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Announcement

First Publicly Available R-Based Submission Package Submitted to FDA (Pilot 3)

By Announcement, Blog

The R Consortium is pleased to announce that on August 28, 2023, the R Submissions Working Group successfully submitted an R-based test submission pilot 3 package through the FDA eCTD gateway! The FDA CDER staff are now able to begin their evaluation process. All submission materials can be found at: https://github.com/RConsortium/submissions-pilot3-adam-to-fda 

The pilot 3 test submission is an example of an all R submission package following eCTD specifications. These include the installation and loading of the proprietary {pilot3} R package and other open-source R packages, R scripts for the analysis data model (ADaM) datasets from pilot 3 and tables, listings, figures (TLFs) from pilot 1, analysis data reviewer’s guide (adrg), and other required eCTD components. To our knowledge, this is the first publicly available R-based FDA submission package, which includes R scripts to generate ADaM datasets and TLFs. We hope this submission package and our learnings can serve as a good reference for future R-based regulatory submissions from different sponsors. Additional agency feedback will be shared in future communications.  For any future questions, you may contact the pilot 3 team here: https://rconsortium.github.io/submissions-pilot3-adam/main/index.html.

The working group also began working on a pilot 4 project to explore the use of novel technologies such as Linux containers and WebAssembly software to bundle a Shiny application into a self-contained package in order to facilitate a smoother process for transferring and executing the application. Stay tuned for more about pilot 4 in the future.

For past announcements on pilot 1 and pilot 2, see below.

Announcement of the R Consortium R submission pilot 1:

Announcement of the R Consortium R submission pilot 2, an R based test submission with a shiny component:

https://www.r-consortium.org/blog/2022/12/07/update-successful-r-based-package-submission-with-shiny-component-to-fda

About the R consortium R submission working group

The R Consortium R Submissions Working Group is focused on improving practices for R-based clinical trial regulatory submissions.

To bring an experimental clinical product to market, electronic submission of data, computer programs, and relevant documentation is required by health authority agencies from different countries. In the past, submissions have been mainly based on the SAS language. 

In recent years, the use of open source languages, especially the R language, has become very popular in the pharmaceutical industry and research institutions. Although the health authorities accept submissions based on open source programming languages, sponsors may be hesitant to conduct submissions using open source languages due to a lack of working examples.

Therefore, the R Consortium R Submissions Working Group aims at providing R-based submission examples and identifying potential gaps during submission of these example packages. All materials, including submission examples and communications, are publicly available on the R consortium Github page: https://github.com/RConsortium.

The R consortium R submission working group includes members from more than 10 pharmaceutical companies, as well as regulatory agencies. More details of the working group can be found at: https://rconsortium.github.io/submissions-wg/.

The R consortium R submission working group is open to anyone who is interested in joining. If interested, please contact Joseph Rickert at joseph.rickert@gmail.com

Grants For R Language Infrastructure Projects Available Now!

By Announcement, Blog

Round two is here! The R Consortium Infrastructure Steering Committee (ISC) orchestrates two rounds of proposal calls and grant awards per year to fortify the R ecosystem’s technical infrastructure. We have one key goal: to make meaningful infrastructure improvements that serve the R community. 

ISC’s Call for Proposals opens on September 1, 2023. Send in your submission! https://www.r-consortium.org/all-projects/call-for-proposals 

We’re reaching out to the extended R community to tap into your expertise and insights. What areas do you think need attention to extend R’s capabilities? Do you see emerging domains where R could significantly impact? Whether in Climate Science, Engineering, Finance, Medicine, or any other discipline, your ideas could spark innovations that advance the field and broaden the R community. 

Technical Infrastructure projects that have been funded include:

  • R-hub is a centralized tool for checking R packages
  • Testing DBI and improving key open-source database backends.
  • Improvements in packages such as mapview and sf 
  • Improving Translations in R
  • Ongoing infrastructural development for R on Windows and macOS

Social Infrastructure projects include:

  • SatuRDays bootstrapping a system for local R conferences.
  • Data-Driven Discovery and Tracking of R Consortium Activities

The ISC is interested in projects that:

  • Are likely to have a broad impact on the R community.
  • Have a focused scope (a good example is the Simple Features for R project). If you have a larger project, consider breaking it into smaller chunks (a good example is with the DBI/DBItest project submission, where multiple proposals came in overtime to address the various needs).
  • Have a low-to-medium risk with a low-to-medium reward. The ISC tends not to fund high-risk, high-reward projects.

