IDBS, a global provider of innovative data management, analytics and modeling solutions, announced the delivery of its Enterprise Translational Medicine Solution (ETMS) to the National Centre for Mental Health (NCMH) in Wales. The single platform will integrate clinical, biobanking and genetic data in support of research to improve disease understanding and accelerate the treatment of mental health disorders such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.
The NCMH, hosted by Cardiff University, has established the Wales Mental Health Network (WMHN), which is recruiting 6,000 volunteers over the next two years to take part in vital research. The IDBS ETMS platform provides an advanced data management and analytics foundation for this and future studies. It will enable cohorts to be easily defined and analyzed from new subjects as well as providing access to 3,000 historic records. Clinicians and research scientists will be able to better understand potential causes and triggers of mental health disorders. This increased knowledge will help improve clinical diagnosis and management.
“The idea is that people won’t be signing up to take part in one study, but joining a network of people whose aim is to progress knowledge in mental health. We will be carrying out a range of studies over the next few years, including looking at genetics and identifying genes that may influence or trigger illness, imaging studies and outcomes studies,” said Prof. Nicolas Craddock, Director of the NCMH. “IDBS is key to this project, providing the rigorous and well proven data management platform needed to combine and interpret the complex, disparate data sets we work with. Their systematic approach demonstrates unique experience in this field and working with a commercial vendor reduces our reliance on in-house skills.”
During the study, approximately 300 clinical attributes will be captured for each person including medical history, family history, medication and therapy. The platform will unify patient, sample and genetic results into a data landscape that ensures consistent analysis across the varied and complex data sets involved. Focus will be on a wide spectrum of mental illnesses including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease, autism and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). A wide range of analyses can be conducted in the platform from survival analysis (Kaplan–Meier), genetic analysis routines such as GWAS and CNV (Genome-Wide Association Studies and Copy Number Variation), enabling clinicians and researchers to seamlessly build a cohort, run efficient analyses and view the results in a matter of minutes rather than months.
Neil Kipling, CEO and Founder of IDBS said, “Working with NCMH to improve the understanding and treatment of mental disorders is an exciting project for us. There are many challenges in translational medicine studies, ranging from integrating information across multiple studies to dealing with big data, but in the end success relies on having good quality, well managed data. Our extensive experience in cancer, cardiovascular, and mental health disorders gives customers confidence. They can benefit from our knowledge and state of the art data management and analytics with low risk.”
Filed Under: Drug Discovery
