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Bonnie J. Addario Lung Cancer Foundation

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Clinical Trials Innovation Prize

Producing a breakthrough that doubles the accrual rate of clinical trials in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer.

This challenge is closed

stage:
Won
prize:
$75,000

This challenge is closed

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Summary

Overview

In honor of the 2015 World Cancer Day, on February 4, the Bonnie J. Addario Lung Cancer Foundation and Free To Breathe are collaboratively launching a unique crowdsourcing challenge, the Clinical Trial Innovation Prize.

The Clinical Trial Innovation Prize is a unique two-part challenge that will award $75,000 USD to identify innovative ways to increase the number of patients participating in cancer clinical trials.

  • Ideation Challenge: Send in creative and novel ideas on how to double the accrual rate of cancer clinical trials, and win prizes totaling $30,000 USD. Register now, and submit your innovative ideas!

  • Implementation/ Proof of Concept Challenge: Win prizes totaling $45,000 USD when you provide proof that your ideas have indeed resulted in an increase in participation in cancer clinical trials. The Implementation Challenge will go live in early February 2016. Competitors are not required to participate in the Ideation Challenge to enter the Implementation Challenge, however, we highly encourage you to do so!

 

The Problem

Cancer is one of the leading causes of death worldwide, with the number of new cases expected to rise by approximately 70% over the next two decades.

We need better ways to prevent, detect, screen and treat cancer patients, and we need them now!

The most reliable and the only accepted scientific method to take discoveries from the lab bench to the bedside is testing the safety and efficacy of these new interventions in clinical trials -- research studies that test new methods of prevention, detection, screening and treatment of cancer.

The U.S. National Institutes of Health database currently lists over 45,000 cancer-related clinical trials worldwide.

Unfortunately, more than 20% of these trials will never complete, for reasons unrelated to the effectiveness of the intervention that's being tested! That is a huge drain on the already very limited research $$ and resources, will delay clinical research and getting useful diagnostics and treatments to cancer patients.

 

The most common reason for 20% of all clinical trials never finishing is poor patient accrual (the process of recruiting patients to the trial for participation), i.e. not enough patients volunteered to join the clinical trial.

On average, less than 3% of all cancer patients participate in clinical trials!

Participation is even lower among particular groups, including people who are racial and ethnic minorities, over 65, lower income, and living in rural areas. As an example, ~53% of new cancer diagnoses are in people 65 or older, however, this age demographic accounts for a measly 33% of clinical trial participants

Some of the most common reasons for poor patient accrual to cancer clinical trials include:

  • a lack of community support,
  • patient awareness- As an example of the steep hill that we need to climb, 85% of cancer patients aren't even aware that their treatment facility conducts clinical trials in which they might be eligible to participate.
  • Physician awareness,
  • stigmas and misconceptions,
  • fear of financial or time burden, and
  • procedural inefficiencies (such as complexities in enrolling in the trial itself, the informed consent process,), among numerous others.


Why an Innovation Prize?

We know that amazing ideas can come from anywhere. Despite 50 years of trying, members of the medical community have been unable to develop transformational solutions to these intractable problems.

So, we are trying something different! We want you to help us find cool ways to double the accrual rate of cancer clinical trials!

We believe an Innovation Prize could have a profound impact on improving cancer care, too. Help us make it happen!

 

The Challenge Breakthrough

The Clinical Trial Innovation Prize is looking for innovative means to double the number of cancer patients participating in clinical trials, increasing the accrual rate for cancer clinical trials from 1-3% to 3-6%.

Increased participation in clinical trials will hopefully accelerate the pace of research and drug development allowing patients to live longer and better lives.

 

Prizes

The Clinical Trial Innovation Prize will award $75,000 USD in total prizes.

The Judging Panel will select the first and second prize winners for the Ideation Challenge. Our judges will also select a group of finalists to be eligible for the People's Choice Award, the winner of which will be selected by a public vote.

The finalist receiving the most votes will be awarded the People's Choice Award. A competitor is eligible to win both a Judges' Award and the People's Choice Award. All votes will be monitored and any indication of impropriety will result in disqualification from the challenge.

