NCATS DRDRI BRANCH CHALLENGE INITIAL OBLIGATION

Investigators

Abstract

The Oligonucleotide Toxicity (OligoTox) Open Data Challenge is a two-phase prize competition that has the goal of creating publicly accessible, high-quality datasets from in vitro human-based systems that can lead to development of improved in silico models for predicting toxicity of an oligo based on its sequence, chemical modifications, etc. The first phase (Ideation Phase) will focus on ideation by proposing data from in vitro human-based systems that can be collected and used in predicting the toxicity of a candidate oligo therapeutic. This in vitro human-based data may be supplemented by data from in vitro and in vivo animal models to improve predictive parameters and inferences. The second Data Generation Phase will incentivize the collection, generation, and contribution of this data in creating a high-quality open dataset that can be released for public access for use in training and improving predictive models of oligo toxicity. Both phases require following proper data management practices (e.g., as noted on this NIH Scientific Data Sharing webpage) as transparency and reproducibility will be critical factors for successful dissemination of these datasets for use by the broader scientific community.