About Us

Our vision is to empower patients to drive discovery

We are a research and development programme leveraging the power of big data and transformative technologies to address a major challenge when developing new treatments and therapies.

Despite being a critical and important step, clinical trials can experience significant delays or difficulties in identifying and recruiting study participants. At the same time, many patients don’t know where to find or access a trial suitable for them.

Introducing a solution called BESTS (Blockchain and AI-enabled Stratified Trial System). The BESTS consortium is building and testing a patient-centric, trustworthy, GDPR compliant platform to match and connect patients to clinical trials and other research studies.

This three year programme is supported through the Disruptive Technology Innovation Fund (DTIF) established under Project Ireland 2040 and run by the Department of Trade, Enterprise and Employment.

BESTS Logo

The BESTS solution will be built with 4 key elements in mind:

  • Patient Driven

    Our health information is both personal and private. It includes clinical data, genomic data or even lifestyle data. BESTS will enable patients consent as to what data they would like shared in the system and how it is used.

  • Blockchain Technology

    Blockchain is a form of decentralized database technology that allows information to be stored securely, unalterably and transparently across multiple sites and people and does not depend on trusting a third party. In the context of BESTS, blockchain will be used as a mechanism to transparently control who can access to what elements of a person’s health data. The actual patient healthcare data will not be stored on the blockchain.

  • Artificial Intelligence (AI)

    This is the ability of a computer programme or machine to think and learn. Here, AI will interpret the data and match participants to trials and other research studies, based on the personal data provided.

  • GDPR Compliant

    GDPR is a legal framework that sets guidelines for the collection and processing of personal information from individuals who live in the European Union. Privacy by design will ensure a trustworthy BESTS system that protects the interests of participants.

The Value of BESTS

The BESTS solution will add value for individual patients, academic institutions, pharmaceutical industry, and healthcare provider organisations by enhancing the clinical trials process and facilitating faster introduction of new treatments into the healthcare pathway.

Watch our video below to learn more about the programme (Credit: This video was created by Agency X).

To learn more about this system and the research efforts informing the development of this tool, please visit the BESTS Research Section.

If you have any queries, please contact Dr. Laura Brady, BESTS Programme Manager at
laurab@rcsi.ie

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