Big Data In Clinical Trials: Hopes And Myths

Billions of clinical measurements are recorded every day, generating stores of medical data beyond what anyone could have imagined just a few decades ago. The contents are called big data and the clinical research industry, although slow to see its potential, is now eager to put to use electronic versions of everything from notes doctors jot down about patients to clinical trial results.

“With enormous data come enormous opportunity,” reads the line in bold on the website of Nicholas Tatonetti, an expert in biomedical informatics, an interdisciplinary field that combines information technology and medicine,