PREPARE Challenge - Phase 2: Model Arena (Acoustic Track)

Advance algorithms and analytic approaches for early prediction of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias based on voice recordings, with an emphasis on explainability of predictions. [Model Arena - Acoustic Track]

$130,000 in prizes
Completed dec 2024
401 joined

Overview

Alzheimer's disease and Alzheimer's disease related dementias (AD/ADRD) are a set of brain disorders affecting more than 6 million Americans. Early intervention is crucial for successful disease modification, but detecting early signs of cognitive decline and AD/ADRD remains challenging. Current clinical methods often lack the sensitivity needed for early prediction, especially in underrepresented groups.

The objective of this challenge track is to improve early prediction of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (AD/ADRD) using acoustic biomarkers from voice recordings. Through this initiative, the National Institute on Aging (NIA) aims to improve accuracy across diverse populations and explore understudied factors that may indicate early AD/ADRD.


Prizes

Submission Deadline:

Dec. 19, 2024, 11:59 p.m. UTC

Prize Amount
Overall Prizes $160,000
Special Recognition Prizes $50,000
Explainability Bonus Prizes $40,000
Community Code Bonus Prizes $10,000
Total $260,000

Tracks and Stages

Phase 2 will occur over two stages, each with its own arena:

  1. Model Arena (Oct 22 - Dec 19, 2024): Participants submit predictions in the Model Arena, and scores are displayed on the public leaderboard.
  2. Report Arena (Dec 20, 2024 - Jan 22, 2025): The top 15 leaderboard finalists from each Model Arena (Social Determinants Track + Acoustic Track) are invited to submit reports in the pre-screened Report Arena.

All prizes, with the exception of community code, will be awarded based on a combination of leaderboard score and model report. For more details on the competition arenas and timeline, please see the Problem Description.

In addition, Phase 2 has two data tracks. You are currently on the page for the Acoustic Track, focused on identifying acoustic biomarkers of AD/ADRD using voice data. You can find the Social Determinants Track here.

Breakdown

Place Amount
1st $40,000
2nd $25,000
3rd $15,000
Overall Prizes

Who is eligible? Top 15 finalists on the Model Arena leaderboard who submit a model report.

Prizes will be awarded to the top three submissions in this track, based on a combination of Model Arena leaderboard score and model report.

Number Awarded Amount
Up to 5 $10,000
Special Recognition Prizes

Who is eligible? Top 15 finalists on the Model Arena leaderboard who (1) submit a model report and (2) do not receive an Overall Prize.

Up to five Special Recognition prizes of $10,000 each will be awarded in total across both tracks to recognize excellence in addressing core challenge goals. Possible categories include: (1) most innovative methodology, (2) best early prediction, (3) best consideration of bias, (4) potential to generalize to populations disproportionately impacted by AD/ADRD, (5) for the social determinants track only, best approach to predicting decline between 2016 and 2021.

Number Awarded Amount
Up to 4 $10,000
Explainability Bonus Prizes

Who is eligible? Top 15 finalists on the Model Arena leaderboard who submit an explainability report. Submitting a model report is not required.

Model Arena finalists have the option of completing a bonus task to create outputs that can be used by patients or care providers to interpret and understand a prediction for a given individual. Up to 4 Explainability Bonus Prizes of $10,000 each will be awarded in total across both tracks for reports that explain local model predictions.

Number Awarded Amount
Up to 4 $2,500
Community Code Bonus Prizes

Who is eligible? Anyone who submits a community code post in the Model Arena, regardless of whether they made a formal submission.

Up to four prizes of $2,500 each will be awarded to the most helpful contributions to the community code board. In particular, we are looking for community code contributions related to: (1) Getting started and EDA; (2) Bias measurement and mitigation; (3) Feature selection and importance; (4) Model interpretability and explainability. Judges will make final selections that consider post content, clarity and documentation, use of code by others, and the number of upvotes and downloads.


Overall Prize winners will be invited to compete for an additional $200,000 in prizes in the PREPARE Challenge - Phase 3: Proof of Principle Demonstration, where solvers will refine their solutions. Invitations may also be extended to Special Recognition prize winners depending on participation.


How to compete

  1. Click the "Compete!" button in the sidebar to enroll in the competition.
  2. Consider forming a team. You can find teammates using the competition forum.
  3. Get familiar with the problem through the overview and problem description. You might also want to reference additional resources available on the about page.
  4. Download the data from the data tab.
  5. Create and train your own model. Check out the community code page for inspiration, or add your own notebook for a chance to win the community code bonus prize!
  6. Use your model to generate predictions that match the submission format.
  7. Click “Submit” in the sidebar, and then “Make new submission”. You’re in!

The challenge rules are in place to promote fair competition and useful solutions. If you are ever unsure whether your solution meets the competition rules, ask the challenge organizers in the competition forum or send an email to info@drivendata.org.


Competition rules

The challenge rules are in place to promote fair competition and useful solutions. If you are ever unsure whether your solution meets the competition rules, ask the challenge organizers in the competition forum or send an email to info@drivendata.org. A few key rules are highlighted below. For more details, see the "Official rules" page.

External data usage

External data is not allowed in this competition. However, participants can use pre-trained computer vision models as long as they were (1) available freely and openly in that form at the start of the competition and (2) not trained on any data associated with the ground truth data for this challenge.

Eligibility and Participation Guidelines

To be eligible to win a prize under this challenge, participants:

  • must be 18 years of age or older at the time of submission
  • must be citizens or permanent residents of the United States (in the case of a Team, the Team must identify a Team Captain who is a citizen or permanent resident of the United States; in the case of an Entity, the Entity shall be incorporated in and maintain a primary place of business in the US)
  • must not be a federal entity or federal employee acting within the scope of their employment
  • must not be an employee of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS, or any other component of HHS) acting in their personal capacity
  • if employed by a federal agency or entity other than HHS (or any component of HHS), should consult with an agency ethics official to determine prize eligibility

Participants who receive federal funds from a grant award or cooperative agreement must either not use their funds to develop their Challenge submissions or to fund efforts in support of their Challenge submissions, or (if use of such funds is consistent with the purpose, terms, and conditions of the grant award or cooperative agreement), must participate in the Challenge as an Entity on behalf of the awardee institution, organization, or entity.

For a full list of eligibility and participation rules, please refer to the rules page and the challenge announcement.

Participation in PREPARE Phase 1

Anyone is eligible to compete in the PREPARE Challenge - Phase 2. Participants did not have to compete in the PREPARE Challenge: Data for Early Prediction (Phase 1) to be eligible.

Data sharing and retention

Participants are not permitted to share competition data with any other person. Competition data must be deleted after the competition concludes.


Challenge sponsor

This challenge is sponsored by the National Institute on Aging (NIA), an institute of the National Institute of Health (NIH)

US NIA Logo


with support from NASA

US NIA Logo