THE DIAMANTINA INSTITUTE OF AUSTRALIA CHOOSES IO INFORMATICS TO HANDLE MULTI-DIMENSIONAL DATA INTEGRATION MANAGEMENT AND WORKFLOW AT ITS NEW WORLD-CLASS RESEARCH CENTER

BERKELEY, CA – BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA – MONTREAL, CANADA, November 25, 2008. The University of Queensland’s Diamantina Institute (www.di.uq.edu.au) announced today that it has chosen IOI Informatics’ (IO) Sentient Life Science software suite (www.io-informatics.com) to provide the data integration and knowledge building environment in its quest to research, identify and develop new methods for cancer diagnosis and treatment.

Located at the Princess Alexandra Hospital in Brisbane, the Diamantina Institute is gaining an international reputation for its basic and translational biomedical research into diseases such as cancer, diabetes, obesity, arthritis, osteoporosis, genital warts and liver disease. The Institute’s scientists have created important collaborations with national and international institutions, and place emphasis on establishing connections with hospitals and industry.

“Our goal is to identify genes involved in common cancers such as cervical, breast, skin and prostate cancer. This research will help doctors spot individuals at high risk at an early stage when the cancer can be easily treated or even prevented, avoiding the need for unnecessary surgery and radiotherapy later on. It may also identify genes against which new drugs can be developed and targeted. To do all this, we needed to pull data and information from a cornucopia of sources such as genomics, proteomics, high throughput analytical instruments and internet accessible databases. Sentient, with its state-of-the-art capabilities, answers that need. Due to its incorporation of semantic web technology, we can move beyond traditional capture and access of data to actually harvesting and applying knowledge to benefit our research, and ultimately to benefit treatment at the point of care. This capability is vital to helping us gain insight and realize our goal of enhancing medical treatments.” said Professor Tom Gonda, Diamantina Institute’s Deputy Director and Cancer Biology Research Leader.

“We are thrilled to provide the core data integration environment for the Diamantina Institute. The work being done by the Institute and its partners is crucial to identifying and implementing new breakthrough methods to enhance healthcare diagnosis and treatment. We are delighted to provide them with our Sentient integration environment which was tailor made to handle and “harvest” the vast and complex sources of scientific information and knowledge that comes from translational and discovery research,” said Bill Hayden, International Business Development, IO.

IO Informatics offers “off-the-shelf”, yet highly customizable software products and experience in the area of data integration for Translational Medicine/Biomarker research. The company is focused on development and delivery of software tools that extend and apply the latest advancements in the area of Semantic Web applications. Building on the successful applications resulting from its Semantic Applications Working Group, IO Informatics recently announced the creation of an Informatics for Personalized Medicine Working Group, to bring together pharmaceutical company researchers, physicians, hospitals, centers of research excellence, healthcare providers in order to realize new data integration methods for knowledge building, sharing and application across a spectrum ranging from drug discovery to patient care.

Background Information

About IO Informatics
IO Informatics is at the forefront of a global revolution in software methods for data integration. IO Informatics’ Sentient suite of software products enables biotechnology, pharmaceutical, medical and other life science researchers to structure and define complex data relationships, view these relationships, query them, and capitalize on them — all within a secure, compliant, auditable framework that helps organizations accumulate and leverage knowledge. Founded in 2003, IO Informatics is headquartered in Berkeley, California (www.io-informatics.com).

About the Diamantina Institute
The University of Queensland’s Diamantina Institute for Cancer, Immunology and Metabolic Medicine is a medical research institute based at the Princess Alexandra Hospital in Brisbane, Australia, and is headed by cervical cancer vaccine pioneer Professor Ian Frazer. The aim of the Institute is to develop a better understanding of the molecular and cellular basis of disease, and to translate that understanding into practical outcomes for patients for diseases such as diabetes, obesity, cancer and arthritis.

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