D4 is a community of pharma and technology professionals focused on using data-driven approaches to improve pharma R&D. The ultimate mission of D4 is to create meaningful change for patients.
We’re supported by an advisory board consisting of the following people:
We organise conferences, online events, maintain this website, plus a community platform that allows pharma professionals to engage with each other in informal ways to get support, ideas, quick answers and share useful, non-commercially sensitive information.
The D4 website, events and community is maintained by Front Line Genomics, who you can read more about by clicking here.
The D4 community extends to participants working for over 200 pharma and related organisations, including each of the top 20 pharma companies by revenue, as well as dozens of smaller and mid-sized pharma/biotech companies.
We support people in three broad categories:
Those working to establish and improve the IT/data systems used in drug discovery and development. These people typically have core expertise in systems, IT and data.
Those working to achieve specific tasks in drug discovery and development, or leading those activities overall (e.g. Head of R&D) in pharma. These people are increasingly using data-driven approaches to discover and develop new therapies.
Those working with real health data, either generated during or outside of the clinical development environment. These people focus on improving clinical outcomes, or gathering/using Real World Data in a variety of different functions to improve pharma R&D.
The D4 community includes participants from each of the following companies:
AbbVie • Agios • Alexion • Alkermes • Alnylam • Amgen • Astellas • AstraZeneca • Bayer • Biogen • Boehringer Ingelheim • Bristol-Myers Squibb • Broad Institute • Celgene • Eisai • Eli Lilly • EMD Serono • Ferring Pharmaceuticals • Genentech • Gilead • Grunenthal • GSK • Idorsia • Johnson & Johnson • Janssen • Lundbeck • Pierre Fabre • Merck • Novartis • Otsuka • Pfizer • Regeneron • Roche • Sanofi • Servier • Takeda • Teva • UCB
In 2018 we (Front Line Genomics) organised a total of 11 Special Interest Groups (SIGs) for senior-level pharma professionals (20-80 in each meeting), each one focusing on data/IT related topics in pharma R&D.
Without intending to (we’d previously focused only on genomics), we noticed a community self-forming – people in pharma who were using the SIGs to connect, benchmark, and exchange non-commercially sensitive ideas, approaches, tips and tools to improve pharma R&D.
The community were keen to meet up with each other more regularly, so in 2019 we produced three D4 face-to-face events, each of which received strong feedback from our audience (90-95% of attendees strongly recommended the events to colleagues).
Moving on to 2020, and the D4 community has strengthened considerably, moving online and navigating the challenges posed by COVID-19 through the launch of a website, digital events and a digital community platform for direct contact between members.
Rich Lumb, Founder & CEO,
Rich is a scientist and social entrepreneur with a passion for improving the positive impact of science on society. He holds a PhD in biochemistry/protein folding from the University of Manchester, a master’s degree in management form Lancaster University and an undergrad degree in physiology from the University of Liverpool. In 2009 Rich founded and led the life sciences division at Hanson Wade, until 2013. He then founded Front Line Genomics in 2014 and led the buyout of the company from Clarion Events in 2018. He also acts as an advisor for Personal Genetics Education Program (pgEd), run out of Harvard Medical School. Rich lives in London with his wife and three children.
Diana Georgi, Content Manager,
Diana graduated with a degree in Biomedicine from the University of East Anglia, and worked for 18 months in life science conference production before joining Front Line Genomics as a content manager in early 2020. She most enjoys the social aspects of her role and is always on the lookout for interesting content to share with the genomics community.
Bethan Lumb, Head of Operations,
Beth holds a 2.1 LLB Law degree and a Distinction in the Legal Practice Course. She is a qualified solicitor and practised for several years before becoming a stay at home mum. She joined Front Line Genomics in 2018 and has worked in several roles across the business.
Christian Maysey-Wells, Commercial Manager,
Christian is an experienced commercial, business development and sales manager. Prior to joining Front Line Genomics, he worked at Cogora, helping to deliver for clients at events for nurses and GPs across the UK.
Daisy Ireland, Content and Event Producer,
Daisy graduated from the University of East Anglia in 2019 with a First-Class degree in Molecular Biology and Genetics. Before joining Front Line Genomics, she worked at Guidepoint in their Healthcare team. She loves being able to share interesting innovations with the scientific community to help accelerate R&D and has a particular interest in neurological disorders, especially Charcot-Marie Tooth Disease.
Immy Mobley, Scientific Communicatons Assistant,
Immy graduated with a BSc in Biology from Newcastle University in 2020 and since then has been pursuing her passion for science communication and engagement. At Front Line Genomics, she enjoys investigating current scientific research and portraying the information in compelling ways. She finds studies on Alzheimer’s Disease particularly interesting and loves reporting on Alzheimer’s related breakthroughs.
Sam Beckwith, Data Manager,
Sam joined Front Line Genomics in 2020 as a Data Manager. He has a BSc in Mathematics and a MSc in Business Finance and Economics, both from the University of East Anglia. Although predominantly working with data, he helps across all areas of the business from general administration tasks to multimedia and website editing. In his spare time, Sam is an aviation enthusiast and he follows the American sports of baseball and basketball.
The D4 community is maintained by Front Line Genomics.
To find out more about about joining our team and any roles available, find out more at the Front Line Genomics website or contact Rich Lumb here.
Have something to say relating to the use of data in pharma R&D? If you’re interested please contact Megan Hickland.
We also act as aggregators of the content representing the voice of pharma, gathering content on their challenges, priorities or opportunities relating to data-driven discovery and development. If you run a relevant podcast, have a blog, write your own content or simply want to point us towards other relevant content, please get in touch.
We’d love to hear from anyone interested supporting us with our D4 mission to create meaningful change for patients.
Address: J202, The Biscuit Factory, 100 Drummond Rd, London, SE16 4DG.
Telephone: +44 (0)208 191 8810
Email: info@frontlinegenomics.com