Ideation Challenge Winners:

  • First Prize: $20,000
  • Second Prize: $5,000
  • People's Choice Award: $5,000

Implementation Challenge Winner: $45,000

 

Timeline

Date Challenge Phase
February 4, 2015

Challenge launches

Registration opens

May 6, 2015 Original Deadline for submissions (No longer applicable)
May 18, 2015 NEW DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS (9pm EDT). Deadline extended!!
July 10, 2015 Judging Panel Reviews complete
July 16, 2015 Top Finalists announced for voting
August 3, 2015 Voting closes
August 10 2015 Ideation Challenge Winners announced
February 2016 Implementation Challenge Launches

 

Submission

All Ideation Challenge submissions will be made public upon submission to allow for an exchange of ideas, as well as allowing innovators to fine-tune their submissions based on feedback they get from the crowd.

You can make changes to your entry until the final submission deadline on May 18, 2015, 9pm ET. No changes can be made to submissions after this time. 

What to Create for the Ideation Challenge?

Fill out the submission form with a catchy title, a brief 140 character description, an image that illustrates your submission or amplifies your message, and a 2 page description as detailed on the submission page addressing specific questions below around the challenge (space limitations are included in the submission form). The 2 page description should be no less than 11pt font with 1 in margins.

Barriers

  • What barriers are you addressing?
  • Why do these barriers exist?
  • Why are you addressing these barriers?
  • How/why do the barriers prevent cancer patients from participating in clinical trials?
  • Cite 3 sources of information that illustrate/describe the problem.

Proposed Solution

What is your proposed solution to addressing the barriers?

  • Description
  • How will you do it?
  • How does it work?
  • What does it look like?
  • How will you implement it?
  • Where will you implement?
  • Who will be involved (stakeholders)?
  • How much will it cost to create the solution (an estimation)?
  • How much will it cost to implement the solution (an estimation)?
  • How many people will be impacted?
  • How long will it take to create the proposed solution?
  • Why will it work? Why is it viable?

Potential Obstacle(s)

  • What are potential obstacles to your solution?
  • How will you work around these roadblocks?

Potential Impact

  • What % increase in accrual rates do you anticipate?
  • Why?
  • How will you prove it?
  • How long will it take to achieve this increase with your solution?

Sustainability of Solution

  • How do you anticipate maintaining the % increase in accrual rates over time?

Regulatory Hurdles

  • How will you overcome legal/regulatory hurdles, if any?

Proposed Innovation

  • Why hasn’t your proposed solution been tried before?
  • If it has, what prevented it from succeeding?

 

Judging Panel

The Judging Panel comprises of thought leaders in the business, academic and non profit worlds. Judges will evaluate all submissions on compliance with the rules and guidelines of the Prize, and will have the sole and absolute discretion to select the winners. The Judging Panel’s decisions are final, binding and are not subject to challenge.

All Judges will be required to sign and adhere to non-disclosure agreements as required and statements acknowledging that they make no claim to the Intellectual Property developed by teams. 

 

Judging Criteria

All submissions will be evaluated on the following weighted criteria:

Criteria Score
Solution Design 20 points
Innovation of Solution 20 points
Viability of Solution 20 points

Potential of sustainability and

scalability of solution

15 points
Implementation Plan 10 points
Problem analysis and scope of solution 10 points
Cost 5 points

 

TOTAL: 100 points

 

Challenge Details

Rules

Challenge rules are subject to change. All registered teams and individuals will be informed of any rule changes and any changes will be posted on the Challenge page.

Submissions

All Ideation Challenge submissions will be made public upon submission to allow for an exchange of ideas, as well as allowing innovators to fine-tune their submissions based on feedback they get from the crowd.

You can make changes to your entry until the final submission deadline on May 18, 2015, 9pm ET. No changes can be made to submissions after this time

Your challenge submission remains your own. By participating in this challenge, each competitor agrees to submit only their own idea. Any indication of "copying" another competitors' idea is grounds for disqualification from the challenge. 

People's Choice Award selected by a Public Vote

The Judging Panel will select a group of finalists to be eligible for the People's Choice Award. The finalist receiving the most votes will be awarded the People's Choice Award. A competitor is eligible to win both a Judges' Award and the People's Choice Award. All votes will be monitored and any indication of impropriety will result in disqualification from the challenge.

