Toshiba Collaborates with Johns Hopkins on Big Data Healthcare Research

TOKYO, Japan, Sept. 8 — To further the potential of Big Data to predict and prevent illness, Toshiba Group has established the Toshiba Center for Big Data in Healthcare at the Science + Technology Park at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, Md. The Center’s principal project is a collaboration with the Johns Hopkins radiation oncology department to study treatment pathways and outcomes in head and neck and lung cancer patients.

Combining the expertise from Johns Hopkins’ world-renowned clinical research institution and its Big Data analysis techniques with Toshiba’s advanced image analysis and data mining, the Toshiba Center for Big Data in Healthcare will create new technologies to monitor individual health and drive more precise, individualized patient care. The work at the Center will use Big Data to analyze a patient’s condition and compare it with the plans and outcomes of patients who have a similar anatomy, physiology, pathology and history.

“From fitness and travel to marketing and retail, there are many applications in the public realm already using Big Data,” said Rich Mather, Ph.D., director, Clinical Programs, Toshiba Medical Research Institute USA, Inc. “Toshiba recognizes the ability of Big Data to monitor individual health, and in the future, to support day-to-day clinical decision making. With our collaboration at Johns Hopkins, we hope to create a new paradigm in medicine that transforms healthcare into a more efficient, cost-effective and data-driven enterprise that will help to improve patient outcomes.”

Mr. Satoshi Tsunakawa, executive officer, corporate senior vice president of Toshiba Corporation, added, ‘‘This is a great opportunity to work with Johns Hopkins, one of the world’s leading medical centers, and I am confident that the research will lead to improvements in prevention, diagnosis, treatment and prognosis of disease, and help to promote better health for patients in the U.S. and around the world.”