MScA 2020 Hackathon Questions

Here are five guiding questions for your hackathon project. We suggest that your project addresses at least one of these topics. Our suggested data sources are listed below the questions.

1) Epidemiology

Students that choose to tackle this problem should aim to explore COVID-19’s impact across demographic and clinical characteristics. Students should identify specific insights that may offer guidance to develop an effective recommendation to policymakers.

2) Disparities & Outcomes

Students choosing to tackle this question should aim to explore COVID-19’s impact on clinical care and the magnitude of disparities of outcomes across a population, including social determinants, income, education etc.

3) Clinical Trial Selection

Students choosing to tackle this question will identify specific characteristics of patients within a population cohort that may be the best candidates of a COVID-19 clinical trial.

The goal is finding eligible patients from our data based on the following criteria by using novel natural language processing approach. Teams must use the provided clinical trials selection data.

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Must have tested positive for COVID-19.
  • Males, between 35 and 75 years of age, at the time of informed consent.
  • Body mass index (BMI) ≤ 35.0 kg/m2
  • Must have given written informed consent
  • No known allergies to drugs

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Known history or positive test for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), hepatitis C, or chronic hepatitis B
  • Significant hepatic disease (ALT/AST> 4 times the ULN)
  • Use of opioids

4) Financial Impact

Students that choose to tackle this problem should understand the financial and economic impact brought on by COVID-19. Students should research the impact of fiscal and political interventions on the short- and long-term.

5) Policy Impact on Mobility

Students who choose to tackle this problem should aim to understand how responses by state and federal policy has impacted mobility. The usage of workplace, facilities, transportation, and other public and private institutions are several trends that can be explored.

Data Sources

Here are the suggested data sources for the hackathon questions.