 

Contact Us: 

Have questions? Send us an email at clinicaltrialprize@lungcancerfoundation.org, and we'll get back to you rightaway! 


Guidelines

Barriers

  • What barriers are you addressing?
  • Why do these barriers exist?
  • Why are you addressing these barriers?
  • How/why do the barriers prevent cancer patients from participating in clinical trials?
  • Cite 3 sources of information that illustrate/describe the problem.

Proposed Solution

What is your proposed solution to addressing the barriers?

  • Description
  • How will you do it?
  • How does it work?
  • What does it look like?
  • How will you implement it?
  • Where will you implement?
  • Who will be involved (stakeholders)?
  • How much will it cost to create the solution (an estimation)?
  • How much will it cost to implement the solution (an estimation)?
  • How many people will be impacted?
  • How long will it take to create the proposed solution?
  • Why will it work? Why is it viable?

Potential Obstacle(s)

  • What are potential obstacles to your solution?
  • How will you work around these roadblocks?

Potential Impact

  • What % increase in accrual rates do you anticipate?
  • Why?
  • How will you prove it?
  • How long will it take to achieve this increase with your solution?
  • Sustainability of Solution
  • How do you anticipate maintaining the % increase in accrual rates over time?

Regulatory Hurdles

  • How will you overcome legal/regulatory hurdles, if any?

Proposed Innovation

  • Why hasn’t your proposed solution been tried before?
  • If it has, what prevented it from succeeding?

 

Timeline
Updates14

Challenge Updates

Announcing the Winners of the Ideation Phase! Something for EVERYONE!

Aug. 11, 2015, 3:01 p.m. PDT by Addario Lung Cancer Foundation

Dear Innovators, 

Thank you all for submitting your ideas to increase patient accrual to oncology clinical trials. The results are in! Though it was very difficult for us to choose the top 2 ideas, given the quality of all the submissions, we have finally selected the winners of the 1st and 2nd prizes of the Ideation phase of the Clinical Trial Innovation Prize.

Please join us in congratulating the winners of the both the 1st and 2nd prizes, as well as the People's Choice Award.

The FIRST PRIZE has been awarded to Team Helynx for their submission “Match Point: Matching Patients and Trials Via EHR”. Team Helynx is a start-up out of Caltech, UCLA and Harvard, and Dr. Jae Kim, a cardiothoracic surgeon at City of Hope. The trio has teamed up to create a unique system for automatically matching patients to the clinical trials for which they qualify using machine learning techniques to read patients’ Electronic Health Records (EHRs) to determine eligibility. This program will be piloted at the 13 community centers affiliated to City of Hope in southern California. The winning entry received $20,000 USD.

 

The SECOND PRIZE goes to Drs. Matt Gerber and Deanna Teoh of the Gynecologic Oncology Department at the University of Minneapolis for their submission Fast, Fun & Friendly: Build Trust Before Research” that  proposes to create an individualized Welcome App for each patient that presents at their clinic using video content that details the arc of care a patient will receive as well a clear and succinct message about clinical research and its benefits, dispelling myths that effective treatments will be withheld during the clinical trial. Gerber and Teoh’s idea won their team $5,000 USD.

 

The PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARD was won by Noah Craft and the Science37 team for their entry Meet NORA (Network Oriented Research Assistant)” that garnered the most votes during the Public Voting round. Craft is the co-founder and CEO for Science 37, a startup working to help patients take part in clinical research from the comfort of their own homes, using the concepts of telemedicine and a networked clinical trial platform, one in which investigators, coordinators and administrators are geographically dispersed and the trial is decentralized. This submission won $5,000 USD.

Many congratulations to the winning teams! 

 

Those of you who didn't win a cash prize, don't lose heart! The organizers, Bonnie J. Addario Lung Cancer Foundation and Free to Breathe will be working with ALL APPLICANTS to provide you guidance and resources to implement your ideas. We received some very innovative ideas that have potential in tipping the needle in oncology clinical trial recruitment, and we look forward to working with all of you to develop your ideas further by seeding collaborations with industry, academia and other partners. Please feel free to reach out to us for any help and guidance you might need to take your ideas further. We will be more than happy to help, in any way that we can!

