Last modified: Wednesday, April 1, 2009
IU, Persistent Systems create R&D center
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 1, 2009
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Indiana University and Persistent Systems, the leading outsourced product development services company, have partnered to create a research and development center.
Located in the soon-to-be completed incubator on the IU Bloomington campus, the Persistent Indiana Research Center will further the development of informatics, specifically life sciences product lifecycle services, medical research, chemistry, bio-informatics and computer science.
By leveraging the university's many resources -- including technical infrastructure and faculty informatics expertise -- the Persistent Indiana Research Center will advance the creation of service offerings to help customers improve drug discovery and bioinformatics; cancer research; and instrument diagnostics. Led by Persistent's strategic relationship manager of life sciences, Aditya Phatak, and School of Informatics Professor Ed Robertson, the center's initial project will focus on data management and analysis of biomedical data.
"Informatics is a bridge connecting IT to a particular field of study such as biology, chemistry and other disciplines," said Anand Deshpande, president and CEO of Persistent Systems and an alumnus of the IU School of Informatics. "As a technology services company, our teaming with the largest School of Informatics in the country demonstrates our ongoing commitment to the life sciences industry. We look forward to working with the students and faculty at Indiana University to more effectively serve private sector customers, and help further academia's role in supporting the marketplace."
The efforts of the center will bolster Persistent's growing life sciences domain expertise, which already includes 40 life sciences authorities and more than 400 people working on services supporting lab instrumentation, bioinformatics and chemical informatics projects for leading companies and labs. For Indiana University, the center will be a vital piece in its ongoing mission of advancing economic development in the state of Indiana. It will be one of the inaugural tenants in the soon-to-be completed Bloomington Incubator, a facility that will house life science and information technology start-ups. IU's School of Informatics and the Bloomington Economic Development Corp. (BEDC) were instrumental in the establishment of the center in Bloomington.
"Having the Persistent Indiana Research Center located here at our incubator facility in Bloomington will benefit both the company and the university," said IU Vice President for Engagement Bill Stephan, who oversees the university's economic development initiatives. "The center's presence in Bloomington will enable new collaborative relationships among colleagues in related disciplines and foment the use of information technology tools to advance our knowledge of the life sciences. We look forward to a long and fruitful relationship."
"This relationship will enable us to leverage Persistent's vast experience and expertise in informatics and the life sciences," said Robert Schnabel, dean of the IU School of Informatics. "Having interaction with high-profile companies, including local research and development centers, is greatly beneficial to the school. We thank the leadership teams of Persistent, IURTC, and the Bloomington Economic Development Corporation for helping to bring this center to IU."
Persistent has a strong track record of success in data management, warehousing and analytics. Its solutions focus specifically on four key areas: bio-informatics, clinical informatics, medical devices/instrumentation and lab automation. The company has also developed expertise and reusable software components that provide services ranging from data integration and warehousing, laboratory information management systems, regulatory compliance, analytics and visualization. Persistent has several deployments across key sectors in life sciences including pharma, biotech, LIMS and university labs.
"Industry expertise is an important component to consider when evaluating service provider capabilities," said Eric Newmark, research manager, Health Industry Insights, an IDC Company. "By partnering with Indiana University, Persistent is helping to further bolster its life science resources."
For more information on the Persistent Indiana Research Center visithttps://www.persistentsys.com.
About Persistent Systems
Established in 1990, Persistent Systems is recognized as an award-winning technology company specializing in outsourced software product development. With more than 4,000 employees, innovative business models and reusable assets and frameworks, Persistent helps its customers increase revenue, margin and enhance brand value. Persistent Systems has delivered more than 2,000 software product releases to their 170 customers in the last five years. The company has developed proven processes that reduce time to market while delivering consistent quality and customer satisfaction, throughout the entire product lifecycle -- as evidenced by customer partnerships that span many years. For more information, visit www.persistentsys.com.
About the Indiana University School of Informatics
Founded in 2000 as the first school of its kind in the United States, the Indiana University School of Informatics is dedicated to research and teaching across a broad range of computing and information technology, with emphases on science, applications and societal implications. The school includes the departments of Computer Science and Informatics on the Bloomington campus and Informatics at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis. The school administers a variety of bachelor and master's degree programs in computer science and informatics, as well as doctorate degree programs in computer science and the first-ever Ph.D. in informatics. The School is dedicated to excellence in education and research, to partnerships that bolster economic development and entrepreneurship, and to increasing opportunities for women and underrepresented minorities in computing and technology. For more information, visit www.informatics.indiana.edu.
