New Advisory Board Will Guide Development of CrossFire Beilstein Database

Elsevier Information Systems GmbH, a subsidiary of Elsevier, the leading global publisher of scientific, technical and medical information, is pleased to announce the establishment of an Advisory Board with a mandate to provide recommendations on the scope, coverage, quality and continuing development of the CrossFire Beilstein Database, the world’s largest compilation of chemical facts and the premier database in the field of organic chemistry.

The creation of this distinguished panel, which includes two Nobel Laureates, is a consequence of Elsevier’s acquisition of the Beilstein Database in March 2007 and a reflection of Elsevier’s commitment to ongoing, customer-focused enhancement of CrossFire Beilstein, ensuring that this indispensable resource continues to meet the needs of researchers in the corporate pharmaceutical, chemical and academic sectors.

The Advisory Board consists of:

Dr. James E. Audia, Eli Lilly, Indianapolis, IN, USA
Prof. A.G.M. Barrett, Imperial College, London, UK
Prof. Dr. Erick M. Carreira, ETH Zürich, Switzerland
Prof. Robert H. Grubbs, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA; Nobel Prize in Chemistry, 2005
Dr. Torsten Hoffmann, F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd., Basel, Switzerland
Prof. Dr. Horst Kunz, University of Mainz, Germany
Dr. Ge Li, WuXi PharmaTech, Shanghai, China
Dr. Graeme Robertson, Siena Biotech, Siena, Italy
Dr. K. Barry Sharpless, Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA, USA; Nobel Prize in Chemistry, 2001
Prof. Barry M. Trost, University of Stanford, CA, USA
Prof. Henry N. C. Wong, Chinese University Hong Kong, China

“I am very pleased to be associated with the Beilstein Database, an essential pharma research resource for over 125 years, and fully support Elsevier’s strategy of keeping the database up-to-date and closely aligned with chemists’ evolving needs,” said Dr. Torsten Hoffmann, Department Head, Discovery Chemistry, F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd. “As an Advisory Board member, I am committed to continuous enhancement of CrossFire Beilstein and to maintaining its tradition of quality and depth.”

“Since acquiring the Beilstein Database, Elsevier has steadily enhanced its content and is integrating it into other Elsevier products and services,” said Dr. Michiel Kolman, Managing Director, Elsevier in Frankfurt. “Today there is linking with the Scopus® abstract and citation database and ScienceDirect® online collection of published scientific research—and Beilstein reaction information will be accessible in this fall’s 3.0 release of the MDL® Isentris® informatics system. The Advisory Board will provide valuable guidance on continuing enhancements and integration, ensuring that CrossFire Beilstein maintains its reputation as a high quality, relevant resource for researchers.”

Based on Beilstein’s Handbuch der Organischen Chemie, CrossFire Beilstein covers organic chemistry from 1771 to the present. The CrossFire Databases, including Patent Chemistry Database and CossFire Gmelin, contain over 15 million compounds and 16 million reactions from journals and patents, making it the world’s largest factual database of reported data on compounds and reactions. The CrossFire Databases offer 500 million experimental chemical property facts and more than 1.4 million original author abstracts from 1980-present, as well as pharmacological and eco-toxicological data describing the bioactivity of organic chemicals.