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Paoli-Calmettes Institute Collaborates with IBM to Help Cancer Patients Better Understand Treatment Risks

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MARSEILLE, France and DUBLIN, Ireland - 12 Jul 2012: The Paoli-Calmettes Institute (IPC), France and IBM Research (NYSE: IBM) - Ireland announced today they are collaborating on a study that will demonstrate the effects of how oncologists, integrating visual information into their consultations, assist in communicating the diagnostic and treatment risks to cancer patients.

Researchers at Paoli-Calmettes Institute, pictured here, are working with IBM to study how to use visuals in their communications to help cancer patients better understand information regarding cancer screening, prevention, and treatment risks. (Photo courtesy IPC, France)

Communicating cancer risk information is a growing area of oncology and the process is achallenging one for both healthcare professionals and patients. Patients may have difficulties understanding complex risk calculations and probabilities for cancer treatments and diagnosis. Clinicians may find it difficult to translate risk statistics to individual patients and use only verbal communications to explain complex information. 

“There are many challenges to communicating medical risks for individualized cancer treatments. It requires specialist knowledge and understanding in order to inform patients about cancer risk, to change risk related behaviors, or to reassure people with excessive risk related anxieties”, says Professor François Eisinger, IPC. "This research study aims to significantly deepen our clinical knowledge and practice about risk communications, while helping patients to better understand their diagnosis and treatments." 

The objective of the collaboration is to find novel ways for clinicians to effectively present medical risk information to help cancer patients make their own informed decisions on the benefits of screening, prevention, or on their treatment management options. 

IBM researchers will create and review multi-dimensional risk information templates and provide these to clinicians who will use the templates as a visual aid to communicate with patients the implications of their cancer diagnosis and treatment options. The medical aspects of the project will be led by a team of researchers at Paoli-Calmettes Institute’s Regional Cancer Center in Marseille. 

Initial focus of the research study will cover the communication of risk information to prostate cancer patients at both pre- and post-screening stages, as the number and complexity of risk factors (age, health status, screening results, side effects of treatments) makes it especially challenging for clinicians to effectively communicate with patients on the risks and rationale of the recommended treatments. 

Scientists will review data from the patient-clinician interactions to extract insights into what visual communication features are most effective at accurately portraying the risks and the benefits to patients. The data will be anonymized to protect patient confidentiality and meet government standards. 

The design of the visual communication templates aims to deliver the information gathered from medical and statistical content such as inherited, biological and environmental risk factors and lifestyle habits that may influence the development of cancer in patients. 

“This research demonstrates how risk analytics and visual communications can aid medical staff to communicate effectively in order to support cancer patients to make more informed decisions about screening strategies or treatment programs,” say Dr. Léa Deleris, Manager of Risk Analytics group at IBM Research - Ireland. 

With the study results, researchers are hoping to develop useful tools that will support in the communication of cancer patients’ risk profile, ultimately helping to foster compliance with cancer prevention and screening protocols. For health professionals the study aims to support the intercommunication of medical data to the general public more clearly and objectively, while developing new models of cancer care. 

About Paoli-Calmettes Institute

The Institute is located in Marseille and is the regional center providing global care for cancer. It is a member of UNICANCER, the national federation of cancer centers. Offering treatments for adults, the Paoli-Calmettes Institute has built a strong nation-wide and world-wide reputation on the treatment of cancers. The Paoli-Calmettes Institute is one of the rare private facilities that has been licensed by the HAS for the last four years (the overall health authority) (V2010); this is its third certification. IPC's specificity relies on the wide range of activities embodied on its site: prevention, research, training, treatment and rehabilitation. Over 250 researchers work in close collaboration with the medical teams to offer the cutting edge scientific advancements and the highest level treatments against cancers. 

About IBM Research

For more information, visit http://www.research.ibm.com.

Los Angeles Community College District Chooses Microsoft Live@edu to Improve Communication for Students and Faculty

News release:

Los Angeles Community College District Chooses Microsoft Live@edu to Improve Communication for Students and Faculty

May 14, 2012

Live@edu aligns with LACCD’s strategic vision to provide the best experience to students while reducing the time it takes to provision email accounts by 80 percent.

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REDMOND, Wash. — May 14, 2012 — Microsoft Corp. today announced that Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD) is rolling out Microsoft Live@edu to provide anytime, anywhere* communication services to its students, faculty and alumni. Live@edu will allow LACCD to provide everyone on campus with easy-to-use cloud communication and collaboration tools while saving administrative and IT staff time. After evaluating both Live@edu and Google Apps for Education, LACCD made the decision to adopt Microsoft Live@edu due to preference for the technology’s security features and identity management capabilities, seamless integration with its on premise Exchange solution, and ease of use.

LACCD is the largest community college district in the United States, serving more than 250,000 students annually at nine colleges spread throughout 36 cities in the greater Los Angeles area. Accounts are being created for more than 2.5 million student records.

“Live@edu aligns with LACCD’s strategic vision to modernize and improve our colleges to ensure Los Angeles residents are trained with the skills needed to fill jobs of the 21st century,” said Jorge Mata, chief information officer for LACCD. “We needed a solution that would be easy to administer across all our colleges. One of the reasons we chose Microsoft Live@edu over Google Apps for Education is because it provides us with simple and automated management along with the visibility and control we need to apply our policies across our student information systems.”

To develop a truly customized solution for LACCD, Live@edu teamed up with SADA Systems to deliver a solution that mitigates the need for manual student email registration while reducing time and expense allocated toward the registration process. Once students register, they will automatically receive an email and collaboration account in real time.

“Our unique partnership with Microsoft enables LACCD’s IT personnel to focus on the system’s more mission-critical IT goals,” said Niv Dolgin, director of IT, SADA Systems. “Streamlining the registration process is not only a win for LACCD IT personnel; it is a win for students and LACCD administrative staff.”

Live@edu will allow LACCD to provide students with a single email address even if they are enrolled at multiple colleges. The same goes for faculty who teach at multiple colleges, thereby simplifying communication for both the district and those it serves. Live@edu will also help LACCD eliminate paper processes, such as printing fee receipts that can be emailed instead.

“We are excited to see the largest community college district in the U.S. deploy Live@edu to not only experience the benefits of a cloud-based collaboration service, but to also roll out a technology that will develop its students’ skills,” said Sig Behrens, general manager of U.S. Education for Microsoft. “LACCD is committed to student employability and recognizes the value to its students of skills gained by using Microsoft technology and that the knowledge will serve them well as they prepare to enter the workforce.”

About Microsoft Live@edu

Live@edu is a no-cost hosted platform for student communication and collaboration, providing industry-leading services to the global education market. Email and calendars with a 10GB inbox, 25GB of additional file storage, document sharing, instant messaging, video chat and mobile e-mail are just part of the feature set. Live@edu provides students with the professional tools to prepare them for college or work from day one. Live@edu is accessible through popular Web browsers for Windows, Mac and Linux operating systems — and easy to set up, administer and manage. More than 10,000 schools in more than 130 countries have enrolled in Live@edu, serving 22 million people worldwide. More information is available athttp://www.microsoft.com/liveatedu.

About Microsoft

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

*An appropriate device, Internet access and supported browser and/or phone carrier connectivity required.