Key Dates for 2023

Second Grant Cycle: September 1 to October 1, acceptance by November 1, contract by December 1.

Review Process

The Chair of the ISC and committee members will review all proposals. Results will be announced as per the schedule above, and all funded projects will feature on the R Consortium blog.

Final Thoughts

Let’s enrich the R landscape, amplifying its utility across various sectors. The time is ripe, and your ideas could be the seeds of transformation. We look forward to your active participation.

Apply now and be part of shaping the future of R! You can read more about ISC Grant Proposal application process here.

New Executive Director Position Created at R Consortium

By Announcement, Blog

Motivated by the growth of the R Consortium over the past several years and the expansion of activities, the R Consortium Board of Directors has taken a step to ensure long-term, consistent oversight of day-to-day activities. 

The R Consortium is pleased to announce that Joseph Rickert has been appointed to the position of Executive Director reporting directly to the Board of Directors.

Joseph has been active in the R Community since he joined Revolution Analytics in 2009 and has held prominent, community-facing positions at both the R Consortium and RStudio (now renamed posit). He is deeply involved in multiple R Consortium technical working groups, is an organizer of the Bay Area useR Group (BARUG), and has been on the R/Medicine conference organizing committee since the first conference in 2018. Joseph served on the R Consortium Board of Directors from August 2016 to July 2023, serving as Chair from 2020.

Welcome, Joseph, to your new position!

Change in R Consortium Leadership – Thank you, Joseph Rickert!

By Announcement, Blog

After serving as chair of the board for the R Consortium and being involved in multiple R Consortium committees both on the technical and community development sides, as well as participating directly in R-focused events, webinars, and countless other R activities, Joseph Rickert is stepping away from the position. The board will be conducting elections to decide the next chair.

Joseph has been with the R Consortium since it was first conceived in 2014.  His initial role was as Community Officer. In 2018, he began to also serve as Secretary. In 2019, he was elected chair of the board. 

Thank you for your tireless interest in promoting R and supporting developers and user groups around the world who are working to improve the R programming language.

Thank you, Joseph!

Coming in July! 🔥 We Have a 20% off Promo Code – Data Scientists & Data Professionals at New York R Conference

By Announcement, Blog, Events

The R Consortium is sponsoring the New York R Conference, presented by Lander Analytics! This in-person and virtual conference will be running from July 13-14, with workshops (tickets sold separately) from July 11-12. The New York R Conference grew out of the New York Open Statistical Programming Meetup (also known as the New York R Meetup), with currently over 14,000 members. Topics from the meetup include data science, visualization, machine learning, deep learning, and so much more. The New York R Conference is where enthusiasts and data scientist gather! 


Locations for the conference are at Columbia University and FIAF Manhattan.

Will you be attending? Let us know! Use promo code RSTATS20 for 20% off conference & workshop tickets.

The conference gathers data scientists and professionals from all over the world. This year the conference will include a series of talks covering topics like creating beautiful maps, using OpenAI Embeddings API, data-driven approaches to marketing, using data for journalism, and much more!

There will be workshop sessions from July 11-12. Workshops are a way for generating revenue for OS developers, workshops will include:

🎙 Join Jon Krohn with special guest Chris Wiggins, Chief Data Scientist at The New York Times and Associate Professor of Applied Mathematics at Columbia University, for the SuperDataScience live podcast.

To learn more about the agenda, speaker lineup and workshops visit rstats.ai/nyr. Also, follow @rstatsai on Twitter to stay up to date with all conference details. 

Renewing the R Consortium Census Working Group

By Announcement, Blog

Guest author: Ari Lamstein

Ari Lamstein is a Director of Analytics at MarketBridge, a Marketing Analytics Consultancy.

Back in 2018, when I was most involved in developing choroplethr, Joe Rickert, R Consortium Director, recommended that I submit a proposal to the R Consortium to create a Working Group related to Census data. I was intrigued to see what a group like that could accomplish and submitted a proposal. The proposal was accepted, and the group’s main accomplishment was publishing A Guide to Working with Census Data in R. After publishing the Guide, however, the group went dormant.

