CDISC Announces New Board Leadership and Directors for 2006.

AUSTIN, Texas -- The Clinical Data Interchange Standards Consortium (CDISC) is pleased to announce for 2006 a new Chair of the Board, David Hardison of SAIC; a new chair-elect, Ed Helton of SAS; and three new Directors, Dr. Doug Fridsma of the University of Pittsburgh, Dr. Frank Rockhold of GlaxoSmithKline, and William Rosen of Pfizer.

As of January 1, 2006, David Hardison, Ph.D., became the new Chairperson for the CDISC Board; he will serve through December 2007. Stephen Ruberg, Ph.D., of Eli Lilly, who has held the position of Chair for the past four years, will remain as Past-Chair and an ex-officio Board member during this time. Ed Helton, Ph.D., of SAS Institute was elected as the new Chair-Elect of the Board. Dr. Helton has been on the CDISC Board since January 2003; he is the head of the Board Technical Advisory Committee. Dr. Hardison has served on the Board since January 2003 and is head of the Board Financial Oversight Committee. The three new Directors were elected to the CDISC Board from an open nomination slate.

The CDISC Industry Advisory Board (IAB), comprised of one representative from each CDISC Corporate Sponsor, elected Doug Fridsma, M.D., Ph.D., IAB representative from the University of Pittsburgh. "I am honored to receive this award from an organization that is instrumental in facilitating the exchange of research data between so many stakeholders," Dr. Fridsma said. "I look forward to my term on the Board." Dr. Fridsma, as part of the National Cancer Institute's caBIG development work to create a unified Structured Protocol Representation, has been working closely with members of the CDISC and HL7 communities to develop a domain analysis model, called the Biomedical Research Integrated Domain Group (BRIDG) Model. Dr. Fridsma is with the Center for Biomedical Informatics at the University of Pittsburgh.

Dr. Rockhold, Senior Vice President of Biomedical Data Science at GlaxoSmithKline, comes to the CDISC Board with 20 years of experience in the areas of data management and biostatistical analysis. Dr. Rockhold said, "I am flattered by this appointment and look forward to working with the CDISC Board over the next few years. GSK and others will use the CDISC standards to exchange data with many partners, including regulators, as well as push forward the concepts of electronic health records. The CDISC standards also have the potential to allow broader and better use of our data. I am happy to help lead the CDISC organization in the development and implementation of these standards."

Mr. Rosen, Executive Director, External Affairs, Standards and Support, Pfizer, has over 20 years of experience driving and implementing a broad range of initiatives focused on information management technologies. "I am very pleased that CDISC has invited me to sit on its Board of Directors," Mr. Rosen said. "Standards play an important role in how electronic data is exchanged along the drug development continuum. I am a strong supporter of CDISC's initiatives to advance the development of global, platform-independent data interchange standards for the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries."

The CDISC Board has a total of 10 Directors. Dr. Hardison stated, "CDISC is very fortunate to have such an esteemed Board of Directors. Each Director on the Board has unique talents that will direct the mission of CDISC to fruition."

CDISC is an open, multidisciplinary, non-profit organization. The mission of CDISC is to develop and support global, platform-independent data standards that enable information system interoperability to improve medical research and related areas of healthcare. CDISC is made possible through the work of many volunteers and the generous support of its members, which include major global biopharmaceutical and technology providers, contract research organizations, government, academia and others. CDISC standards are referenced as specifications in FDA Guidance for eSubmissions. Additional information on CDISC and its open, vendor-neutral standards can be found on the CDISC website at http://www.cdisc.org.