GE Healthcare Announces First Graduating Class of U.S. Army Reservists from Professional Development Program

19 March 2012

GE Healthcare Announces First Graduating Class of U.S. Army Reservists from Professional Development Program

 

Externship program provides training and fosters employment opportunities for biomedical equipment specialists in the Army and private sector

MILWAUKEE – March 19, 2012 – GE Healthcare today announced the graduation of the first class from its joint externship program with the U.S. Army Reserve’s 807th Medical Command (Deployment Support) (807th MDSC). The program provides training and fosters career development for biomedical equipment specialists with the goal of producing highly skilled Soldiers for Army Reserve war and peace time missions and facilitating their employment in the civilian healthcare technology industry so Soldiers stay mission-ready.

Last year, GE established a partnership with the 807th MDSC, which manages deployment of all Army Reserve field expeditionary medical units from Ohio to California, to help address the critical need for biomedical equipment specialists both within the Command and in the private sector. The pilot program graduated seven Army Reservists. A second wave made up of seven externs is midway through the program, and a third wave will commence shortly.

The externship program aligns with GE’s commitment to strengthening America’s global competitiveness by building a more highly skilled workforce and supporting the integration of the nation’s veterans into industry. In February 2012, GE announced plans to hire 5,000 veterans over the next five years and to partner with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to support its “Hiring our Heroes” initiative through career opportunities and training for veterans in 50 U.S. cities. GE Healthcare has already hired three employees through the program.

“GE is proud to count among our employees thousands of military veterans whose leadership skills and training supports our culture of dedication and commitment,” said Richard Neff, Vice President and General Manager of Service for the United States and Canada, GE Healthcare. “We are pleased with the results of this pilot program and look forward to expanding our efforts to provide career opportunities to our service men and women, addressing needs in the healthcare industry, and helping drive ‘what works’ in the American economy.”

Biomedical equipment specialists participating in the program obtain professional qualifications for both military and civilian standards. Externs complete hands-on “mission” assignments as well as Duty Military Occupational Skill Qualification requirements and acquire experience in regional medical equipment concentration sites, advanced, multi-modality biomedical training and process management training with regular progress review.

“We are pleased to collaborate with GE Healthcare to not only help meet the need for specialized biomedical training in the healthcare industry, but to also provide important opportunities for military veterans to integrate into the civilian workforce,” said Maj. Gen. L.P. Chang, Commander, 807th Medical Command.

Merck Partners with Scientists & Biotech Entrepreneurs

Merck Partners with Academic Scientists and Biotechnology Entrepreneurs to Create the California Institute for Biomedical Research (Calibr)

Calibr Presents a New Paradigm for Academic-Industry Cooperation

Whitehouse Station, NJ, and San Diego, March 15, 2012 - Merck, known outside the United States and Canada as MSD, today announced a collaboration to create the California Institute for Biomedical Research (Calibr), an independent, not-for-profit organization (501c3) established to accelerate the translation of basic biomedical research into innovative, new medicines to treat disease. Calibr will be led by Peter G. Schultz, Ph.D., a world-renowned chemist and biotechnology entrepreneur. The Institute will offer academic scientists, around the world, a streamlined, efficient and flexible path for translating their biomedical research into novel medicines. "Calibr represents a new paradigm for early-stage translational research," said Dr. Schultz, director of Calibr and Scripps Professor of Chemistry at The Scripps Research Institute. "By leveraging the drug discovery expertise and resources of Calibr, academic researchers will have the opportunity to maximize the potential therapeutic value of their research." Calibr investigators will work collaboratively with academic scientists to advance new discoveries to preclinical proof of concept at which stage commercial partnerships will be sought for further development. Merck will provide funding to Calibr of up to $90 million over a period of seven years. Merck has an option to obtain an exclusive commercial license to any proteins or small molecule therapeutic candidates derived from work conducted by Calibr. For any projects not licensed by Merck, Calibr will be free to seek alternative sources of funding for further development. In addition, the Institute plans to access funds from government and non-government sources. Revenues derived from licenses will be shared between Calibr and the collaborating institutions. Project proposals from the scientific community will be chosen on the basis of novelty, biomedical impact and technical feasibility and reviewed by a scientific advisory board headed by Christopher T. Walsh, Ph.D., Hamilton Kuhn Professor, Department of Biological Chemistry and Pharmacology, Harvard University. In addition, an independent board of directors headed by John D. Diekman, Ph.D., founder and managing partner of 5AM Ventures will oversee the activities of the Institute. "Effective translation of basic biomedical research is essential to advancing the next generation of novel therapies," said Peter S. Kim, Ph.D., president, Merck Research Laboratories and member of Calibr scientific advisory board. "Calibr will provide an important venue where basic research and drug discovery scientists may leverage each others' strengths in the fight against disease." Calibr will be located in San Diego, Calif., in close proximity to The Scripps Research Institute, Salk Institute, University of California, San Diego and Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute. Calibr will be equipped with the latest high through-put screening and imaging, medicinal and protein chemistry and preclinical sciences capabilities.

