SAS runs an annual one-day conference about healthcare and the life sciences. With merciful brevity written into its DNA, the meeting can pack its program densely with substance. There is no need for dreaded filler speakers enlisted mostly to accommodate some hotel manager's minimum revenue goal for the event. Steven Labkoff is an example of the sort of presenter that SAS attracted. He’s a cardiologist who is currently head of strategic programs in the R&D information department at AstraZeneca. Labkoff was on a SAS panel tasked with discussing such small matters as the long-term direction of the life sciences and the usage of "big data"—mountains of 1s and 0s in quantities needed by Procter & Gamble or the CIA. Even now, in its infancy, big data has multiple definitions, not all of which may be validly applied to a 50-patient Phase II rhinitis trial. Personalized Emphasis At AstraZeneca, Labkoff said, there…more...