No subject

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"The key to the Alzheimer=92s project was an agreement as ambitious as its
goal:
not just to raise money, not just to do research on a vast scale, but also
to
share all the data, making every single finding public immediately,
available
to anyone with a computer anywhere in the world.

No one would own the data. No one could submit patent applications, though
private
companies would ultimately profit from any drugs or imaging tests developed
as a result of the effort.

=93It was unbelievable,=94 said Dr. John Q. Trojanowski, an Alzheimer=92s
researcher
at the University of Pennsylvania. =93It=92s not science the way most of us
have practiced it in our careers. But we all realized that we would never
get
biomarkers unless all of us parked our egos and intellectual-property noses
outside the door and agreed that all of our data would be public
immediately.=94

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/13/health/research/13alzheimer.html?pagewant=
ed=3D2

"At first, the collaboration struck many scientists as worrisome =97 they
would
be giving up ownership of data, and anyone could use it, publish papers,
maybe
even misinterpret it and publish information that was wrong.

But Alzheimer=92s researchers and drug companies realized they had little
choice.
"

"=93Companies were caught in a prisoner=92s dilemma,=94 said Dr. Jason Karl=
awish,
an Alzheimer=92s researcher at the University of Pennsylvania. =93They all
wanted
to move the field forward, but no one wanted to take the risks of doing it.=
=94

"To those who are skeptical, he says, =93My answer to them is =91get over i=
t.=92
=94

Companies as well as academic researchers are using the data. There have
been
more than 3,200 downloads of the entire massive data set and almost a
million
downloads of the data sets containing images from brain scans.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/13/health/research/13alzheimer.html?pagewant=
ed=3D2

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<br>Open Data: to promote progress in Alzheimer&#39;s Research<br><div clas=
s=3D"gmail_quote">
<br>From the New York Times article:<br>
<a href=3D"http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/13/health/research/13alzheimer.ht=
ml?_r=3D1&amp;hp" target=3D"_blank">http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/13/healt=
h/research/13alzheimer.html?_r=3D1&amp;hp</a><br>
<br><br>
&quot;The key to the Alzheimer=92s project was an agreement as ambitious as=
 its goal:<br>
not just to raise money, not just to do research on a vast scale, but also =
to<br>
share all the data, making every single finding public immediately, availab=
le<br>
to anyone with a computer anywhere in the world.<br>
<br>
No one would own the data. No one could submit patent applications, though =
private<br>
companies would ultimately profit from any drugs or imaging tests developed=
<br>
as a result of the effort.<br>
<br>
=93It was unbelievable,=94 said Dr. John Q. Trojanowski, an Alzheimer=92s r=
esearcher<br>
at the University of Pennsylvania. =93It=92s not science the way most of us=
<br>
have practiced it in our careers. But we all realized that we would never g=
et<br>
biomarkers unless all of us parked our egos and intellectual-property noses=
<br>
outside the door and agreed that all of our data would be public immediatel=
y.=94<br>
<br>
<a href=3D"http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/13/health/research/13alzheimer.ht=
ml?pagewanted=3D2" target=3D"_blank">http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/13/heal=
th/research/13alzheimer.html?pagewanted=3D2</a><br>
<br>
&quot;At first, the collaboration struck many scientists as worrisome =97 t=
hey would<br>
be giving up ownership of data, and anyone could use it, publish papers, ma=
ybe<br>
even misinterpret it and publish information that was wrong.<br>
<br>
But Alzheimer=92s researchers and drug companies realized they had little c=
hoice.<br>
&quot;<br>
<br>
&quot;=93Companies were caught in a prisoner=92s dilemma,=94 said Dr. Jason=
 Karlawish,<br>
an Alzheimer=92s researcher at the University of Pennsylvania. =93They all =
wanted<br>
to move the field forward, but no one wanted to take the risks of doing it.=
=94<br>
<br>
&quot;To those who are skeptical, he says, =93My answer to them is =91get o=
ver it.=92<br>
=94<br>
<br>
Companies as well as academic researchers are using the data. There have be=
en<br>
more than 3,200 downloads of the entire massive data set and almost a milli=
on<br>
downloads of the data sets containing images from brain scans.<br>
<br>
<a href=3D"http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/13/health/research/13alzheimer.ht=
ml?pagewanted=3D2" target=3D"_blank">http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/13/heal=
th/research/13alzheimer.html?pagewanted=3D2</a><br>
<br>
<br></div>

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