TrialX Wins NCI’s Developer Challenge for Cancer App

Health IT Startup TrialX Wins NCI’s Developer Challenge for Cancer App

TrialX, an NYC based health IT company was declared a winner of a developer challenge organized by the National Cancer Institute for its application, Ask Dory. Ask Dory helps cancer patients find and connect with clinical trials near them effortlessly.

New York, NY, January 25, 2012 --(PR.com)-- Applied Informatics (TrialX), a New York based Healthcare Information Technology (HIT) startup was adjudged as a winner of the developer challenge on "Using Public Data for Cancer Prevention" sponsored by the National Cancer Institute. The challenge was organized by the Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) of HIT and managed by Health2.0 (see official HHS press release, http://1.usa.gov/AskDory). TrialX won the competition for its innovative application, "Ask Dory" that enables health consumers to find clinical trials near them and connect with trial investigators. The application was presented last week at the Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences 2012 in Maui, Hawaii.

"Ask Dory" uses an intelligent entropy based decision tree algorithm to narrow down the possible matches by leading patients through a step-by-step question answering system. “It is designed to be intuitive and easy for patients to use, unlike many other systems that require patients to fill long forms," explained Dr. Chintan Patel, the lead developer of the application.



Dory not only provides patients with intelligent matches, but it also enables them to talk to research sites in real-time using a "live call" button. When used, Dory automatically dials and connects both the site and patient in the same telephonic conversation. Patients can also choose to contact the site through a 1-click email feature. Both connection modalities make Dory unique in its capability to connect patients to research investigators.

A live prototype of the solution can be viewed at this link http://dory.trialx.com. The company will be launching Ask Dory on its clinical trials search platform, TrialX.com that receives close to a million visitors every month. The company will next launch Ask Dory on the clinical trial web portals of its enterprise clients including the Cleveland Clinic, Beth Israel Medical Center/Harvard medical School and the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation.

About Applied Informatics/TrialX
Applied Informatics (TrialX) is a Health IT startup based in New York City that develops solutions to create awareness and facilitate participation in clinical trials. Its flagship award winning platform, TrialX.com facilitates consumer participation in clinical trials by providing them with easy-to-use tools to find clinical trials and connect with the research sites. Since launching in 2008, TrialX has connected more than 15,000 patients to clinical trials and runs a popular clinical trial awareness blog, Cure Talk receiving a million unique visitors per month. TrialX’s enterprise solution, iConnect is used by leading academic medical centers in the country including the Cleveland Clinic, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, the NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital and non-profit disease advocacy groups such as the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation.

About the NCI/ONC Challenge
With the support of the National Cancer Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health, ONC launched the “Using Public Data for Cancer Prevention and Control: From Innovation to Impact” challenge this summer in support of ONC’s Investing in Innovation (i2) program. The i2 program utilizes prizes and challenges to facilitate innovation and obtain solutions to intractable health IT problems. Aligned with the Obama administration’s innovation agenda, i2 is the first federal program to operate under the authority of the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act.