Thanks to everyone who presented a paper at PharmaSUG 2026. There were many outstanding paper presentations. The section chairs awarded the status of Best Paper to the following papers:
Advanced Programming
AP-108. The Problems Surrounding Rounding
Jennifer McGrogan, Independent
Mario Widel, Independent
AP-159. Speeding Up Your Validation Process is As Easy As 1, 2 and 3
Alice Cheng, Independent
AP-418. Code Hard and Put away Wet: Replacing Hardcoded SAS® Software Quality Checks with Data-Driven Design and Defensive Programming Techniques That Validate Code and Control Data
Troy Hughes, Data Llama Analytics
Advanced Statistical Methods
AS-190. Implementing Dynamic Time Warping in SAS 9.4 Using PROC IML: An Alternative Approach for Time-Series Model Evaluation
Yida Bao, University of Wisconsin Stout
Philippe Gaillard, Augusta University
Wei Yao, University of Wisconsin-Stout
Zheng Zhang, Murray State University
Rui Wang, 4707911632
AI in Pharma, Biotech and Clinical Data Science
AI-305. Improving AI SAS-to-R Code Migration via an Intermediate Design Document Layer
Junze Zhang, Merck Co., Inc
Amy Zhang, Merck & Co.
AI-332. A Human-in-the-Loop AI-Assisted Framework for ADaM Standardization
Chunqiu Xia, Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, NJ, USA and its affiliates
Feiyang Du, Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, NJ, USA and its affiliates
Career Development, Leadership & Soft Skills
LS-347. Closing the Expectation Gap: A Leadership Framework for Clinical Programming Success
Yuka Tanaka-Chambers, Phastar
Data Standards Implementation (CDISC, SEND, ADaM, SDTM)
DS-440. From Specification to SDTM at Speed: Deploying the SDTM Engine in Production
Lynn Xiuling Zhang, Merck & Co., Inc.
Jacques Lanoue, Merck
Ulf Nielsen, MSD
Data Visualization & Interactive Analytics
DV-188. Boston Breakthroughs: A Dashboard-Driven Approach to Metadata and Audit Trails with SAS Clinical Acceleration
Frances Gillespie, SAS Institute
Laura Watson, SAS Institute
Emerging Technologies (R, Python, GitHub etc.)
ET-207. Enhancing Your SAS Viya Workflows with Python: Integrating Python’s Open-Source Libraries with SAS using PROC PYTHON
Ryan Lafler, Premier Analytics Consulting, LLC
Miguel Bravo Martinez del Valle, Premier Analytics LLC
ET-279. Goodbye SAS, Hello R: Practical Workflows for CDISC Standards
Madeleine Penniston, Atorus Research
Alyssa Wittle, Atorus Research
ET-358. Automating Git Workflows in SAS with Git Functions
Lleyton Seymour, SAS
ePosters
PO-406. Smarter, Faster, Better: GenAI‑Driven Authoring for Data Reviewer’s Guides
Christina Scienski, Pfizer
Christine Rossin, Pfizer
PK/PD/ADA and Quantitative Pharmacology
PK-276. SAS and R for Expanding Data for Pharmacometrics Analysis (PMx) Analysis Data Sets
Jeffrey Rathbun, Simulations Plus
Rebecca Humphrey, Simulations Plus, Inc.
Real-World Data (RWD) and Real-World Evidence (RWE)
RW-367. PSMATCH: Propensity Score Matching of Clinical Trial Data with External Control Arms
Ginger Barlow, Prilenia Therapeutics
Study Data Integration & Analysis
SI-414. Harmonizing History: A Framework for Deriving Line of Therapy in Complex Integrated Summaries.
Bhargav Koduru, Medidata Solutions
Kavitha Guddam, Dassault systemes
Santosh Reddy Lekkala, Medidata Inc
Submission Standards for Global Health Authorities
SS-261. Closing the Loop: Validating AI-Generated SDTM Mappings using CDISC CORE and Synthetic Data
Pietro Belligoli, Technical University of Munich (TUM)
Constantin Weberpals, TUM
Yarhy Flores Lopez, Technical University of Munich
Tools, Tech & Innovation
TT-102. Sync & Scale: Empowering Cloud Hub & Team Synergy with SAS Bridge
Mayank Singh, Johnson and Johnson MedTech (Neurovascular)