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  7. The John Hirst Award for Lifetime Contribution

The John Hirst Award for Lifetime Contribution

The John Hirst Award for Lifetime Contribution is a permanent acknowledgement of those who have made a significant contribution to both PHUSE and the advancement of clinical data science. This award is named in memory of John Hirst, who played a pivotal role on the PHUSE Board of Directors, helping to guide the evolution of PHUSE for 20 years, from its inception up until his passing in September 2023. This is the highest award within PHUSE, the list of recipients also incorporates all those who previously were recognised as Lifetime Members.

Crystal has been an energetic liaison between PHUSE and the FDA. She has demonstrated her enthusiam and passion for this collaboration in her promotion of PHUSE activities within the FDA, in her contributions to the annual CSS both as an organiser and a presenter, and in her contribution to individual Working Groups and projects. Crystal is a large part of the reason why the Working Groups continue to be successful in driving their mission forward.

Stephen is the co-founder of PHUSE. Since chairing the first two PHUSE Conferences, and delivering on his vision of a conference for statistical programmers, Stephen has continued to be the driving force on the Board, serving as both Chair of the Board and Events Director.

Chris has made significant contributions across PHUSE, most notably in his role in initiating the PHUSE CSS, where he served as the industry and FDA liaison in its early years. Since then, Chris has continued to offer counsel to the Board of Directors and plays an active leadership role in the PHUSE Working Groups.

Sue has been the Nonclinical Topics Working Group Lead since the first CSS in 2012. She has been a driving force in both establishing this Working Group and continuing to drive it forward with the establishment of new projects across a broad spectrum of topics. Sue has been instrumental in the ongoing success of the CSS, with the Nonclinical Topics Working Group being an example for others to follow, with successful collaborations with the FDA, CDISC and BioCelerate.

Jean-Marc created the Data Transparency Working Group and has been leading this effort since its inception. He has also served on the PHUSE Board as Special Projects Director and was the EU Conference Chair in 2012.

Ian's leadership of both the Emerging Trends & Technologies and the Educating for the Future Working Groups has established thought-leading efforts within PHUSE. In addition to his Working Group activities, Ian has also been a Stream Chair and a regular presenter at both the EU and the US Connects.

Steve was involved with PHUSE from the first meeting in Heidelberg, in 2005, and worked specifically on building relationships with other organisations in the pharmaceutical arena, such as EUSG and PSI. Steve was a key member of the Steering Committee, where he juggled several roles and maintained the development of PHUSE collaborations. In addition, he has, for many years, been heavily involved in the EU Connect, chairing multiple Streams.

Gary was a key member of the Steering Committee – the precursor to the current Board of Directors – and was a significant factor in the creation and development of the Single Day Event model. During his five years with the Committee, he provided salient input and helped move the organisation towards the position it holds today.

Jim was an early supporter of PHUSE in the United States, and when we first mooted the idea of a US-based conference, he was a driving force in moving the concept forward, taking into account the geographical (and sometimes philosophical) differences in running a conference on the other side of the Atlantic (!). Jim was our first US Connect Chair in 2018 in Raleigh, NC.

Kirk has been a long-time supporter of PHUSE. Kirk contributed a regular write-up in the original PHUSE Newsletters with his 'Kirk's Corner', where he provided helpful programmatic support, which has continued into blog posts along the same lines.

Olivier has been involved with PHUSE since the beginning and is an intrinsic part of the Single Day Event Committee. He was Chair of the EU Connect 2008 in Manchester, UK, having taken the reins from Dirk Spruck.

Jane has been the long-time lead of the Optimizing the Use of Data Standards Working Group. She has been instrumental in developing and maintaining a number of key regulatory referenced deliverables, in particular the Study Data Standardization Plan (SDSP), and has taken on a project lead role in addition to Working Group Lead activities. Jane's passion for driving both projects and CSS activities has been key in the long-term success of this Working Group.

James is the co-founder of PHUSE alongside Stephen. James helped drive the concept of a conference for statistical programmers and continues to nurture the future of the organisation.

Yvonne has been a consistent supporter of PHUSE for many years. She was the EU Connect Chair in 2011 and has subsequently served on the Board of Directors in a number of different roles, most recently as the Special Projects Director. Yvonne's insight across all the different facets of PHUSE have been instrumental in driving PHUSE forward.

Mary has been the Lead of the Safety Analytics Working Group since its inception, having previous led the Safety Analytics and Code Sharing Working Group since the first CSS in 2012. She has been instrumental in developing a number of white papers describing the analysis of safety data and training materials shared through webinars and PHUSE Education. Mary's passion for Safety Analytics has been the driving force behind the success of the PHUSE Working Group.

Lilliam has been a champion for FDA engagement in PHUSE as part of a public–private partnership. Lilliam's passion for collaboration, since the start of the annual CSS, in her role as Event Chair, has been a fundamental component of the success of both the event and the PHUSE Working Groups.

Anne has been a key member of the Working Groups since their inception. She has contributed and led individual projects, chaired the CSS poster session and been a long-time member of the Working Groups Leadership and Operations committees (previously Steering Committee). Here she has provided her crucial insights across all of the groups, most notably in the development of project ideas, the review of project deliverables and setting the frameworks for all projects to follow.

Ajay was the driving force behind the expansion of PHUSE in both India and throughout the APAC region. Ajay was PHUSE's first APAC Regional Director and ensured the consistent global vision of PHUSE.

Frank has supported PHUSE since the first CSS and he became PHUSE's first US Board Member, with responsibilities covering membership and the PHUSE Community as a whole. Frank was fundamental in the rapid expansion of PHUSE membership, from individuals through to bringing on board some of our biggest and most influential company supporters to this day.

Another of our original supporters, Dirk was Chair of the EU Connect 2007 in Lisbon, Portugal. He then established the first iteration of the PHUSE Journal, which ran from 2008 to 2012 and where he was Editor-in-Chief.

Diana has been a key contributor as a Stream Chair and presenter at many EU Connects and is the driving force behind the PHUSE newsletter and blog team. Diana provides many of the location write-ups for the EU Connects.

Frans was a long-time supporter of and contributor to the PHUSE Connects, right from the intial meeting in Heidelberg. In fact, Frans was Chair of the CDISC Stream from its inception until his retirement in 2016 – a feat yet to be matched by any other awardee!

As one of its originators, Stephen's involvement in PHUSE/FDA CSS has demonstrated his dedication to driving meaningful collaboration and engagement across all stakeholders. His passion is evident through both his regular presence as a plenary presenter at the CSS and his invaluable contributions to multiple PHUSE Working Group projects. Stephen's annual encouragement to attendees to embrace the concept of "Building the plane while we are flying it" inspired the naming of the "PHUSE Plane Builder Awards". His remarkable dedication and contributions have made him an integral part of the ongoing collaboration between PHUSE and the FDA.