EDITOR’S PAGE continued look specifically at COPD, the third leading cause of death in the U.S.A.1 and
a tobacco-related disease that is a focus for the scientists at PMI Research & Development.
PMI is funding this project to develop and use systems biology verification techniques, like those being explored in sbv IMPROVER, to complement traditional peer review and ensure the quality of the methods with which they intend to analyze the nonclinical assessments data of their novel range of products. The FDA is developing guidance for the assessment of what they term “modified risk tobacco products” (MRTPs), but since there is cur- rently no regulatory framework in place, initiatives like sbv IMPROVER could provide a valuable contribution that enables independent and unbiased verification of research processes and methods. It could also support sci- entific substantiation of reduced risk.
Beyond PMI’s interests, the sbv IMPROVER methodology is expected to also be applied to a number of different fields that require the complex analysis of Big Data. To date, systems biology has no standard methodology in place to verify results, claims, and processes, and tradi- tional peer review of systems biology research has struggled with the volume and complexity of the data that are generated. The U.S. National Academy of Sciences has highlighted that verification of systems biol- ogy could make major contributions to food production, improvement of human health, optimized biofuels, and ecosystem restoration.2 sbv IMPROVER to accurately analyze and verify systems biology data thus
Using
has the potential to accelerate product design and development and facilitate policy decisions.
sbv IMPROVER combines and incorporates high-performance comput- ing technology, algorithmic models, and crowd-sourcing techniques to provide a methodology that can evaluate the robustness of a research work flow. The methodology involves dividing the work flow into build- ing blocks, small functional units of a research pipeline that are based on input–output relationships. When precise knowledge of the input–output relationship is not possible, sbv IMPROVER helps verify which building blocks work synergistically in a research work flow. If a building block is veri- fied, then its outcomes can be trusted with a higher degree of confidence.
Approaches like sbv IMPROVER may also help to relieve the intense pressure that the traditional peer-review process faces. While peer review remains the cornerstone of data analysis and is the gold standard for assessing and verifying scientific data and results, the process faces a number of chal- lenges related to time, accuracy, reliability, and cost. In recent months and years, there have been an increasing number of high-profile retractions of scientific manuscripts after publication. The sbv IMPROVER project is designed not to replace, but to complement, peer review by addressing many of these challenges, enabling more rigorous evaluation of large and complex sets and verifying the conclusions reached by peer review.
The Species Translation Challenge is planned to stay open for submis- sions until early August this year. Participation is particularly encouraged from scientists in commercial entities and also from academic or research institutions. Submissions will be scored by a team of experts from the IBM Computational Biology Centre and independently reviewed by the sbv IMPROVER Scoring Review Panel.
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A number of incentives are available; for example, the best performing teams may be eligible to receive financial support for further research. The best performers will also be invited to present their work at an interna- tional scientific symposium that is planned to be held in Athens, Greece, in October. The results of the challenge and the outcomes from the sym- posium are also planned to be published in peer-reviewed journals. For further information and to join a pioneering community working together to improve how scientific research is verified, visit the sbv IMPROVER web site at
www.sbvimprover.com.
References 1. Qaseem, A.; Wilt, T.J. et al. Diagnosis and management of stable
chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a clinical practice guideline update from the American College of Physicians, American College of Chest Physicians, American Thoracic Society and European Respi- ratory Society. Ann. Intern. Med. 2 Aug 2011, 155(3), 179–91; http://
annals.org/article.aspx?articleid=479627.
2. The U.S. National Academy of Sciences. A New Biology for the 21st Cen- tury. National Academies Press: Washington, DC, 2009.
Manuel C. Peitsch, Ph.D., is Vice President, Biological Systems Research, Philip Morris International (PMI), Research & Development, Quai Jeanrenaud 5, 2000 Neuchâtel, Switzerland; tel.: +41 (0) 58 242 2111; e-mail: SBVINFO@
ch.ibm.com.
AMERICAN LABORATORY • 8 • JUNE/JULY 2013
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