As we move into the fall, I want to update you on two exciting new projects the AD Data Initiative coalition is working on.
As always, we continue to add more valuable datasets to the AD Discovery Portal, but we are also coming up with new ways to encourage more researchers to use our tools in more impactful ways. Specifically, in the coming months, we are launching a new data challenge and a scientific competition to accelerate innovation and discovery at the frontiers of ADRD research.
Over the summer, I told you about the public release of the Global Neurodegeneration Proteomics Consortium’s V1 (GNPC) harmonized dataset: with nearly 250 million unique protein measurements and 35,000 patient bio-samples within, it is one of the largest disease-specific proteomics datasets ever created.
Next month, to spur more researchers from all backgrounds to engage with this awesome resource, we are launching the GNPC Data Challenge, which will offer $10k and $5k cash prizes to the researchers who best leverage GNPC’s dataset to answer one of six priority research questions (listed below). Don’t see your favorite question listed? Submit your suggestion and we might add it to the list.
In addition, we also recently announced a $1 million Alzheimer's Insights AI Prize (AlzInsights AI Prize) for ADRD research. This is a global competition to find new, AI-driven solutions that can speed up our fight against Alzheimer’s and is made possible through the generosity of one of our founders, Bill Gates.
As I and several others recently argued in Nature Medicine, all evidence suggests that agentic AI can redefine what’s possible for ADRD research and open new paths to prevention, diagnosis and care. We are now reviewing the many creative and inspired submissions we received and will announce the semi-finalists for the AlzInsights AI Prize in October.
Our goal as an initiative is not data for the sake of data. It is data for the sake of discovery, solutions and impact. We have learned from previous data challenges that they help mobilize ADRD scientists and generate both more collaboration and “outside the box” thinking about critical avenues for innovation. So, we very much look forward to seeing what teams come with for both these contests and expect big things from our global ADRD research community.
With that in mind, and in the spirit of World Alzheimer’s Day 2025, which we celebrated this September, I want to applaud all of you for everything you’re doing to improve the lives of ADRD sufferers and hasten the end of this terrible disease. We could not do any of this important work without you.
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