THE ASIA-PACIFIC CENTRE FOR RESEARCH, INC.

home > articles >

Children’s Memorial Hospital and SPSS Recognized by Computerworld Honors Foundation for Outstanding
Achievement in Medicine
Source: www.spss.com
Copyright SPSS, Inc. 2004
05/17/04

This is a dated announcement. The material in this announcement could be superceded by more current announcements.

Leading U.S pediatric hospital honored for its use of SPSS predictive analytics in researching better treatments for pediatric brain tumors

CHICAGO, 04/08/04 — Children’s Memorial Hospital and SPSS Inc. (NASDAQ: SPSSE) have been selected as Computerworld Honors Laureates for the hospital’s use of SPSS data and text mining technologies in its research to discover more effective treatments for pediatric brain tumors. The Computerworld Honors Foundation presents awards annually to organizations around the world that have made positive contributions to society through the visionary use of information technology. Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MWD), a global financial services firm and a sponsor of the Computerworld Honors Foundation, nominated Children’s Memorial and SPSS for the recognition.

"This award is a unique honor, designed for organizations with leading edge technologies. I was pleased to nominate Children’s Memorial Hospital and SPSS,” said Merritt Lutz, Advisory Director, Morgan Stanley, Chairman of MSIT Holdings, Inc., and member of The Computerworld Honors Foundation Chairmen’s Committee.

A case study detailing the Children’s Memorial Hospital’s pediatric brain tumor research is now part of the Computerworld Honors Foundation’s collection of case studies and the Smithsonian Institution’s permanent collection, and will also be archived in libraries, museums, and academic and research institutions around the world. The Computerworld Honors Foundation case studies serve as primary source material for scholars and as a resource for individuals who hope to use information technology to create solutions to address their own challenges. The Children’s Memorial Hospital case study can be viewed at https://secure.cwheroes.org/briefingroom_2004/.

The primary objective of the Children’s Memorial Hospital’s research, which is being led by Eric Bremer, Ph.D., director of the Brain Tumor Research Program at Children’s Memorial Institute for Education and Research (CMIER), is understanding pediatric brain tumors at the molecular level in order to develop better diagnostics and therapeutics. In conjunction with this effort, CMEIR is developing a Knowledge Base (text and experimental data together) to facilitate expanding their already substantial discoveries, and to support the development processes for those diagnostic methods and therapeutic interventions already entering the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval process. The research team uses SPSS’ data mining workbench, Clementine®, to quickly analyze huge volumes of gene expression data in different ways, and identify patterns and relationships. LexiQuest® Mine, SPSS’ text mining technology, is used to sift through mountains of scientific literature to extract patterns that, for example, when combined with the genetic patterns identified from the brain tumor database using Clementine, can be used to help evaluate prime drug targets that may form the basis for an effective cancer treatment.

"It is a tremendous honor to have our research recognized by such a distinguished award,” said Dr. Bremer, who, in addition to his work with CMIER, is an associate professor in the Department of Neurosurgery at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine. “By leveraging SPSS data and text mining technologies, we’re able to continue on the path of creating a gene expression database for pediatric brain tumors, which will ultimately lead to more effective treatments.”

As a Computerworld Honors Laureate, Children’s Memorial and SPSS will be considered for the Foundation’s 21st Century Achievement Award in Medicine. Recipients of the Computerworld Honors 21st Century Achievement Awards represent those organizations whose use of information technology has been especially noteworthy for the originality of its conception, the breadth of its vision, and the significance of its benefit to society. 21st Century Achievement Award winners will be announced in June 2004.

About Computerworld Honors Foundation
Founded in 1988/89, the Computerworld Honors Foundation searches for and recognizes individuals who have demonstrated vision and leadership as they strive to use information technology in innovative ways across ten categories: Business & Related Services; Education & Academia; Environment, Energy & Agriculture; Finance, Insurance & Real Estate; Government & Non-Profit Organizations; Manufacturing; Media, Arts & Entertainment; Medicine; Science; and Transportation.
For more information about the Computerworld Honors Foundation please visit http://www.cwheroes.org/home.asp

About Children's Memorial Institute for Education and Research / Children's Memorial Hospital
Children's Memorial Institute for Education and Research is the research arm of Children's Memorial Hospital, and the center for pediatric research at Northwestern University. Children's Memorial Hospital is the primary pediatric teaching hospital for Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine. Children's Memorial Hospital is one of the top pediatric hospitals in the United States according to U.S. News and World Report, and provides care at its main campus and at 13 locations throughout metropolitan Chicago.