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New data re-use prizes help unlock the value of research

The winners of our Wellcome Data Re-use Prizes have generated new insights in antimicrobial resistance and malaria research.

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The winning entries offer insights that could lead to vital health benefits.
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3-minute read
3-minute read

We launched the Wellcome Data Re-use Prizes in November 2018 to reward new insights and tools that help other researchers to re-use data. 

The two prizes are based on topics of importance to Wellcome – antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and malaria. Entrants were asked to generate a new insight, tool or health application from data available in selected open data resources.

The winner of each prize will get £15,000, runners-up will get £5,000. 

Winners of this year's prizes

AMR surveillance

Antimicrobial resistance is one of the major public health concerns of this century. Entrants focused on the AMR Register, an open data resource launched by Wellcome’s Drug-resistant Infections programme and led by the Open Data Institute. The register has collected information from AMR surveillance programmes generated by the pharmaceutical industry.

The winning entry is Antibiotic Resistance: Interdisciplinary Action (AR:IA). The team developed an interactive web app that lets users quickly visualise resistance rates to antibiotics for common infections and countries of interest. The data on the platform will help doctors to prescribe more appropriately in the face of local drug-resistance.

The winner and runners up were announced at the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases. 

See all the entries in this category.

Malaria

The World Health Organization (WHO) considers nearly half the world’s population is at risk from malaria. In 2016 there were an estimated 216 million new cases and 445,000 deaths, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa.

Entrants focused on the Malaria Atlas Project, a Repository of Open Access Data (ROAD-MAP), launched with support from a Wellcome Biomedical Resources grant, and then funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

The repository contains a wealth of data on malaria risk and intervention coverage – all of which is free to be accessed, re-analysed and re-used by anyone.

The winning entry is Rethinking the Causal Relationship between Malaria and Anaemia for African Children. The team’s findings suggest anaemia is not enough to help us fully understand malaria prevalence in communities. They applied a novel approach to analysing the available data and their method could be used to help identify other factors at play.

The winners and runners up will be attending the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Malaria Centre’s ‘Eliminating Malaria: evidence, impact, and policy’ event.

See all the entries in this category.

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