New England Journal of Medicine seeks participants for a SPRINT data analysis contest
Editors from the New England Journal of Medicine are seeking researchers, data analysts and patients to participate in the journal’s SPRINT data analysis challenge.
They are looking for anyone interested in analyzing data presented in the SPRINT (Systolic Blood Pressure Intervention Trial) study and identifying a novel scientific or clinical finding, according to the contest’s rules.
Results of the SPRINT study were published in the New England Journal of Medicine in November 2015 and simultaneously presented at the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions.
The study found that adults who had a systolic blood pressure target of 120 mm Hg had a 25 percent lower relative risk of the primary composite outcome of MI, other acute coronary syndromes, stroke, heart failure or death from cardiovascular causes compared with the standard treatment group. The trial enrolled adults who were at least 50 years old, had an increased risk of cardiovascular events and did not have diabetes.
The editors said that the dataset from the publication would be made available on Nov. 1. People interested in the challenge can register with the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and apply for the data until then.
Participants can register with the NHLBI and apply for the data beginning on September 15, 2016, and should allow sufficient time to complete data use agreements and other needed administrative tasks.
The editors said the winning entries “will be those that provide the most clinically useful or novel information either from the SPRINT data alone, or the SPRINT data and any other publicly available dataset.”
They will award $5,000 for first place, $2,500 for second place and $1,000 for third place. Winners will be notified by March 1, 2017, and be invited to present their findings at the Aligning Incentives for Sharing Clinical Trial Data summit on April 3–4, 2017.
Executive Editor
Tim Casey joined TriMed Media Group in 2015 as Executive Editor. For the previous four years, he worked as an editor and writer for HMP Communications, primarily focused on covering managed care issues and reporting from medical and health care conferences. He was also a staff reporter at the Sacramento Bee for more than four years covering professional, college and high school sports. He earned his undergraduate degree in psychology from the University of Notre Dame and his MBA degree from Georgetown University.