Press Releases

Jointly organized by the Office of the Chief Technology Officer and Presidential Innovation Fellows, the 14-week challenge cum sprint selected half a dozen leading technology companies, including TrialX, to create digital tools based on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and open government data, to facilitate easy access to experimental therapies for patients and vice versa.

Global Lyme Alliance (GLA), the leading 501 (c)(3) dedicated to conquering Lyme and other tick-borne diseases through research, education and awareness, and TrialX Appbakery, a revolutionary digital health platform to build patient-centric data collection apps, presented their new Lyme Symptom Tracker mobile app at the HHS’s ‘“The Opportunity Project (TOP) Health Tech Sprint” on Thursday, February 28, 2019 at The White House.

The 14-week “TOP Health” tech sprint concluded with 10 teams delivering digital tools — built with Federal data and emerging technologies like AI — to improve clinical trials, experimental therapies, and data-driven solutions for complex challenges from cancer to Lyme and tick-borne diseases.

Health Informatics: Practical Guide focuses on the application of information technology in healthcare to improve individual and population health, education and research. The goal of the seventh edition is to stimulate and educate healthcare and IT professionals and students about the key topics in this rapidly changing field. Dr. William Hersh from Oregon Health & Science University is the co-editor and author of multiple chapters. Topics include Health Informatics (HI) overview, electronic health records, healthcare data analytics, health information exchange, architecture of information systems, evidence-based medicine, consumer health informatics, HI ethics, quality improvement strategies and more. The 22 chapters feature learning objectives, case studies, recommended reading, future trends, key points, conclusions and over 1800 references. It is available as a paperback and an eBook. Visit the textbook companion website at http://informaticseducation.org/ for more information.

For sponsors and CROs, patient recruitment has become a moving target. Recruitment tactics are shifting from the use of traditional, centralized advertising to digital and online media. Outreach strategies have become more targeted and companies are moving toward leveraging networks of electronic medical records (EMRs) and other data to support more effective recruitment for clinical trials.

By using and integrating ResearchKit and ResearchDroid, Appbakery is capable of creating powerful and native iOS and Android apps. According to the company’s website, the product features HealthKit support, GoogleFit support, sensor support, and a data storage solution compliant with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, as well as simple surveys and prebuilt consent modules. A monthly fee is charged for this commercial solution.

When Apple announced ResearchKit in March 2015, and unveiled the first five apps to test-drive the company’s new approach to clinical research, the announcement made a big splash. And indeed, in the weeks following, those apps posted incredible recruitment figures: for instance, Parkinson’s emPower study saw 5,500 sign-ups by day two and ended up with more than 18,000 participants.