This fall, the Children's Tumor Foundation is launching Hack4NF, a global genomic data hackathon taking place from October 15-November 4, 2022. Researchers, data analysts, genomic experts, computational biologists, statisticians, health care startups and hackathon enthusiasts will be teaming up to ideate and develop viable solutions for medical advancements in NF and other rare genetic disorders.
This is the fourth CTF-hosted Hackathon; the first was held in 2019 over 3 days in San Francisco, followed in 2020 and 2021 with virtual, multi-week competitions which drew hundreds of participants across the globe.This year’s teams will utilize genomic data, computational analysis, genomic classification and tumor data analysis to help accelerate NF research.
“We are excited to offer teams the opportunity to hack genomic data to develop drug targets, predict NF variants and correctly classify NF tumors,” remarked Salvatore La Rosa, Chief Scientific Officer of the Children’s Tumor Foundation. “The ultimate goal is develop solutions that will have a direct impact on the acceleration of NF research.”
Teams will be provided access to research data sets, patient data, literature collections, cloud computing credits, and other resources to explore. Mentors from multiple disciplines, including researchers, clinicians, and patients, will be available to all participants throughout the event. Up to $25K in cash prizes will be awarded.
Adam Goodkind, a 2021 Hackathon participant and a patient living with neurofibromatosis type 2, said, “As an NF patient, taking part in the hackathon and working on a treatment solution was really enjoyable and gave me a feeling of empowerment over my NF. With a disease like NF, so much is out of my hands, but it feels great to be able to take an active role to improve my condition and the lives of people with NF.” About the other project presentations, he added, “It was genuinely inspiring to see all of the different approaches other competitors are taking to tackle NF. It makes me confident that the future of rare disease research is in good hands.”
Want to participate?
If you have a passion for computational biology, predictive AI, or genomics and want to make an impact in NF, we invite you to hack with us! Both hackathon enthusiasts and hackathon newbies are welcome.
See the challenges, learn more, and register at hack4nf.org.
Join us for the Kickoff!
On Saturday, October 15th at 1pm ET, #Hack4NF will officially begin with the Kickoff Event, hosted by CTF. Free In-Person Kickoff events will take place simultaneously in New York City and Seattle, and livestream to a virtual audience on Zoom. All are welcome to attend! Learn more about the challenges and data sources available as well as hear from teams about their project ideas.
To join us in-person or virtually, please RSVP to Angela Dumadag at adumadag@ctf.org no later than October 11th to secure your spot.
The Hack4NF is hosted by the Children’s Tumor Foundation and sponsored by Alexion AstraZeneca Rare Disease, Recursion, SpringWorks Therapeutics, and NTAP (Neurofibromatosis Therapeutics Acceleration Program at Johns Hopkins). The event is also supported by its data partners, Sage Bionetworks, the American Heart Association’s Precision Medicine Platform, and the American Association for Cancer Research Project Genie. To learn more and/or participate, please visit hack4nf.org.
