A few years ago I wrote about a platform that was the winner of the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) Challenge.
The PCORI Challenge was a $40,000 competition to find novel approaches to connecting researchers with interested patients, and the platform, known as WellSpringboard, aimed to allow patients to record a video message proposing potential avenues for medical research.
From that early success, the team tested the platform thoroughly and applied those lessons to make it more robust before its public launch earlier this year.
Crowdsourcing medical research
The site is focusing attention initially in five core areas:
- children’s heart disease
- children’s cancer
- sleep problems
- diabetes in adults
- inflammatory bowel disease
“We know that the general public, and especially patients and their families, can be a great source of inspiration and support for our researchers,” the team say. “This platform provides a new, exciting way to make that happen.”
The platform has already received several videos from patients looking for research in particular areas, but the hope is clearly for this to grow considerably from here.
How to use the site
The team provide 9 simple steps whereby support can be mustered:
- Submit an idea to the site, together with a video explaining why the research is important
- Gain votes for the idea
- Find a connection with researchers in particular topics to elicit support for the idea
- Researchers then show support for an idea with their own video explaining what would happen if they get funding
- The crowd then offer financial support for the idea
- The idea has 30 days to reach its funding goal
- If the goal is reached, the researcher receives the funding to then go and work on the project
- Update supporters as the project progresses
- Donations for projects that don’t meet their funding goal can be used to support other projects
“We hope that the innovative combination of crowdsourcing research ideas, and crowdfunding the ones that researchers agree to study, will prove successful and be a model for other academic medical centers and research institutes,” the team say.
It’s certainly an interesting approach, and whilst the platform has been a long time in gestation, it’s one that will be fascinating to track.
