The goal of the PREPARE Challenge (Pioneering Research for Early Prediction of Alzheimer's and Related Dementias EUREKA Challenge) is to inform novel approaches to early detection that might ultimately lead to more accurate tests, tools, and methodologies for clinical and research purposes. Advances in artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and computing ecosystems increase possibilities of intelligent data collection and analysis, including better algorithms and methods that could be leveraged for the prediction of biological, psychological (cognitive), socio-behavioral, functional, and clinical changes related to AD/ADRD.
To make progress, the challenge aims to address the need for:
- Data from a wider set of sources and types, including data relevant to low-resourced, underserved communities disproportionately impacted by AD/ADRD to better understand and address biases in existing data sources;
- Open, shareable data, stored in trusted repositories to determine “distributional robustness” of predictive algorithms; and
- Algorithms that meet "right to explanation" mandates (i.e., if an AI algorithm impacts people, people have a right to an explanation of how AI conclusions were reached).
The goal of this challenge is to spur and reward the development of solutions for accurate, innovative, and representative early prediction of AD/ADRD. To achieve this goal, the challenge will feature three phases that successively build on each other.
This first phase, Find IT!: Data for Early Prediction, is focused on finding, curating, or contributing data to create representative and open datasets that can be used for the early prediction of AD/ADRD.
Executive summary drafts due: Jan. 17, 2024
To be eligible to win a prize under this challenge, participants:
- must be 18 years of age or older at the time of submission
- must be citizens or permanent residents of the United States (in the case of a Team, the Team must identify a Team Captain who is a citizen or permanent resident of the United States; in the case of an Entity, the Entity shall be incorporated in and maintain a primary place of business in the US)
- must not be a federal entity or federal employee acting within the scope of their employment
- must not be an employee of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS, or any other component of HHS) acting in their personal capacity
- if employed by a federal agency or entity other than HHS (or any component of HHS), should consult with an agency ethics official to determine prize eligibility
The total prize purse for Phase 1 is $200,000. A pool of $150,000 will reward the strongest submissions of representative, inclusive, open, and shareable datasets that can be used for a data science competition focused on the early prediction of AD/ADRD. A bonus prize of $25,000 may be awarded to the submission that best addresses populations disproportionately impacted by AD/ADRD. Solvers may also compete for one of five $5,000 prizes by submiting an idea for new data collection aligned with challenge aims.