Integrated Prospective Healthcare & Clinical Discovery



Wednesday, 14. September 2011 | 17:45 Uhr

Speaker

James Heywood

Organisation

PatientsLikeMe

Reporting

James Heywood from PatientsLikeMe is convinced that patients have to be in the focus of the treatment. And doctors play a decisive role in generating patients’ data. Success depends not only on clinical research and the value of patients but also on the clinical treatment. Comparing large amounts of data in real time will open up new possibilities in health care. If patients have direct access to data of other patients who experience the same situation, more effective treatments could be possible. An Internet platform with such data could enable us to make such comparisons. Ultimately, treatments can be improved due to better knowledge and improved handling of a disease.

James Heywood

James Heywood is an MIT engineer with a background in product development and neuroscience. He entered the field of translational research when his 29 year old Brother Stephen was diagnosed with ALS. He is the Chairman and Co-founder of PatientsLikeMe, a Web 2.0 company where patients can share in depth information about their condition (treatments, symptoms, outcomes) and real world experiences on managing their life changing diseases.

PatientsLikeMe is working with the pharmaceutical industry, providers, non-profits and patients to improve medical care by better understanding these diseases and the patient experience.

James Heywood founded ALS TDI, the world’s first non-profit biotechnology company, where he served as CEO from 1999 to 2007. Pioneering an open research model and industrialized therapeutic validation process, he led ALS TDI to become the world’s largest ALS drug discovery program.

He is an active advisor to companies and non-profits working to improve the way in which biomedical research is conducted.

Donators and Partners

The ETH Board is responsible for the strategic leadership of the ETH domain and assumes the supervision of its institutions. Its close relationship with the ETH Council has contributed to the successful continuation of Academia Engelberg Foundation since 2000.

The Foundation promotes research into the connecting human fundamentals of science. Academia Engelberg Foundation and the Foundation for Basic Research in Human Sciences have entered into a cooperation agreement for the period 2011 to 2015.

Helvetia is a quality-oriented comprehensive insurance company with over 150 years of experience. Academia Engelberg Foundation is convinced it will be able to use important synergies from the partnership starting in 2015.

A partnership with the University of Lucerne has existed since summer 2013. Since 2016 we have also a parthership with the Faculty of Economics and Management of the University of Lucerne. Through these partnerships, synergies are used and joint projects are tested and realized. The University of Lucerne currently consists of three faculties: the faculties for Theology, Culture and Social Sciences, and Law.