# Getting open source R in the mainstream for CDISC SDTM

Allwyn Dsouza · Vishvanath Kothari

Saama Technologies · PHUSE APAC, Chennai · 2024

Much of my work sits at the intersection of **clinical data, software engineering, automation, and emerging technology**.

I enjoy taking ideas that are technically promising and exploring what it takes to make them practical in the pharmaceutical industry — where standards, reproducibility, transparency, validation, and scalability matter as much as innovation.

My PHUSE work on **bringing open-source R into CDISC SDTM workflows** was one such exploration. Today, that same interest has expanded into **AI, agentic systems, clinical data automation, and intelligent software for the life sciences**.

This article brings together some of my conference presentations, publications, and ideas that I've shared with the clinical data and technology community.

The pharmaceutical industry is increasingly adopting open-source technologies for clinical data analysis, with R emerging as an important component of the modern clinical programming ecosystem.

In this PHUSE presentation, **Allwyn Dsouza and Vishvanath Kothari** explore the adoption of open-source R for **CDISC SDTM data transformation and standardisation**, and the considerations involved in bringing R-based approaches into mainstream clinical data workflows.

The work examines the practical intersection of **R, CDISC standards, automation, and clinical data programming**, contributing to the broader industry discussion around modernising clinical data pipelines while maintaining the consistency and standards expected in regulated environments.

> **Presented at PHUSE APAC Single Day Event, Chennai — 2024**

[Read the presentation →](https://phuse.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/Archive/2024/SDE/APAC/Chennai/PRE_Chennai02.pdf)

**Topics:** CDISC · SDTM · R · Open Source · Clinical Data · Automation · Pharmaceutical Programming