Thank you again to everyone who took the time to submit their ideas to the DNA Diversity Challenge, presented by Regeneron and Base11. The judging panel has reviewed the submissions and after deliberation have selected the following winners for the prizes:

Influencer Challenge – Prompt 1:

  • 1st Place:
    • Chanda Lowrance - A TikTok Campaign that Encourages Black Genomics.
      • This submission suggests using TikTok to post a short, 5 second clip about why they participate in genomics research, as well as motivating users to change their profile picture to encourage Black people to participate in genomic research.
  • 2nd Place:
    • CuriosityScience - The Trip of Tomorrow
      • This submission uses an illustrated real-world example to provide simple explanations to reasons why someone would be hesitant to participate in genomics research.

Collaboration Challenge – Prompt 2:

  • 1st Place:
    • Areahna O'Rea - Transforming Lives: It's In My DNA
      • This submission suggests placing pop-ups at Civil Rights Trail historical sites to educate individuals about genomics research and encouraging them to sign up for future research events, and/or collect samples at the sites themselves.
  • 2nd Place:
    • Janae McCloud - HBCU Partnership and African American Genomics
      • This submission details how connecting HBCU student health programs with Field of Study Curriculums will educate students outside of science majors as well as increase trust in genomics research.
  • 3rd Place:
    • Smrithi Chakravarthy - DNA Diversity: A Collaborative Focus Group Model
      • This submission details how partnering with representative, community-based focus groups across U.S. cities can build trust in genomics research.
    • Britnee Johnston - Promotional Recruitment Campaign of ResearchMatch
      • This submission recommends developing a partnership with NIH-sponsored platform, ResearchMatch, and creating a promotional campaign to recruit Black Americans to join the platform as volunteer research participants.
    • Gary Kawakami - The Roots Project
      • This submission proposes a program to partner with the African American community to accumulate an inventory of genomic data that will be useful in continuing research and development of genetics research, while providing each participant with their genetic heritage – their own individual version of “Roots”.

The ideas and proposals presented by the winners will help shape the ways Regeneron and collaborators from across the healthcare, academic and nonprofit sectors combine their unique strengths to support increased participation of Black Americans in genomics research.

If you wish to learn more about the winners and their solutions, be sure to join the 2022 Next Frontier Conference & Expo: Future in Focus, hosted by Base 11 on November 9 and 10. You can register for it here.

In the meantime, join us in congratulating the winners by leaving a message in the comments section below.