St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital has been recognized by Fast Company in two categories of the magazine’s World Changing Ideas Awards for 2019. For sharing several decades worth of genetic cancer data and a five-year collaboration with World Health Organization, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital was recognized by the magazine.
St. Jude Cloud, which shares several decades worth of genetic cancer data at no charge with other research organizations, is a finalist in the AI + Data category. Officially launched in April 2018, St. Jude Cloud is the world’s largest public repository of pediatric cancer genomics data. Developed through a collaboration with Microsoft and DNAnexus, St. Jude Cloud provides secure global sharing and collaborative analysis of huge, complex datasets to scientists around the world at no cost. Scientists are able to replicate analysis that previously took months to perform in one day, thanks to St. Jude Cloud.
The development of St. Jude Cloud was led by Keith Perry, St. Jude chief information officer and senior vice president and Jinghui Zhang, Ph.D., chair of the St. Jude Department of Computational Biology.
St. Jude Global, the partnership between St. Jude and World Health Organization has been selected as an honorable mention in the Health and Wellness category. In September 2018, St. Jude announced its five-year collaboration with the WHO that was aimed at transforming cancer care worldwide by curing 60 percent of children diagnosed with six of the most common forms of childhood cancer by the year 2030.
The collaboration will bring together stakeholders in childhood cancer around the world to increase and improve the quality of care for pediatric cancer patients, enhance the quality of care by developing national centers of excellence and regional satellites, and influence the integration of childhood cancer into national policies.
It is estimated that 300,000 children are diagnosed with cancer annually. Approximately 8 in 10 of those children live in low- and middle-income countries where cure rates are estimated at lower than 20 percent. Cure rates in higher-income countries typically exceed 80 percent. That divide is among the greatest disparities in health outcomes worldwide.
“Through St. Jude Cloud and St. Jude Global, our goal is to transform the international landscape of childhood cancer and other deadly diseases,” said James R. Downing, M.D., president and CEO of St. Jude. “It is an honor to have these efforts recognized. We will continue to increase the amount of data available on St. Jude Cloud, as well as expand collaborations through St. Jude Global to accelerate progress for children everywhere.”
Winners of the 2019 World Changing Ideas were announced Monday, April 8. Winners, finalists and honorable mentions can be found at https://www.fastcompany.com/90329244/world-changing-ideas-2019-all-the-winners-finalists-and-honorable-mentions.
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital is leading the way the world understands, treats and cures childhood cancer and other life-threatening diseases. It is the only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center devoted solely to children. Treatments developed at St. Jude have helped push the overall childhood cancer survival rate from 20% to 80% since the hospital opened more than 50 years ago. St. Jude shares the discoveries it makes, and every child saved at St. Jude means doctors and scientists worldwide can use that knowledge to save thousands more children. To learn more, visit stjude.org or follow St. Jude on social media at @stjuderesearch.