Global Cardiovascular Research Funders Forum Data Challenge

Eligibility

WHO CAN APPLY

• Researchers from academic institutions. If you are participating as a team with other people, please identify a lead investigator who will submit one proposal for the entire team.
  • Must be able to code using Python, R, or SAS. Please review the workspace tools available on the Precision Medicine Platform for more information
• Diversity of perspectives and experiences is crucial to our success, the agency encourages all to apply.

Summary

The Global Cardiovascular Research Funders Forum (GCRFF) invites scientific researchers to compete in a data challenge to better understand how to improve acceleration of science through funding. The winning project is eligible to receive a $20,000 USD cash prize.

The GCRFF is a coalition of major international cardiovascular research funders whose aim is to improve cardiovascular health worldwide by catalyzing, supporting, and promoting transformational international research efforts in heart, stroke, and circulatory diseases. The GCRFF works to identify research gaps, coordinate multinational clinical trials, share data, and oversee the international research funding portfolio.

Participants will use grant funding data provided by GCRFF member organizations, and have the option to bring their own data, to conduct analyses using the American Heart Association’s Precision Medicine Platform. The Precision Medicine Platform is a cloud-based system that allows researchers to collaborate and analyze datasets from any computer in the world using a secure environment and the power of machine learning.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

Participants will be asked to test different AI/ML models to assess which funded applications are most successful, which could be measured by acquiring additional funding, meeting stated objectives, opening new research directions, or providing impact on human health.

How can the organizations that fund cardiovascular and stroke science most effectively fund research to drive discoveries and improve lives? The following are examples of topics and questions that can be asked of the funding data.

• Identify the current gaps in research funding for cardiovascular and stroke science.
• Identify the top funded topics and the return on the investment.
  • Could use publication number, impact factor of journal, etc.
  • Publications could be linked to grants through the acknowledgement section where the grant ID and title is usually listed.
• Build a prediction model for which funded applications are most successful (i.e. publication record of grantee, area of research)
• Current models of “success” used in academia and non-profits include number of publications, impact of the journal, number of citations.
  • Are there additional variables that best predict success? (changes to guidelines, patents, procedures in healthcare, etc.)
• Build an interactive visualization map of GCRFF funding at the institutional level – including # of grants, keywords, amount funded, etc.
• Analyze proportion of funding vs. burden of disease to determine if certain areas are underfunded.

*Participants may use data provided from GCRFF member organizations, and /or bring their own data. More information on data sources here: https://precision.heart.org/gcrffdatachallenge

HOW TO PARTICIPATE

1. Submit your research proposal here by September 30, 2024
2. All proposals will be reviewed, and registrants will be informed of the review decision by October 21, 2024.
   1. If approved, you will receive an email with a link to execute the agency's standard Non-Disclosure & Data Use Agreement which will allow you to gain access to the data on the Precision Medicine Platform. Upon electronic execution of the agreement, you will receive instructions for requesting the dataset and a workspace on the Precision Medicine Platform.
   2. Each challenge participant/team will be provided with a workspace on the AHA’s Precision Medicine Platform at no cost to conduct all analyses. Use of the workspace is mandatory for participation in the challenge.
3. Those registrants invited to the challenge must submit their research analysis by February 21, 2025 5 pm CT. Finalists will be notified by April 7, 2025.

Application deadlines

Program application deadline