Fast forward 5 years, and last month I published a new package related to Census data: zctaCrosswalk. When discussing the package with Joe he mentioned that he recently spoke to some leaders at Census who were interested in revitalizing the R Consortium Census Working Group. He asked me if I was interested in meeting the people who were interested, and of course I said yes!

We just had a preliminary meeting, and several exciting ideas were discussed. One is to write a new version of ‘A Guide to Working with Census Data in R.’ We are still in the early stages of deciding what a new version might look like, but one goal would be to remove links to deprecated software such as American FactFinder. More broadly, the original guide was written as a survey of both Census data and CRAN packages. Perhaps the Guide might be more useful if it was written more as a tutorial to the most popular datasets and packages.

We also discussed ideas for longer-term projects. For example, applying for funding from the R Consortium, and directing that funding towards the development of R packages that might improve the R ecosystem for Census data.

If you have an interest in following our work or participating in our next meeting, please sign up below.

R Consortium Funding for R User Groups! Highlighting R-Ladies São Paulo

By Announcement, Blog

The R Consortium has begun the disbursement of grants to help R User Groups (RUGS) around the world organize, share information, and support each other. We are currently accepting applications until September 30, 2023! 

With these grants, the R Consortium looks forward to facilitating and supporting the person-to-person exchange of knowledge in small group settings on a global scale. RUGS grants are intended to help people form enduring R user group communities. The RUGS program is supporting both virtual and in-person events.

In 2023, the three categories for RUGS Program grants:

  1. User Group Grants
  2. Conference Grants
  3. Special Project Grants

🏆 Highlighting R-Ladies São Paulo, in Brazil

Beatriz Milz, teacher at Curso R, Ph.D. Student in Environmental Science, and co-organizer of R-Ladies São Paulo, recently received a grant from the R Consortium. The grant was requested to help facilitate R-Ladies São Paulo Meetups which host 40-50 people per meeting. The Group intends to use the funds to continue to host events for locals of the São Paulo area. With the funds provided, the group has been able to offer transportation assistance for low-income participants that otherwise can’t come to the event, children caretaker per event, R Swag, snacks, and team apparel. The group hopes to continue with its momentum and offer more meetups to new and experienced R users.

In these Meetups, R-Ladies São Paulo organizes different talks and trainings including some of their most recent ones:

Upcoming event: Saturday, June 24, 2023, at 12:00 PM PT (GMT-3) / 8 AM PT

The next event will be a full-day meetup with an Introduction to R and Tidyverse. 

The slides and materials (in Portuguese) are available in: https://r-ladies-sao-paulo.github.io/2023-06-oficina-introducao-R/slides.html

Meetup R-Ladies São Paulo – Oficina de Introdução ao R e ao Tidyverse 

Check out the group’s Meetup, R-Ladies São Paulo 

Blog: https://rladies-sp.org/

Follow them on Social media! 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/RLadiesSaoPaulo/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/rladiessaopaulo 

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/r-ladies-sao-paulo/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/RLadiesS%C3%A3oPaulo/videos


Get Involved!

The 2023 RUGS Program is currently taking applications and will close at midnight PST on September 30, 2023. 

These grants do not include support for software development or technical projects. Grants to support the R ecosystem’s technical infrastructure are awarded and administered through the ISC Grant Program which issues a call for proposals two times each year.

Welcome to our newest member Parexel!

By Announcement, Blog, News

The R Consortium, a Linux Foundation project supporting the R Foundation and R community, today announced that Parexel has joined the R Consortium as a Silver Member. 

Parexel is a clinical research organization providing Phase I to IV clinical development services. Parexel uses R for a wide range of internal decision-making and regulatory interactions. They have a team of more than 21,000 global professionals collaborating with biopharmaceutical leaders, emerging innovators delivering clinical trials worldwide.

 “We are thrilled to welcome Parexel as a member of the R Consortium and connect more closely with the rest of the R Consortium community,” said Joseph Rickert, R Consortium Board Chair, and Posit’s R Community Ambassador. “Parexel brings expertise in using R as a tool to perform analyses as part of clinical trials to their sponsors. We look forward to collaborating with the Parexel team to expand the use of R in drug development.”

“Upskilling our personnel in the use of R, coupled with enhancing our computing environment to incorporate R holistically with our other, more established software options, provides Parexel with additional tools in performing analyses of clinical trial data and opens up new avenues to innovative techniques,” said Michael Cartwright, Associate Biostatistics Director, Parexel.

