Harnessing Data for the Cancer Moonshot

When Vice President Joe Biden speaks at Health Datapalooza on May 9, it will be an exciting reminder of all of the possibilities that health care data holds in seeking cures for cancer and improving health outcomes for patients around the world. As head of the “cancer moonshot” effort, Vice President Biden has an opportunity to bring together researchers and datasets in a unique and extensive way.

Already, there are many databases in use by researchers seeking to mine big data for answers to our most pressing health questions, especially on cancer. There’s the Project Data Sphere® initiative led by the CEO Roundtable on Cancer, which is intended to spark innovation among the cancer community by “generating new insights and opening new research possibilities.” There’s IBM’s Watson Health, which is using real-time data to glean medical insights into patient health. And there are efforts underway at several leading university medical centers to dig into big data to better understand why some patients respond to certain cancer treatments and why other patients do not.

The challenge, of course, will be in figuring out to best harness the information from these types of disparate data sources, as well as ensuring the viability and reliability of the data and maintaining protection of patient privacy. It is not an impossible task, but it will take time, extensive dialogue and strategic coordination among many stakeholders.

An important component for the “moonshot’s” success will be the involvement of a wide variety of stakeholders, from the life sciences, government, provider and academic communities. Just as no one expected a 10-year-old from Finland to discover a bug in Facebook’s software, we can’t underestimate the determination of researchers with diverse backgrounds who are trying to solve complex problems.

The cancer moonshot is still in its infancy, but we’re looking forward to learning more from the Vice President about his vision for the program at Health Datapalooza.