PRISM Forum: Life Science Informatics and Collaboration in Biopharmaceutical Research

PRISM Forum was an international community of senior life science informatics professionals involved in the application of information technology to biopharmaceutical research. Its membership included representatives from major pharmaceutical and life science organizations such as Novartis, Roche, Merck, AstraZeneca, Syngenta, Sanofi Aventis, Wyeth, Pfizer, Abbott, Johnson & Johnson, Bristol-Myers Squibb, GlaxoSmithKline, and Daiichi Sankyo, together with participants from smaller biotechnology organizations. The Forum provided an environment in which experienced professionals could discuss technological developments that affected scientific research, information management, and research computing.

A defining characteristic of the Forum was its focus on pre-competitive information exchange. Pharmaceutical companies compete in drug discovery and development, but many of them face similar underlying challenges in managing scientific information, evaluating new computing technologies, and supporting research teams. PRISM Forum created opportunities for specialists from different organizations to examine those shared challenges without making the discussion primarily about commercial products or promotion. Its activities therefore reflected a practical intersection of life science, research informatics, computing, and cross-industry professional collaboration.

An International Forum for Life Science Informatics Professionals

PRISM Forum brought together people working at the senior levels of informatics within pharmaceutical and biotechnology organizations. The membership represented an international range of companies rather than a single institution, technology supplier, or research discipline. This gave participants an opportunity to compare experiences across organizations whose research environments could differ substantially in scale, scientific focus, infrastructure, and internal information systems. The common subject was the use of information technology to support biopharmaceutical research. By concentrating on issues shared across the sector, the Forum could address topics that were relevant to scientists and informatics teams working in complex research organizations.

Pre-Competitive Exchange and Emerging Information Technology

The Forum was designed to encourage discussion of information that could be shared before it entered areas of direct commercial competition. This distinction was important in pharmaceutical research, where proprietary compounds, clinical programs, intellectual property, and company strategy must remain protected while broader technological problems may be common across the industry. PRISM Forum provided a setting for members to consider emerging IT approaches, research-computing practices, data-management challenges, and other developments affecting the biopharmaceutical research process. The purpose was not simply to follow technology trends, but to consider how new approaches could be applied within real scientific and organizational environments.

Meetings in Europe and the United States

The main PRISM Forum meetings were held twice each year, with one meeting taking place in Europe and another in the United States. This format reflected the international nature of the membership and provided recurring opportunities for direct discussion between professionals working across the life science sector. Historical information from 2008 records a Spring Meeting scheduled for 14–17 April at GSK in North Mymms, near London, United Kingdom, and an Autumn Meeting scheduled for 6–9 October at Daiichi Sankyo in Edison, New Jersey. Meetings were therefore more than general industry gatherings: they formed part of a continuing program through which members could return to developing informatics questions and examine them from different organizational perspectives.

Special Interest Groups

In addition to its principal meetings, PRISM Forum organized Special Interest Groups, commonly referred to as SIGs. These groups allowed members to concentrate on a particular subject that required more focused discussion than could normally be accommodated within the broader Forum program. SIG activity overlapped with the main meetings and could involve specialists invited from participating organizations when their knowledge was relevant to the subject under consideration. This approach allowed the Forum to combine senior-level exchange with deeper examination of individual areas of research informatics.

Electronic Health Records and Research Informatics

Electronic Health Records were among the subjects addressed by PRISM Forum Special Interest Groups. The topic was particularly relevant to life science informatics because electronic health information raises important questions about data structures, interoperability, information management, and the relationship between healthcare information and pharmaceutical research. Within the Forum’s historical context, the subject represented an example of how changes in information technology outside the laboratory could have implications for research organizations. Examining such topics through a focused group gave members a way to compare developments, terminology, technical approaches, and potential research applications.

Biomarkers and Scientific Information

Biomarkers were another subject covered through the Forum’s Special Interest Group activity. Biomarker research can bring together biological measurements, experimental observations, clinical information, and computational analysis, making effective information management an important part of the research process. For informatics professionals, the subject therefore involved more than scientific interpretation alone. It also raised practical questions concerning how information is captured, organized, exchanged, and made available to researchers. By placing biomarkers within a dedicated SIG, PRISM Forum could examine a scientifically important area through the specific perspective of life science information technology.

PharmaGRID and Computing for Biopharmaceutical Research

PRISM Forum also explored the potential application of grid computing to pharmaceutical research. In 2003 and 2004, the Forum organized PharmaGRID Retreats, focused events that considered how GRID computing could be applied within the biopharmaceutical industry. At the time, grid computing offered a model for combining distributed computing resources to address computationally demanding scientific work. For pharmaceutical research organizations dealing with substantial quantities of scientific information and computational tasks, this was a relevant emerging technology to investigate. The PharmaGRID activities illustrate the broader purpose of PRISM Forum: creating a neutral environment in which experienced life science informatics professionals could examine developing technologies, exchange knowledge, and consider their practical relevance to biopharmaceutical R&D.