About The R Consortium 

The R Consortium is a 501(c)6 nonprofit organization and Linux Foundation project dedicated to the support and growth of the R user community. The R Consortium provides support to the R Foundation and to the greater R Community for projects that assist R package developers, provide documentation and training, facilitate the growth of the R Community and promote the use of the R language.

About Linux Foundation 

Founded in 2000, the Linux Foundation is supported by more than 1,000 members and is the world’s leading home for collaboration on open source software, open standards, open data, and open hardware. Linux Foundation projects like Linux, Kubernetes, Node.js and more are considered critical to the development of the world’s most important infrastructure. Its development methodology leverages established best practices and addresses the needs of contributors, users and solution providers to create sustainable models for open collaboration. For more information, please visit us at linuxfoundation.org

The 2023 RUGS Program is awarding grants for 2023!

By Announcement, Blog

The R Consortium gives grants to help R User Groups (RUGS) around the world organize, share information, and support each other. We are currently accepting applications! 

The R Consortium RUGS Program has grown from being a relatively modest R user group support program to being the primary vehicle for the R Consortium to award Social Infrastructure Grants. Social Infrastructure includes meetings, events, conferences and any other activity intended to strengthen the social, organizational, and identity structures of the R Community. 

In 2023, there will be three categories of RUGS Program grants:

  1. User Group Grants
    1. The intent of user group grants is to facilitate person-to-person exchange of R knowledge in small group settings on a global scale.
    2. Cash grants typically vary between $200 and $1,000 and depend on group size and special needs.
    3. All groups who are accepted into the RUGS program who are not already participating in the R-Ladies Meetup.com Professional Account program are enrolled in the RUGS program which covers Meetup.com dues.
  2. Conference Grants
    1. To qualify for a RUGS program conference grant, an event must be focused on the R language and offer at least one full day of technical talks and presentations and aim to attract participants with diverse backgrounds. These grants are for conferences organized by non-profit or volunteer groups.
  3. Special Project Grants
    1. With our Special Projects Grants categories, we hope to stimulate the imagination of local R community builders. 

Full details here: https://www.r-consortium.org/all-projects/r-user-group-support-program. Please help support R language. Submit your proposals!

R User Groups

There are currently 98 R User Groups (RUGS) organizing and learning and spreading the use of R globally. These groups welcome individuals from any background, from beginner-level users to experts. 

Check out our recent blog interviews by organizers of the R User Groups across all industries:

Get Involved!

The 2023 RUGS Program is currently taking applications and will close at midnight PST on September 30, 2023. 

These grants do not include support for software development or technical projects. Grants to support the R ecosystem’s technical infrastructure are awarded and administered through the ISC Grant Program which issues a call for proposals two times each year.

Announcing R/Medicine 2023!

By Announcement, Blog, Events

Join us at R/Medicine 2023! The 6th annual conference will be fully virtual from June 5 through 9 and feature two days of workshops followed by a day of demos, a Hackathon, and a poster session. The last two days will be filled with speaking sessions, presentations, and lightning talks. This year’s keynotes include Jeff Leek, Vice President and Chief Data Officer, at Fred Hutch Cancer Center, and Neale Batra, President of Applied Epi

The R/Medicine conference provides a forum for sharing R based tools and approaches used to analyze and gain insights from health data. Conference workshops provide a way to learn and develop your R skills. Midweek demos allow you to try out new R packages and tools, and our hackathon provides an opportunity to learn how to develop new R tools. The conference talks share new packages, and successes in analyzing health, laboratory, and clinical data with R and Shiny with a vigorous ongoing discussion with speakers (with pre-recorded talks) in the chat.

Check out some highlights from the 2022 conference on our YouTube channel!

Here’s a glimpse of the 2023 R/Medicine workshops:

  • Using REDCap and R to rapidly produce biomedical publications
  • R/Medicine 101: Introduction to Clinical Data Analysis with R


🐦 Early Bird Registration is now open until May 5th so sign up for the conference now! We are accepting proposals for 30 minute talks, 30 minute panel discussions, and 10 minute lightning talks. 

📣 Interested in sponsoring R/Medicine? Please take a look at our sponsorship brochure.