The Friends of the US National Library of Medicine has elected Chris Winchester, CEO of Oxford PharmaGenesis, to its Board of Directors in recognition of the growing collaboration between the two organizations. The move bodes well for the disclosure and dissemination of medical evidence from the pharmaceutical industry and beyond.
Chris first presented at the National Library of Medicine in 2018, at a conference on Data Science Innovation at the Intersection of Biomedical Research and the Library. While thanking the Library for helping to ensure the ethical, accurate and timely disclosure of data from clinical trials, he called for it to broaden its role to act as a central clearinghouse for reliable information on clinical trials. This recommendation arose from Open Pharma, a multi-sponsored, non-profit initiative facilitated by Oxford PharmaGenesis that aims to connect pharmaceutical companies with innovations in publishing to increase the transparency and accessibility of research.
Sharing insights into data science
With data science playing an ever more important role in biomedical research, Oxford PharmaGenesis is sponsoring an ongoing series of webinars from the Friends.
The next webinar – Artificial Intelligence to Accelerate Discovery – will take place on 21 April 2021 and registration is now open. Richard White, COO of Oxford PharmaGenesis, will join a panel discussion and share insights from the work of the company’s specialist informatics and data science practice. Previous webinars on ‘Real World Data and Electronic Health Records in Clinical Research’ and ‘Changing Publication Practices in the COVID-19 Era’ are now available to watch again.
Shaping the world together
The Friends of the National Library of Medicine supports and promotes the world’s largest medical library, the National Library of Medicine, an essential global resource for biomedical research used by millions of people each year.
“The growing relationship between Oxford PharmaGenesis and the National Library of Medicine is a tremendous recognition of the work we are doing and our shared goals in data science,” said Chris. “As an independent company with a global footprint, we are proud to be shaping the world through HealthScience communications.”
Richard added: “The importance of global collaboration has never been more important than in the last year, as organizations and researchers around the world work together to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. By helping to share important information quickly and effectively, libraries have accelerated the scientific process and ultimately helped bring effective vaccines and drugs to the patients who need them.”
Chris was elected to the Friends of the National Library of Medicine Board of Directors along with Chris Shaffer, University Librarian for the University of California San Francisco. “Both Mr Shaffer and Dr Winchester’s extensive experience and knowledge in health sciences and health communications will be invaluable to the FNLM as we move forward with many new and strategic initiatives,” said Glen P. Campbell, Chair of the Friends of the National Library of Medicine.
