Verily-led data and technology consortium receives $4.8M award from NIH for platform to power systems biology research across Accelerating Medicines Partnership® programs

Dallas, TX - October 9, 2024 - Today, a new consortium made up of Verily, DataTecnica, Technome, Sage Bionetworks, the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, and Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine announced it has received a $4.8M award from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for the first year of a potential three year project focused on delivering a centralized portal and tools that will enable researchers to analyze data across existing Accelerating Medicines Partnership® (AMP®) platforms. AMP is a public private partnership from NIH, the Foundation for NIH (FNIH), the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), industry, and advocacy organizations formed to improve the development of new diagnostics and treatments for chronic disease.

The initiative, called Systems Biology Data Platform (SysBio) Leveraging the Accelerating Medicines Partnership, or “SysBio”, is funded through NIH’s Common Fund Venture Program. The partners will provide SysBio FAIRplex, a FAIR PLatform for EXploration of Systems Biology, which will integrate varied data types, including phenotypic, clinical, molecular, and patient reported outcomes data collected through the various AMP® programs.

The availability of this centralized portal and tools will allow researchers to reuse and reanalyze currently disconnected datasets to answer new scientific questions. Researchers will now be able to explore the role of a specific gene, molecule, cell, or pathway across tissues involved in different diseases. For example, by analyzing genomic information and other data across a range of diseases, they can identify shared mechanisms within subsets of patients and link those to patient phenotypes. 

“The AMP program aims to improve understanding of therapeutically relevant biological pathways and validate information that could be relevant for the development of multiple therapeutics,” said Dr. Douglas M. Sheeley, Acting Director of the NIH Office of Strategic Coordination. “This initiative will enable novel research across conditions, so we can understand causality and the biological pathways of disease.”

SysBio FAIRplex platform will be based on the 4 FAIR principles, ensuring data is Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable. The consortium includes leadership from the teams that built, harmonized, and currently manage platforms for many directly related AMP projects.

“The future of biomedical research requires analysis of broad and deep multi-modal patient datasets,” said David Glazer, Workbench Chief Technology Officer at Verily. “Through this collaboration, we will provide the infrastructure and tools to make cross-disease research a reality in order to support the development of medical breakthroughs. This effort will also lay the groundwork for integrating data from beyond the AMP programs.”

AMP was launched in 2014 and has generated data across more than 10 disease areas, including Alzheimer’s disease, autoimmune and immune-mediated diseases, gene therapies, common metabolic disorders, heart failure, Parkinson's disease, and schizophrenia. While the AMP data sets cover a range of diseases and tissues, they are currently siloed in disease-specific platforms, creating the need for cross platform data discovery and integration.

The initiative reported in this press release is supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Common Fund Venture Program under award number OT2OD037975.

About Verily
Verily is an Alphabet health technology company focused on research, care, and public health to deliver on the promise of precision health and help people live healthier lives. We are uniquely positioned at the intersection of technology, data science, and healthcare to create tools to accelerate evidence generation, products to enable more personalized care, and approaches to manage disease at a population level. For more information about Verily please visit: verily.com.

About DataTecnica
From data science (machine learning, statistics, bioinformatics, and epidemiology) to computer science (AI/LLMs, distributed systems, high-performance computing, and human-computer interaction) to biology (genetics and multi-omics) and medicine (imaging, neurology and public health). We build software tools and platforms optimized for our clients, accelerating their research across federal health, biotech and philanthropy. We are a diverse team with integrative expertise from all the essential areas of data science and technology to advance healthcare.

About Technome
Technome is a technology and life sciences company that specializes in simplifying and managing the complexities of bioinformatics data sharing. We focus on transforming intricate back-end bioinformatics processes into more accessible and user-friendly front-end systems. Our services make large-scale data manageable for collaborative research programs. Technome's mission is to make bioinformatics data more accessible and manageable, thereby enhancing the ability of research teams to collaborate and innovate effectively.

About Sage Bionetworks
Sage Bionetworks is a non-profit health research organization based in Seattle, Washington. Our mission is to drive a new age of scientific discovery through truly open science and radical collaboration. We guide responsible data sharing and reuse, benchmark scientific methods and results, and empower participants to be active partners in research. To learn more, visit sagebionetworks.org

About the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard
Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard was launched in 2004 to empower this generation of creative scientists to transform medicine. The Broad Institute seeks to describe the molecular components of life and their connections; discover the molecular basis of major human diseases; develop effective new approaches to diagnostics and therapeutics; and disseminate discoveries, tools, methods and data openly to the entire scientific community.

Founded by MIT, Harvard, Harvard-affiliated hospitals, and the visionary Los Angeles philanthropists Eli and Edythe L. Broad, the Broad Institute includes faculty, professional staff and students from throughout the MIT and Harvard biomedical research communities and beyond, with collaborations spanning over a hundred private and public institutions in more than 40 countries worldwide.

About Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) is the largest comprehensive research, teaching and patient care health system in the Mid-South region. Based in Nashville, Tennessee, VUMC sees over 3.3 million patient visits per year in over 180 ambulatory locations, performs 81,000 surgical operations, discharges 80,000 inpatients and has 213,000 emergency department visits from its main-campus adult, children’s, psychiatric and rehabilitation hospitals and three regional community hospitals. The Medical Center is the largest non-governmental employer of Middle Tennesseans, with more than 43,000 staff, including more than 3,000 physicians, advanced practice nurses and scientists appointed to the Vanderbilt University faculty. For more information and the latest news follow VUMC on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and at VUMC News

About Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, founded in 1859, attracts talented individuals to its faculty, staff, and student body through its cutting-edge research initiatives, superb clinical affiliates, global outlook, and innovative curriculum. Located in the heart of Chicago’s Magnificent Mile, Feinberg has built a national reputation for excellence through a strong history of collaborative, interdisciplinary medical education and research, and along with Northwestern Memorial Hospital and Northwestern Medical Group is part of the premier academic health system known as Northwestern Medicine. Feinberg stands out among the nation's research-intensive medical schools and consistently receives high marks in U.S. News & World Report surveys. Through its affiliates, it provides patient care to thousands of individuals every year, and plays an integral part in the communities it serves.