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Breaking News – Vivli announces the 2025 AMR Surveillance Data Challenge to Initiate April 15th

Vivli is excited to announce the launch of the 2025 Vivli AMR Surveillance Data Challenge, opening on April 15, 2025. Now in its third year, this global competition is funded by Johnson & Johnson, Paratek, Pfizer, and an NIH award* and is designed to stimulate innovative reuse of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) surveillance data housed in the AMR Register.

This Challenge invites multidisciplinary research teams to harness high-quality industry AMR surveillance data to tackle critical questions in AMR. Participants will compete for prestigious awards by generating new insights that contribute to the global fight against antimicrobial resistance.

Participants will use high-quality industry data from the AMR Register, which has been significantly expanded this year with new datasets and refreshed with new datasets. This is a unique opportunity for researchers across disciplines to generate fresh insights and contribute meaningfully to the global effort to combat AMR.

What prizes can be won?

A total of 5 awards will be provided that are associated with monetary awards and/or travel

  • 2 Grand Prize Awards –
    • AMR Global Leadership Award Grand Prize
    • AMR Visionary Award Grand Prize
      • Each for $10,000 and a travel grant of $5,000 to travel to an infectious disease conference 2026 if an abstract is accepted
  • 1 AMR Student Innovation Award –receiving a travel grant of $5,000 to travel to an infectious disease conference in 2026, if their abstract is accepted
  • 2 Awards – 1 Award in AMR Impact, 1 Award in AMR Innovation; Each receiving $5,000 and a travel grant of $2,000 to travel to an infectious disease conference in 2026, if their abstract is accepted

Sign up to the data challenge Slack Channel to be notified when the challenge is open and to keep updated about the latest information and details about this data challenge.

* Funded in part by NIH Award
Generalist Repository Ecosystem Initiative (GREI)
Other Transaction Agreement No.: 1OT2DB000003-

Winners Announced for the 2024 AMR Surveillance Data Challenge, funded by GARDP, Paratek, Pfizer and Vivli

Vivli is pleased to announce the awardees of the 2024 AMR (Antimicrobial Resistance) Surveillance Data Challenge. The Data Challenge aims to stimulate and support the innovative re-use of surveillance data available in the AMR Register.

The AMR Data Challenge, funded by GARDP, Paratek, Pfizer and Vivli, was launched in June 2024, as a catalyst for innovation and support for the inventive reutilization of the wealth of surveillance data available within the AMR Register.

Data challenge judge Seamus O’Brien, Director of Research & Development at Global Antibiotic Research & Development Partnership (GARDP) which helped to fund the challenge, said, “The Data Challenge demonstrates the value of open access to AMR surveillance data through the creativity of the applicants in applying this data to innovative AMR solutions.”

A total of 55 teams with members from 27 different countries participated in the AMR Data Challenge. This event served as a unique platform for multidisciplinary teams to leverage high-quality industry AMR surveillance data, proposing groundbreaking advancements and tools for use in AMR surveillance. The Challenge culminated in the recognition of six outstanding winners, selected by a distinguished judging panel.

The Grand Prize was awarded to a team from University of Oxford, UK, – Kasim Allel, David Smith, Koen Pouwels, Nam Nguyen, and Sam Lipworth. The team used the Pfizer ATLAS dataset to develop a flexible spatiotemporal modelling framework to predict AMR dynamics from routine surveillance data, and to identify key change points in epidemiological trends.

Dr Kasim Allel, researcher at the University of Oxford’s Health Economics Research Centre, said, “Participating in this prestigious data challenge has been a profoundly rewarding experience for our team, and winning it has further strengthened our commitment to using data to drive impactful health solutions. We are particularly grateful to Vivli for creating such an accessible and supportive platform. This experience underscores the critical importance of early detection of changes in antimicrobial resistance (AMR) trends and the development of early warning systems that empower communities, including those with limited resources, to address AMR challenges more proactively.”

The Student Innovation award winners were a team from Northeastern University, USA – Harry Akligoh, Charlie Huh and Thomas Lim with Alexander Kwakye from Stony Brook University, USA. The team used the Pfizer ATLAS dataset to develop microBIS, a laboratory assistant in the form of an interactive web app for bacterial identification, AMR prediction and data management. Without the need for expensive equipment, the platform empowers healthcare providers to deliver high-quality care regardless of their resource constraints.

