OMG Special Interest Group for Life Sciences Research

[W David Benton]

Report: Life Sciences Research Domain Special Interest Group Organizational 
Meeting

Representatives of biotechnology software vendors, pharmaceuticals and 
biotechnology companies, and academia interested in promoting component-based 
software development in life sciences research met in Philadelphia on 5 and 6 
August 1997.  Graham Cameron (EBI) chaired the meeting and Tim Clark (Millenium 
Pharmaceuticals) was the recorder.  The attendees (see list below) voted to 
apply to the Object Management Group (OMG) for recognition as a Domain Special 
Interest Group (DSIG) for Life Sciences Research at the next regular OMG 
meeting, to be held in Dublin, Ireland, 22-26 September 1997.  The attendees 
also developed and approved the attached statements of mission and goals for 
the DSIG and elected as acting DSIG co-chairs: David Benton (SmithKline Beecham
, W_David_Benton at sbphrd.com), Nat Goodman (Jackson Laboratory, nat at jax.org), 
Eric Neumann (NetGenics, eneumann at netgenics.com), and Tim Slidel (European 
Bioinformatics Institute, slidel at ebi.ac.uk).

The Life Sciences Research DSIG plans to hold its first meeting on 22-24 
September in conjunction with the OMG meeting at the Davenport Hotel, Dublin.  
This meeting is open to all interested members of the life sciences research 
software and database community, whether or not they are currently members of 
the OMG.  The principal agenda items for the September meeting are: 1) 
establishing any necessary bylaws for the SIG, 2) determining a schedule of 
future meetings (see below for the schedule of future OMG meetings) and 3) 
developing first drafts of a Request for Information (RFI) and a Technology 
Roadmap for the SIG.  An RFI is a general request to industry, academia, and 
any other interested parties to submit information about a particular 
technology area to one of the OMG Task Forces.  The responses to an RFI provide 
information required for developing a Technology Roadmap or timetable for 
issuance of RFPs or additional RFIs. A Request For Proposal (RFP) is an 
explicit request to OMG members to submit proposals for technology evaluation 
and technology adoption.  Prior to the September meeting, Nat Goodman will 
prepare a strawman RFI and Roadmap.  Comments for inclusion in these documents 
should be send directly to Dr. Goodman (nat at jax.org).

For more information about the Object Management Group, CORBA, the OMG 
technology adoption process, and the registering for the September OMG meeting, 
see http://www.omg.org.  To receive announcments about Life Sciences Research 
DSIG activities, subscribe to the SIG's mailing list: lifesciences at omg.org.

====================================================
Life Sciences Research DSIG Mission:

* To improve the quality and utility of software and information systems used 
in Life Sciences Research through use of interoperable distributed object 
technology.

* To encourage the development of interoperable software tools and services in 
Life Sciences Research.

* To use the Object Management Group (OMG) technology adoption process to 
standardize interfaces for software tools, services, frameworks, and components 
in Life Sciences Research.

* To communicate the requirements of the Life Sciences Research domain to the 
Platform Technical Committee.

* To coordinate with OMG Task Forces and Special Interest Groups, and other 
standards organizations and information providers to ensure common standards.

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Life Sciences Research DSIG Goals:

* To become a DTF at the December 1997 OMG meeting.

* To develop a proposed Request for Information (RFI) and technology road map 
by the December 1997 OMG meeting.

* To recruit additional members from the broader Life Sciences Research 
community.

* To issue RFIs and Requests for Proposal (RFPs) related to Life Sciences 
Research software and information systems based on CORBA technology.

* To evaluate RFI and RFP responses and Requests for Comments (RFCs), for 
recommended adoption by the Domain Technical Committee.

* To provide a forum for exchange of experiences in the use of the standards 
developed.

