New IMS Prize for Original Research On Pharmaceuticals and e-Health Information Networks 6/6/00 The global giant has announced the launch of its second IMS HEALTH Prize to encourage and honour original thinking in the fields of pharmaceuticals, healthcare, and the emerging electronic information networks. The IMS HEALTH Prize 2000/2001 will recognise outstanding research addressing "Pharmaceuticals and e-Health Information Networks - Challenges and Potential Impact: Ethics, Regulatory and Economic Issues."" Competition for the prize is open to academics and researchers around the world. The first prize winner will receive Euros 10,000, and Euros 5,000 will be awarded to each of three regional winners. According to Gilles Pajot, Vice Chairman and President, IMS HEALTH European Region, "This year's topic offers researchers an opportunity to explore the special opportunities and challenges of e-Health information networking, and the growing role it plays in the pharmaceutical and healthcare arenas. We expect the papers we receive to examine these issues from a range of perspectives, adding to our understanding of how the Internet and other technologies are changing the face of healthcare." IMS HEALTH's inaugural Prize, awarded in 1999, attracted research submissions from nine European countries on the topic of pharmaceutical law and health economics. The company is collaborating with the European Association for Pharmaceutical Law and Economics (EAPLE) to ensure objective evaluation of all research papers. A team of "national rapporteurs," appointed by EAPLE, will review all submissions for originality, as well as methodology, analysis of data, and content. The committee-appointed regional co-ordinators and national rapporteurs will work independently of IMS HEALTH. The IMS HEALTH Prize 2001-2002 is open to students, researchers and healthcare professionals in either private or public organisations, including healthcare industries. To encourage a wide variety of contributions, the selection committees will only accept unpublished work and university theses. Submissions are due by December 31, 2001, and winners will be announced in the Spring of 2002. www.imshealth.com