InterSystems to support industry standards for sharing genome sequencing data, and contribute expertise in big data and health informatics
InterSystems, a global leader in software for connected care, has joined the Global Alliance for Genomics and Health (GA4GH), an alliance of 148 of the world’s leading biomedical research institutions, healthcare providers, information technology and life science companies, funders of research, and disease and patient advocacy organizations.
Meeting today at the Wellcome Trust in London for the first face-to-face GA4GH partner meeting, InterSystems joins 200 of the world’s leading experts in healthcare, biomedical research, technology, ethics, and patient advocacy. The non-profit partnership brings organizations from Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, and the Americas.
InterSystems will contribute its deep expertise in advanced data management, analytics, integration, and health informatics technologies, including decades of experience providing secure, standards-based health information exchange at local, regional, national and international levels.
Technological advances have led to large-scale collection of data on genome sequences and clinical outcomes, with great promise for medicine. In recent years, the cost of genome sequencing has fallen one-million fold, while more and more people are choosing to make their genetic and clinical data available for research, clinical, and personal use. However, interpreting this data requires an evidence base for biomedicine that is larger than any one party alone can develop, and that adheres to the highest standards of ethics and privacy.
Stemming from an initial meeting held in January 2013, last June almost 70 organizations announced their intention to form a global alliance to tackle the challenges of genomic and clinical data sharing. They agreed to develop and promulgate international standards, both technical and regulatory, that make it possible to share and interpret this wealth of information in a manner that is effective, responsible and secure.
Since then, the inclusive effort has doubled its membership and continued to bring on world-leading organizations from a wide range of critical fields to collaborate on solutions. The Global Alliance for Genomics and Health now has 148 partners, all of whom offer important perspectives and expertise and are pooling their intellectual resources to develop and harmonize approaches to data sharing and enabling discovery. They include esteemed research and health institutions with broadened international representation, partners from over 20 leading life science and information technology companies, including world leaders in cloud computing, biotechnology, and healthcare generally, and additional respected disease and patient advocacy groups.
“The vast amounts of knowledge on the human genome, combined with the advent of electronic health records, has created an unprecedented volume of data. The challenge now is to find a way to capture, share, understand, and act on this data to improve health,” said Paul Grabscheid, Vice President of Strategy at InterSystems. “Through our work with the most innovative healthcare organizations worldwide, we understand the strategic importance of interoperability in solving these challenges and enabling healthcare breakthroughs. We look forward to contributing to this important effort, as genomic data redefines the healthcare landscape.”