 

Also, the second phase of the Clinical Trial Innovation Prize, the Implementation/Proof of Concept Challenge launches next week, on August 17, 2015 and is open to you all, as well as any team or individual that didn’t participate in phase one. One project will win $45,000 USD upon proving that the idea resulted in an increase in participation in cancer clinical trials. So, put your thinking caps on! The details of the Implementation Phase will be announced on this website on the 17th. Stay tuned!

 

For further questions about the Ideation phase or to get in touch with us for help in developing your ideas, please feel free to reach us at .

 

Onward,

Guneet Walia, PhD

Director, Research and Medical Affairs

Bonnie J. Addario Lung Cancer Foundation

San Carlos, CA 


Reviews are in, voting begins on Thurs, July 16th!

July 14, 2015, 3:30 p.m. PDT by Addario Lung Cancer Foundation

Dear Innovators,

The judges' reviews for the Ideation Phase of the Clinical Trial Innovation Prize are in! We had a tough time deciding the finalists, the competition was tough! 

We now have a list of finalists that will be announced on Thursday, July 16th on the CTIP website.

All of these finalists will be in the running for the People's Choice Award, that will be decided by the maximum number of votes a finalist gets in the Public Voting process.

Stay tuned to find out if your submission made the cut! 

Public voting will be open for 2 weeks: July 16- August 3, 2015 

All three winners  (1st Prize, 2nd Prize and People's Choice Award) will be announced on August 10, 2015. 

Best of luck to you all,

Guneet Walia

On behalf of the organizers, Bonnie J. Addario Lung Cancer Foundation (ALCF) and Free to Breathe (FtB)


Slight change in the Public Vote and Winner Announcement Timeline

June 9, 2015, 6:26 p.m. PDT by Addario Lung Cancer Foundation

Dear Innovator,

Thank you for registering for the Clinical Trial Innovation Prize. We received many promising solutions to the problem of poor patient accrual to cancer clinical trials, and have read each of these submissions with great interest! Our panel of 6 judges are currently reviewing all submissions, and boy, are they having a tough time choosing the most innovative solution! :)

To make the process slightly easier for them so that they can make well thought decisions, we have decided to extend the timeline a little bit. Below are the new dates for the next steps in the process.

  • Application Review Deadline: July 10, 2015
  • Top Finalists Announced for a Public Vote: July 16, 2015
  • Voting Closes: August 3, 2015
  • Ideation Challenge Winners Announced: August 10, 2015
  • Phase 2/ Implementation Challenge Launches: August 17, 2015

The judges will decide the top finalists by July 10, 2015 which will include the First and Second Prize winners, who will not be identified for the Public Voting process. We will list the top finalists' names and entries in alphabetical order on our website for the Public Voting process scheduled for July 16th. 

Between July 16th and August 3rd, all the top finalists will get an opportunity to publicize their entries to garner maximum votes to win the People's Choice Award worth $5000!! 

On August 10th, we will announce all 3 winners: First Prize, Second Prize and People's Choice Award.

Keep your fingers crossed and chalk up plans for publicizing your entries!

Best wishes,

Guneet Walia


Only 3 more days to go!!

May 15, 2015, 5:26 p.m. PDT by Addario Lung Cancer Foundation

Dear Innovators,

Only 3 more days before the submission deadline closes on Monday, May 18, 2015 at 9 PM US Eastern Time. 

Submit your winning entry to increase patient accrual to cancer clinical trials and help us solve this problem that plagues clinical research! 

Together, we can do it!

CTIP Team


Submission Deadline Extended till May 18, 2015!!!

May 5, 2015, 5:14 p.m. PDT by Addario Lung Cancer Foundation

Dear Innovators,

Based on the extensive interest from innovators all across the globe, the Bonnie J. Addario Lung Cancer Foundation and Free to Breathe have decided to extend the deadline for submissions from May 6, 2015 to Monday, May 18, 2015. 

Another 12 days to refine your entries and fine-tune submissions for those of you who've already submitted their entries, and some more time for those of you who are still working on your submissions to submit your best ideas! 

We can't wait to go over your innovative ideas to double patient accrual to clinical trials!

Together, we can do it!

Best wishes, 

CTIP Team


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