Harvard Partners Center for Genetics and Genomics Honored with 2005 Best Practices Award from Bio-IT World; Innovative information system facilitates personalized medicine

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 29, 2005--The Harvard Partners Center for Genetics and Genomics (HPCGG) was awarded the 2005 Best Practices Award for Infrastructure: IT Hardware & Systems Software by Bio-IT World for its unique informatics system. The system enables a wide variety of genetic/genomic research and also supports the rapid transformation of research findings into clinical tests usable by physicians. The system thereby facilitates the adoption of personalized medicine, which takes advantage of molecular analysis to better manage a patient's disease or predisposition to disease.

The award is presented annually for "the most outstanding efforts in bio-IT-enabled research and development of therapeutics and diagnostics." The winner was chosen by a panel comprised of members of the Bio-IT World editorial staff and external judges.

“But to make a difference for patients, research findings must to be brought to the bedside in a manner that physicians can leverage. Reducing the time it takes for discoveries to transition from the research to the clinical setting is critically important for patients.”

"Genomic and proteomic research moves at an extremely rapid pace," said Dr. Raju Kucherlapati, Scientific Director of the HPCGG. "But to make a difference for patients, research findings must to be brought to the bedside in a manner that physicians can leverage. Reducing the time it takes for discoveries to transition from the research to the clinical setting is critically important for patients."

The new informatics system, called GIGPAD (Gateway for Integrated Genomics-Proteomics Application and Data), has already shown its utility by rapidly providing IT support for a new test for determining which patients will respond to new lung cancer treatments that are highly effective for about 10% of patients.

Dr. Kucherlapati continued, "We have demonstrated an ability to reduce diagnostic test development and validation from years to months. This puts enormous pressure on IT to keep up the pace. GIGPAD allows us to establish clinical IT support quickly and leverage all of the associated benefits in efficiency, quality and accuracy."

"GIGPAD was built to support personalized medicine, which relies on a rapid research-to-clinic transition," said Mr. Samuel Aronson, HPCGG Director of Information Technology. "Normally, the IT requirements for researchers and clinicians are completely different. When you discover something in the lab, getting it to the clinic requires a dramatic change in IT infrastructure. Because GIGPAD was designed from the ground up to meet the regulatory, user interface and transaction management requirements of both the clinical and research worlds, we can rapidly respond to breakthroughs as they occur."

The GIGPAD system was developed by team of information technology, scientific, clinical, and administrative specialists spanning the HPCGG, Partners Healthcare Information Systems and business partner Hewlett Packard.

About GIGPAD

GIGPAD is a secure clinical and research information management system. It is capable of processing, storing and sharing research results from individual or multiple laboratories, and can be seamlessly integrated with established laboratory information management systems (LIMS). GIGPAD addresses a common obstacle in creating research-to-clinic information systems by eliminating the need for separate code requirements for researchers and clinicians to use the database. GIGPAD is currently used in support of sequencing, microarray analysis, genotyping, mass spectrometry, biosample banking and 3-D imaging technologies.

About Bio-IT World, Inc.

A business unit of IDG, Bio-IT World, Inc., publishes information across a variety of media to meet the needs of bio-IT, life science, healthcare, pharmaceutical and regulatory professionals. The company's award-winning publication, Bio-IT World, and accompanying website, www.bio-itworld.com, deliver the latest news, analysis and information on the application of technology products and services to enable the life sciences R&D value chain - spanning basic research, drug discovery and development, clinical trials, and regulatory compliance. Established in September 2001, Bio-IT World, Inc. is headquartered in Framingham, Mass.

About the Harvard/Partners Center for Genetics and Genomics

HPCGG is a joint enterprise between Harvard Medical School and Partners HealthCare System, dedicated to accelerating the realization of personalized medicine by discovering and integrating genetic knowledge as rapidly as possible into the practice of patient care. The Center combines world-class scientific talent with access to a population of over two million patients and their physicians, providing a continuum of resources and expertise to translate scientific discoveries into prognosis, diagnosis, and treatment of illnesses. HPCGG operates laboratory facilities and services to enable genetic study design, DNA sequencing, genotyping, proteomics, bioinformatics, and gene expression. It also operates full-service genetic clinics for patients with known or suspected genetic conditions. Through programs at Harvard Medical School and other academic institutions, the Center offers a variety of educational programs to train the next generation of healthcare practitioners and researchers.

For more information, please visit www.hpcgg.org.