Tutorial: Health Research

Science

Data source: ClinicalTrials.gov, OpenFDA, WHO GHO

Overview

Health Research searches across 3 data sources (ClinicalTrials.gov, OpenFDA, WHO GHO) in a single query. It deduplicates and normalizes results, saving you from building 3 separate integrations. This tutorial walks through all 3 tools with working code examples.

Prerequisites

Sign up at https://context.gnist.ai/signup for a free API key (100 calls/day).
Choose your integration method: MCP protocol or REST API.

Connect via MCP

Add to your MCP client config (Claude Desktop, Cursor, etc.):

MCP Config

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "gnist-health-research": {
      "url": "https://context.gnist.ai/mcp/health-research/",
      "headers": {
        "Gnist-API-Key": "YOUR_API_KEY"
      }
    }
  }
}

Tools (3)

`search_health_data`

Search across clinical trials, drug safety, biomedical literature, drug interactions, and global health indicators. Queries five health data sources in parallel: - ClinicalTrials.gov — active and completed clinical trials worldwide - OpenFDA — drug adverse events and drug label information - WHO GHO — global health indicators (mortality, disease burden, risk factors) - PubMed — biomedical research articles and citations (36M+ records) - Interaksjoner.no — Norwegian drug interaction severity checks Returns clinical trials, adverse events, drug labels, health indicators, PubMed literature, and drug interaction data for the given topic. Examples: search_health_data(query="aspirin") search_health_data(query="diabetes", limit=5) search_health_data(query="COVID-19 vaccine")

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
`query`	string	required	Health topic, drug name, condition, or disease to search.
`limit`	integer	optional	Max results per source. (default: `10`)

curl -X POST "https://context.gnist.ai/mcp/health-research/" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Gnist-API-Key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -d '{"jsonrpc": "2.0", "method": "tools/call", "id": 1, "params": {"name": "search_health_data", "arguments": {"query": "renewable energy"}}}'

import httpx

resp = httpx.post(
    "https://context.gnist.ai/mcp/health-research/",
    headers={"Gnist-API-Key": "YOUR_API_KEY"},
    json={'id': 1,
 'jsonrpc': '2.0',
 'method': 'tools/call',
 'params': {'arguments': {'query': 'renewable energy'},
            'name': 'search_health_data'}},
)
print(resp.json())

`list_health_sources`

List all health research data sources, their coverage, and data types. Shows which clinical trial registries, drug safety databases, and global health observatories are searched during a health research query. Examples: list_health_sources()

curl -X POST "https://context.gnist.ai/mcp/health-research/" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Gnist-API-Key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -d '{"jsonrpc": "2.0", "method": "tools/call", "id": 1, "params": {"name": "list_health_sources", "arguments": {}}}'

import httpx

resp = httpx.post(
    "https://context.gnist.ai/mcp/health-research/",
    headers={"Gnist-API-Key": "YOUR_API_KEY"},
    json={'id': 1,
 'jsonrpc': '2.0',
 'method': 'tools/call',
 'params': {'arguments': {}, 'name': 'list_health_sources'}},
)
print(resp.json())

`report_feedback`

Report a bug, feature request, or general feedback for this data source. Use this when something doesn't work as expected, when you'd like a new feature, or when you have suggestions for improvement. Args: feedback: Describe the issue or suggestion. feedback_type: One of 'bug', 'feature_request', or 'general'.

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
`feedback`	string	required
`feedback_type`	string	optional	(default: `general`)

curl -X POST "https://context.gnist.ai/mcp/health-research/" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Gnist-API-Key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -d '{"jsonrpc": "2.0", "method": "tools/call", "id": 1, "params": {"name": "report_feedback", "arguments": {"feedback": "example"}}}'

import httpx

resp = httpx.post(
    "https://context.gnist.ai/mcp/health-research/",
    headers={"Gnist-API-Key": "YOUR_API_KEY"},
    json={'id': 1,
 'jsonrpc': '2.0',
 'method': 'tools/call',
 'params': {'arguments': {'feedback': 'example'}, 'name': 'report_feedback'}},
)
print(resp.json())

Common Patterns

Pagination
Several tools support limit, offset, or page parameters. Start with small limits during development, then increase for production queries.

FAQ

What data does Health Research provide?

Unified health research across ClinicalTrials.gov, OpenFDA drug safety, and WHO Global Health Observatory — trials, adverse events, and global health indicators. It exposes 3 tools: search_health_data, list_health_sources, report_feedback.

What do I need to get started?

A Gnist API key (free tier: 100 calls/day). Sign up at https://context.gnist.ai/signup.

What format does the Health Research API return?

JSON, via either MCP protocol (JSON-RPC 2.0) or REST API.

Which data sources does Health Research aggregate?

ClinicalTrials.gov, OpenFDA, WHO GHO. Results are deduplicated and normalized into a consistent format.