Abstract. We present a Bayesian translational model for matching patterns in data sets which have neither co-occurring samples nor variables, but only a similar experiment design dividing the samples into two or more categories. The model estimates covariate effects related to this design and separates the factors that are shared across the data sets from those specific to one data set. The model is designed to find similarities in medical studies, where there is great need for methods for linking laboratory experiments with model organisms to studies of human diseases and new treatments.