Thomson Reuters Works with Children's Tumor Foundation to Advance Research Efforts

First-of-its-kind disease funding schemas provide a comprehensive view of neurofibromatosis research

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Apr 10, 2013, 02:00 ET

PHILADELPHIA, April 10, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- The Intellectual Property & Science business of Thomson Reuters, the world's leading provider of intelligent information for businesses and professionals, today announced a partnership with the Children's Tumor Foundation (CTF), to further the understanding of neurofibromatosis (NF) research by creating schemas that visually demonstrate the main pathways involved in NF and how the organization allocates funds for research and development.

The Children's Tumor Foundation is a leading nonprofit foundation dedicated to finding effective treatments for neurofibromatosis, a term for three distinct genetic disorders: NF1, NF2, and schwannomatosis. NF causes tumors to grow on nerves throughout the body and affects one in every 3,000 people. There is currently no known cure and there are relatively few treatment options.

The Children's Tumor Foundation selected Thomson Reuters to construct disease funding maps for each of the different types of NF. The project was led by the Thomson Reuters Life Sciences Professional Services team, which started with MetaCore™, an integrated software suite for systems biology that includes the industry's leading, manually curated, database of biological pathways.

Extracting the key biological processes from the disease pathways and then merging them with funding data through the MetaCore Pathway Map Creator software resulted in new pathway maps that give a snapshot of the different biological processes in each of the NF disease types and the list of grants funded by the Foundation. Integrated with the maps are dashboards that show how key areas of the research and development process –such as disease model development, biomarker population studies and development stage, and drug development status—are also funded. These interactive visualizations provide a detailed view that demonstrates how funds are being invested. The disease maps are currently available on the Children's Tumor Foundation website and the biological content will be updated annually by Thomson Reuters as part of the ongoing collaboration.

"Creating a clearer understanding of the various aspects involved in neurofibromatosis is key to finding effective treatments for NF and connecting to industry partners who may have drug candidates that are beneficial to our patients," said Annette Bakker, chief scientific officer of the Children's Tumor Foundation. "We are pleased to be collaborating with Thomson Reuters on this project. The visualizations they constructed are helping us achieve our goals by showcasing which aspects of the disorder have been studied most and which areas need to be further developed. The disease maps help us guide our funding strategy and compound scouting efforts."

"We are honored to have been selected by the Children's Tumor Foundation to work on this important project," said Joe Donahue, senior vice president of Thomson Reuters Life Sciences business. "The amount of data that is being generated as new technologies help us better understand the underlying biology of diseases is enormous. The disease funding schemas will support more informed decision-making and strategy by researchers and funders by enabling them to more easily identify which research areas are in greater need of support or activity, and others that may be making strides toward a cure."

Dr. Annette Bakker will present "Disease Maps and Evaluating New Opportunities: How the Children's Tumor Foundation and Thomson Reuters are collaborating for a Better Future," on April 11, 2013 from 9:50 a.m. to 10:20 a.m. at BioIT World in Boston.

Learn more about MetaCore and Thomson Reuters System Biology Solutions.

Children's Tumor Foundation
The Children's Tumor Foundation is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization dedicated to finding effective treatments for the millions of people worldwide living with neurofibromatosis (NF), a term for three distinct disorders: NF1, NF2, and schwannomatosis. NF causes tumors to grow on nerves throughout the body and can lead to blindness, bone abnormalities, cancer, deafness, disfigurement, learning disabilities, and excruciating and disabling pain. NF affects one in every 3,000 people, more than cystic fibrosis, Duchenne muscular dystrophy, and Huntington's disease combined. The Children's Tumor Foundation funds critical research into neurofibromatosis. In addition to benefiting those who live with NF, this research is shedding new light on several forms of cancer, brain tumors, bone abnormalities, and learning disabilities, ultimately benefiting the broader community. For more information, please visit www.ctf.org.

Thomson Reuters
Thomson Reuters is the world's leading source of intelligent information for businesses and professionals. We combine industry expertise with innovative technology to deliver critical information to leading decision makers in the financial and risk, legal, tax and accounting, intellectual property, and science and media markets, powered by the world's most trusted news organization. With headquarters in New York and major operations in London and Eagan, Minn., Thomson Reuters employs approximately 60,000 people and operates in over 100 countries. Thomson Reuters shares are listed on the Toronto and New York Stock Exchanges. For more information, go to www.thomsonreuters.com.

SOURCE Thomson Reuters