Technological advancements in the healthcare sector are bringing about fast-growing volumes of complex, multi-dimensional digital data. Data in this format encompass the 3 v's which define what is now commonly known as 'Big Data' - volume, velocity and variety. As an example, large and complex datasets of medical images continue to arise from global multisite clinical trials conducted to test the efficacy and safety of novel therapies.
Extracting insight from Big Data poses formidable challenges for scientists and clinicians that if overcome, holds promise for advancing medical science, revolutionizing patient care, and developing the next blockbuster drugs. The importance of developing improved tools and technologies for the collection, management and analysis of Big Data is highlighted by a recent federal government initiative titled the 'National Big Data and Research and Development Initiative'. This initiative is aimed at addressing the challenges, complexities and opportunities of 'Big Data' by fostering strategic partnerships between academia and industry.
Today, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and the Networking and Information Technology R&D (NITRD) program will further the goals of this initiative at an event called 'Data to Knowledge to Action', which will highlight accomplishments and recognize new commitments and actions aligned with the Big Data initiative.
With a keen interest in developing tools for Big Data in the drug development sector and the success of an ongoing research collaboration with the Center for Dynamic Data Analytics (CDDA) at Rutgers University in NJ, I have been invited to travel to Washington DC to participate in this event. (It was certainly a surprise to receive an email with the Presidential Seal!).
Quantitative Tissue Assessment Project
Over the last 12 months, my colleagues and I have been working together with scientists at the CDDA to develop novel, scalable algorithms for the automated analysis of medical images in clinical trials. Under a research project entitled 'Quantitative Tissue Assessment', scientific experts from BioClinica and Rutgers University worked together to develop and validate important tools for the extraction of quantitative data from medical images with increased automation and precision.
The tools developed during this project enable increasingly sophisticated clinical assessment of new therapies for muscle, liver and spleen diseases. These types of advances are the first steps in the application of big data knowledge that are being brought to bear on the diagnosis and development of new drugs in areas of unmet medical need.
Next stop, Pennsylvania Avenue. Be sure to check back as I will share my experience at the 'Data to Knowledge to Action' event with you when I return.
