Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 17, 2026

A Data Integration Workflow to Identify Drug Combinations Targeting Synthetic Lethal Interactions
Published on: May 27, 2021
Data visualization speeds review of potential adverse drug events in patients on multiple medications
Jon D Duke1, Xiaochun Li, Shaun J Grannis
1Regenstrief Institute, Indianapolis, IN, USA. jduke@regenstrief.org
Abstract:
Patients on multiple medications are at increased risk for adverse drug events. While physicians can reduce this risk by regularly reviewing the side-effect profiles of their patients' medications, this process can be time-consuming. We created a decision support system designed to expedite reviewing potential adverse reactions through information visualization. The system includes a database containing 16,340 unique drug and side-effect pairs, representing 250 common medications. A numeric score is assigned to each pair reflecting the strength of association between drug and effect. Based on these scores, the system generates graphical adverse reaction maps for any user-selected combination of drugs. A study comparing speed and accuracy of retrieving side-effect data using this tool versus UpToDate demonstrated a 60% reduction in time to complete a query (61 s vs. 155 s, p < 0.0001) with no decrease in accuracy. These findings suggest that information visualization can significantly expedite review of potential adverse drug events.
Related Concept Videos
Pharmacovigilance
This process, termed pharmacovigilance, aims to detect, evaluate, and minimize harmful effects related to medication use. The data collection for pharmacovigilance depends on spontaneous reporting systems, where healthcare professionals or patients voluntarily report suspected ADRs.
In some cases, there...
Drug Toxicity: Risk factors
Drug Dosing: Geriatric Patients
Therapeutic Drug Monitoring: Affecting Factors
Bioequivalence of Drugs: Drugs with Multiple Indications
Pharmaceutical Poisoning: Potential Scenarios