrow interests in Detailed Targeting, but the estimated audience size came back way larger than those interests should produce.

Dug in and found Advantage+ Detailed Targeting was on, expanding well beyond my actual selections. Tried the usual "Switch to original audience options" flow to turn it off, audience size didn't change. The in-product text says it's "automatically applied based on your campaign objective and conversion goals," with no visible toggle to disable it on this objective.

Checked if switching objectives would help, the only other performance goal available is "Maximize link clicks," which requires a website destination? so that's not an option.

Is there any thing I can do to solve this. For more context, I'm trying to advertise a free event for certain people and I'm getting messages on the event from non-relevent people and it's wasting my campaign's budget. I really don't know what to do, I really appreciate any help.

Running a small local Meta campaign with the Engagement, Messaging objective (Messenger destination, no website involved). Added a couple of narrow interests in Detailed Targeting, but the estimated audience size came back way larger than those interests should produce.

Dug in and found Advantage+ Detailed Targeting was on, expanding well beyond my actual selections. Tried the usual "Switch to original audience options" flow to turn it off, audience size didn't change. The in-product text says it's "automatically applied based on your campaign objective and conversion goals," with no visible toggle to disable it on this objective.

Checked if switching objectives would help, the only other performance goal available is "Maximize link clicks," which requires a website destination? so that's not an option.

Is there any thing I can do to solve this. For more context, I'm trying to advertise a free event for certain people and I'm getting messages on the event from non-relevent people and it's wasting my campaign's budget. I really don't know what to do, I really appreciate any help.

TSH has been climbing over 18 months (4.8 → 7.3) but Free T4 is still normal and thyroid antibodies came back completely clean: no Hashimoto's.

I have documented vitamin D deficiency, chronically high stress, and possibly low selenium/iodine intake (Idk for sure). Planning to address these before jumping to medication.

Keep getting told "supplements do nothing, levothyroxine is the only treatment" but that seems like advice aimed at Hashimoto's patients, not someone with no autoimmunity and identifiable nutrient gaps.

Has anyone successfully brought TSH down through lifestyle/supplements when antibodies were negative?