==============================================================
Future OMG Meeting Schedule:
December 1-5, 1997 East Brunswick, NJ, USA (Hosted by NEC) 
February 9 -13, 1998 Salt Lake City, UT, USA (Hosted by Novell, Inc.) 
April 1998**  Location TBD, UK (co-hosted by CAI/ICL) 
June 1998   Orlando, FL, USA (hosted by OMG) 
late July/August 1998 Helsinki, Finland (hosted by Nokia) 
October 1998  Seattle, WA, USA (hosted by Boeing) 
December 1998  San Francisco, CA, USA (hosted by Oracle) 
**Tentative

=====================================================
Life Sciences Research DSIG Organizational Meeting Attendees:
David Benton SmithKline Beecham  W_David_Benton at sbphrd.com
Howard Bilofsky SmithKline Beecham  Howard_S_Bilofsky at sbphrd.com
Joe Brown  MDL Info Systems   JoeB at mdli.com
Dave Callendar NetGenics    dcallendar at netgenics.com
Graham Cameron EBI     cameron at ebi.ac.uk
Tim Clark  Millenium Pharma   clark at mpi.com
Mark Cortelyou Oxford Molecular Group  MCortelyou at oxmol.com
Sid Cowles  Incyte    scowles at incyte.com
Scott Dixon  SmithKline Beecham  J_Scott_Dixon at sbphrd.com
Rainer Fuchs Glaxo Wellcome   rf11522 at glaxowellcome.com
David George Bristol-Myers Squibb  georged at bms.com
Richard Giaimo MSI     rgiaimo at msi.com
Nat Goodman  Jackson Labs   nat at jax.org
Hsi-Chen Han Wyeth-Ayerst Research  hanh at war.wyeth.com
Kyle Hart  Pangea Systems   kylehart at pangeasystems.com
Sunny Hung  SmithKline Beecham  Sunny_T_Hung at sbphrd.com
Kathy Kelley SmithKline Beecham  Katherine_G_Kelley at sbphrd.com
Karl Konnerth Incyte    kkonnerth at incyte.com
Charlie Lawrence Sequana Therapeutics  chas at sequana.com
Michael Liebman Wyeth Ayerst Research  mliebman at vysis.com
Mark Lowenstein Object Management Group  mark at omg.org
Sherri Matis Zeneca Pharmaceuticals  Sherri.matis at phwilm.zeneca.com
Dave McAllister Silicon Graphics   davemc at sgi.com
Jeff McDowell Abbott Labs    jeffrey.McDowell at abbott.com
Mitchell Model Millenium Pharmaceuticals model at mpi.com
Brian Moldover Parke-Davis Pharma  moldovb at aa.wl.com
Juli Nash  Silicon Graphics   nash at sgi.com
Eric Neumann NetGenics    eneumann at netgenics.com
Jeri Okamura Genome Therapeutics  jeri.okamura at genomecorp.com
Mike Olson  Molecular Applications Group mao at mag.com
Jim Ostell  NCBI, NIH    ostell at ncbi.ulm.nih.gov
Chris Overton U. Penn.    coverton at cbil.humgen.upenn.edu
Sejal Patel  RW Johnson Pharma RI  spatel at prius.jnj.com
Michael Pear Molecular Simulations  mpear at msi.com
Randy Premont Resource 2000   rpremont at aol.com
Tana Reagan  Concept Five Techn  reagan at concept5.com
Kerry Reinertsen Millenium Pharma   reinertsen at mpi.com
John Sadler  Hewlett-Packard Bioscience John_Sadler at hp.com
David Samuel Compugen    david at cgen.com
Martin Schray NetGenics    mschray at netgenics.com
Mike Sievers Paracel    sievers at Paracel.com
Steve Smith  GCG/OMG    Steve.Smith at gcg.com
Jay Snoddy  Oak Ridge Nat'l Lab  SnoddyJ at ornl.gov
Geoff Speare OMG     geoff at omg.org
Lisa Staggenborg Chemical Abstracts Service lstaggenborg at cas.org
Val Tannen  UPenn Center for Bioinformatics val at cis.upenn.edu
Arthur Thomas Proteus Assoc.   ajt at proteus.com
Frank Wang  Proctor & Gamble   wang.ff at pg.com
Luquan Wang  Schering-Plough Research luquan.wang at spcorp.com
Art Williams SmithKline Beecham  Art_Williams at sbphrd.com
Jeff Wilson  Molecular Informatics  jaw at molinfo.com
Merrie Wise  SmithKline Beecham  Merrie_Wise at sbphrd.com
Peter Woollard MRC Human Genome Mapping Resource P.Woollard at HGMP.MRC.AC.UK