News Release from IBM - Biomedical Analytics

IBM's Biomedical Analytics Platform Helps Doctors Personalize Treatment

Italy's Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori testing new decision support solutions for cancer treatments

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HAIFA, Israel & MILAN - 14 Mar 2012: IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced it has developed a unique biomedical analytics platform for personalized medicine that could enable doctors to better advise on the best course of medical treatment. This could lead to smarter and more personalized healthcare in a wide-range of areas, including cancer management, hypertension, and AIDS care.

Scientists from IBM Research are collaborating with the Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, a major research and treatment cancer center in Italy, on the new decision support solution. This new analytics platform is being tested by the Institute's physicians to personalize treatment based on automated interpretation of pathology guidelines and intelligence from a number of past clinical cases, documented in the hospital information system.

IBM’s Clinical Genomics biomedical analytics platform for personalized medicine.

Selecting the most effective treatment can depend on a number of characteristics including  age, weight, family history, current state of the disease and general health.  As a result, more informed and personalized decisions are needed to provide accurate and safe care.

IBM's latest healthcare analytics solution, Clinical Genomics (Cli-G), can integrate and analyze all available clinical knowledge and guidelines, and correlate it with available patient data to create evidence that supports a specific course of treatment for each patient. Developed at IBM Research - Haifa, the new prototype works by investigating the patient's personal makeup and disease profile, and combines this with insight from the analysis of past cases and clinical guidelines. The solution may provide physicians and administrators with a better picture of the patient-care process and reduce costs by helping clinicians choose more effective treatment options.

"Making decisions in today's complex environment requires computerized methods that can analyze the vast amounts of patient information available to ease clinical decision-making," notes Dr. Marco A. Pierotti, Scientific Director at the Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori. "By providing our physicians with vital input on what worked best for patients with similar clinical characteristics, we can help improve treatment effectiveness and the final patient outcome."

Founded in 1925, the Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori in Milan is recognized as a scientific research and treatment institution in the field of pre-clinical and clinical oncology. The Institute's special status as a research center enables it to transfer research results directly to clinical care. The Institute initiated this collaboration with IBM to enhance patient care through better use of innovative IT solutions. Once physicians make a diagnosis, they will receive personalized insights for their patients, based on medical information, automated interpretation of pathology clinical guidelines, and intelligence from a number of past clinical cases, documented in the hospital information system.

In addition to supporting decision-making about treatment, it can provide administrators at Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori with an aggregated view of patient care, enabling them to evaluate performances and using this knowledge to streamline processes for maximum safety. For example, hospital administrators can drill down into the data to better understand what the guidelines were for insights, what succeeded, and whether treatment quality has improved.

"Our clinical genomics solution may enable care-givers to personalize treatment and increase its chances of success," explains Haim Nelken, senior manager of integration technologies at IBM Research - Haifa. "The solution is designed to provide physicians with recommendations that go beyond the results of clinical trials. It may allow them to go deeper into the data and more accurately follow the reasoning that led to choices previously made on the basis of subjective memory, intuition, or clinical trial results."

Any patient data securely collected from hospitals and health organizations is 'de-identified' or made anonymous through the removal of personal identifying details. The IBM system does not need to know which individuals the information came from in order to draw conclusions. It works by identifying similar cases based on age, sex, symptoms, diagnosis, or other related factors.