Life Sciences Developers and Architects

Deployment, the BioIT Alliance, and Social Networking

2009-10-06T00:04:42Z

This is going to be an interesting week for this architect: 1. Hosting the first meeting of the Microsoft Pharmaceutical Deployment Users Group. 2. Hosting the first meeting of the BioIT Alliance The PDUG (Pharma Deployment Users Group) is focused on developing best practices for deploying Microsoft technology in the Life Sciences enterprise. The first topic will be on sharing information and learning about deploying SharePoint in regulated environments. The question becomes “how can...(read more)

BioIT Alliance Conference – October 8 & 9

2009-09-24T20:47:46Z

The BioIT Alliance Conference is rapidly approaching! Aimed at members of the BioIT Alliance, but open to the general public, the conference is being held at the Microsoft New England Research and Development Campus in Cambridge, MA. It will be held on the afternoon of Thursday, October 8, and the morning of Friday October, 9th. The conference is FREE and open to anyone (BioIT Alliance members or not), but we need you to register to know how many to plan for! Register today at http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032424558...(read more)

News from MGX – Part 1

2009-07-23T18:16:35Z

Many of you will be aware that the Microsoft Global eXchange (or MGX, or MGB) is happening this week. This is the week when Microsoft-ies go off together to get trained on the “new stuff”, what we have to sell, how to use the new technologies, and what is coming. Some VERY cool stuff – first we’ll deal with the relevant stuff for Life Sciences: 1) Amalga Life Sciences – With the acquisition of Rosetta Biosciences, this product has quite a bit potential to have an impact in human health. ...(read more)

More Directions on the BioIT Alliance

2009-07-16T12:29:54Z

After having been recently appointed as Director of the BioIT Alliance, I’ve been in the process of looking at what the Alliance does today and what it is capable of doing. Given the number of companies involved, the possibilities are really very strong. So today we are today announcing a few things on the BioIT Alliance website ( http://www.bioitalliance.org ) and the BioIT Alliance Blog ( http://blogs.msdn.com/bioit_alliance ): 1) The first formal meeting of the BioIT Alliance, to...(read more)

Post DIA Thoughts

2009-06-25T15:17:00Z

In the style of Peter King from SI, here are a few things I think I think coming out of DIA: 1. I hadn’t noticed as many device manufacturers in previous years. ePRO (e-Patient Reported Outcomes) is obvious – and expected – but there were a number of device manufacturers showing their devices for use in clinical trials – especially Phase I trials. Of course my attention was drawn to vendors who are using the Windows Embedded operating system (naturally), with companies like Phillips (with...(read more)

Identity Management: a key to seamless CTMS and EDC

2009-06-16T18:47:16Z

In my opinion, the largest hurdle to a comprehensive Clinical Trials system, whether you talk about EDC or about traditional CTMS, is identity management. Think about it: You set up your EDC system, but how do you get your users enrolled? You create a CTMS, but how do you handle turnover at the clinical sites? How many user names and passwords does each PI or study coordinator have to remember? Is your system really 21 CFR Part 11 compliant if each PI and study coordinator writes their username...(read more)

CTMS & EDC: A system to do both - and more

2009-02-16T21:49:22Z

Interesting how weeks become months when you're writing and updating blogs. This CTMS project certainly hasn't gone away, but it did go on a bit of a hiatus while my "day job" intervened. Enough excuses. Mea Culpa. On to the fun! As we discussed in the previous post, the key to a clinical trials management system is thinking of it in terms of a project - after all, the people who run the clinical trial think of it in terms of a project, and it is measured in project...(read more)

Building a clinical trials management system: it's about the project

2008-07-25T18:15:51Z

I have been asked - numerous times - "is it possible to do 'x' with out of the box Microsoft tools?" The list of things people ask about are numerous, but one of the most frequent requests of late is around building a clinical trials management portal. Interestingly enough, for DIA this year (as discussed in a previous blog post), I built a CTMS demonstration using basic Microsoft tools (and very little coding). My goal here is to share that knowledge. And so, over the next few weeks I'm going to...(read more)

Is SharePoint validated?

2008-07-11T01:36:56Z

It's amazing how many times we get asked that question! "Is SharePoint validated?" Despite the number of validated applications written by ISV's that are running on SharePoint, ...despite the overwhelming adoption by life science companies who are using SharePoint for everything from team collaboration (the obvious) to dashboards in their manufacturing environment to managing their clinical trials to managing their compound and project portfolios, ...and despite the publication over a year ago of...(read more)

AT&T Tilt, GPS, and Windows Live Search

2008-06-30T01:08:27Z

I recently started using the GPS functionality in my AT&T Tilt (HTC 8925) . About the same time, I downloaded a new version of the Microsoft Windows Live Search Mobile (or http://m.live.com from your mobile phone). Very easy to set up: Download Live Search Mobile on your phone from http://wls.live.com Allow the .CAB file to install Launch Live Search from your Smartphone's Start menu Click on "Menu" and "Settings" You'll want to "Enable speech recognition" and for the ATT Tilt select "GPS COM4"...(read more)

Post DIA Thoughts: It's all about interoperability

2008-06-26T14:00:00Z

While at DIA I was asked an interesting question by Mark Uehling for his Clinpage blog , "what do you think is the future of EDC"? Kind of an interesting question, and my answer (which I'll let you read in his newsletter blog) was informed by how connected the industry has become in terms of interoperability. It became obvious at DIA that there are a number of vendors who "get it": it isn't just about their own functionality, rather it is about the functionality that can be gained when linked with...(read more)

Microsoft and DIA 2008 - Part II - Exciting Partner Technologies

2008-06-17T01:17:51Z

One of the cool parts of working for a large software platform vendor like Microsoft is working with the larger ecosystem of partners that are developing applications on the Microsoft platform. In particular, as we approach DIA each year, I am faced with a conundrum of "who to invite" to present with us in the Microsoft booth. The fun part, of course, is evaluating all the new technologies that will be announced at DIA. The not so fun part is having to help choose which ones to share booth space!...(read more)

Microsoft and DIA 2008 - Part I

2008-06-11T16:05:16Z

Over the next couple weeks, I'll be blogging frequently about Microsoft will be demonstrating and showing at the 2008 DIA Annual Meeting in Boston. We'll be covering everything from Part 11 compliance, collaboration, validation, electronic data capture, clinical trials management, and a new paradigms around data visualization. One of the themes of our booth this year is around "Compliant Collaboration". Now, I know what you're thinking: "those two terms - compliance and collaboration - are not often...(read more)

Microsoft Health and Life Sciences Developers Conference

2008-03-20T04:37:00Z

Microsoft is hosting the second annual Health and Life Sciences Developers Conference to be held April 22 through 24 at the Sheraton Hotel in Atlantic City, NJ. This free - yes free - event is going to be even bigger and better than last year, with some guest speakers that you do not want to miss, including Peter Neupert, Corporate Vice President of the Health Solutions Group, the same people that brought you HealthVault ( http://www.healthvault.com ) and Amalga ( http://www.microsoft.com/amalga...(read more)

Microsoft solutions for Life Sciences

2007-09-01T00:14:11Z

One of the questions I'm frequently asked by people unfamiliar with Microsoft's efforts in Life Sciences is: "What type of solutions does Microsoft have to offer to Life Sciences companies?" The answer to that question is usually: "Name the part of the value chain you're interested in, and we can talk about the particular solutions". Yes - it is that wide of an offering. If you look at our Life Sciences page ( http://www.microsoft.com/lifesciences ) you get an idea. But today I thought I'd touch...(read more)