Last week at the i2b2 tranSMART Foundation Users Group meeting at Harvard Medical School, Board Chairman Dr. Zak Kohane announced the new Academic Contributing Sponsor Program.  Dr. Kohane called on academic users and small businesses who use either the i2b2 or tranSMART platforms to contribute $5,ooo to support the ongoing operations of the Foundation.  The funds would be used to support the Foundation training program, monthly Community webinars, working groups, events and operational costs of the  foundation such as the website, etc.

In return, Dr. Kohane outlined a set of benefits for the Contributing Sponsors that included free tickets to upcoming Foundation Events, early access to upcoming releases of the platforms of the Foundation and expedited defect review and repair.

Dr. Gil Omenn accepted the invitation and offered the University of Michigan as the first Contributing Sponsor.  This was followed by Aaron Abend from Prognosis Data as the second Sponsor.  These join the founding Contributing Sponsors, Dept of BioMedical Informatics (DBMI) of Harvard Medical School and Partners Health.

More information and an application on this and other Sponsorship Programs can be found at www.i2b2transmart.org/sponsorship_programs.