“The Vivli AMR Surveillance Data Challenge has been an exciting opportunity and a crucial milestone in our innovation journey,” said Akligoh. “With our diverse backgrounds in medical laboratory science, bioengineering, population genetics, and data science, through hard work and perseverance, we managed to create a novel web-based laboratory assistant with immense potential to drive meaningful progress in AMR diagnosis, research and development, of which we are immensely proud!”

Other notable awardees and their project titles include:

  • Impact Award Winner: team from Chuka County Referral Hospital and Narok County Government, Kenya, led by Rachael Kanguha

Project title: “Using AI to Incorporate Dynamic Antibiograms and Research into Electronic Medical Records for antibiotic decision support”

  • Impact Award Winner: team from Institut Pasteur, France, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, and City St. George’s University of London, UK, led by Quentin Leclerc 

Project title: “Rethinking AMR sampling: can non-sterile samples predict resistance in blood/sterile samples at a country level?”

  • Innovation Award: team from Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology Delhi (IIIT-Delhi), India, led by Tavpritesh Sethi

Project title: “AMROrbit Scorecard: A Dynamic Phase Space Model for Strategic Monitoring and Actionable Insights on Global AMR Trajectories”

  • Innovation Award Winner: team from London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, UK, led by Naomi Waterlow

Project title: “Unveiling the Sex-Specific Impact on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR): A Bayesian Hierarchical Model Approach Using Vivli Data”

  • An Honorable Mention for Impact goes to the team from University of Ibadan, Nigeria, led by Christian Tochukwu Agboeze

Project title: “Predictive Analytics and Genotypic Evaluation for AMR in Africa (PANGEA)”

Data contributed by GSK, Johnson & Johnson, Paratek, Pfizer, Shionogi, and Venatorx was made accessible through the AMR Register, significantly enhancing the impact of the Challenge.

“The Vivli AMR surveillance Open Re-use Challenge has gone from strength to strength in its second iteration,” said Prof. Marc Mendelson, Chair of the Vivli AMR Scientific Advisory Board, Professor of Infectious Diseases and Head of the Division of Infectious Diseases & HIV Medicine, Groote Schuur Hospital, University of Cape Town. “Solutions were largely driven by innovation in the use of AI, machine learning, prediction models and innovative modelling methodology to bring impactful change to the way we use surveillance data. Congratulations to all the teams who entered. The standard was extremely high across the board and we all look forward to following the winners’ progress.”

For more details and to view the winning teams’ solutions, please visit https://amr.vivli.org/data-challenge/finalist-and-award-winning-solutions.

Contact: Catherine D’Arcy, Rebecca Li

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About Vivli

Vivli is a non-profit organization working to advance human health through the insights and discoveries gained by sharing and analyzing data. Data sharing initiatives include the AMR Register for AMR surveillance data and the Vivli Platform for clinical trial data. Vivli acts as a neutral broker between data contributor and data user and the wider data sharing community. For more information, visit www.vivli.org and follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter @VivliCenter.



Vivli team to speak at GARDP REVIVE webinar on July 23rd

Vivli CEO, Rebecca Li and Antimicrobial Development Consultant Patricia Bradford, will speak at the GARDP REVIVE webinar entitled “The value of surveillance data in defining the medical need for new antimicrobials” on July 23rd. Rebecca will speak on the Vivli AMR Register as a mechanism for sharing and re-use for industry surveillance data, and Patricia will describe the latest 2024 Vivli AMR Surveillance Data Challenge and review the 2023 Data Challenge. Sign up now!

Interactive Q & A will be available to enable audience participation.

Breaking News – Vivli announces the 2024 AMR Surveillance Data Challenge, funded by GARDP, Paratek, Pfizer and Vivli, to Initiate June 17th

Vivli is launching the 2024 Vivli AMR Surveillance Data Challenge, funded by GARDP, Paratek, Pfizer and Vivli, on 17th June. The data challenge aims to stimulate and support the innovative re-use of surveillance data available in the AMR Register.

This Challenge provides an opportunity for multidisciplinary teams to win prizes by using high-quality industry AMR surveillance data to answer pressing research questions.  The data will be shared through the AMR Register.

A series of prizes can be won by research teams from any discipline who find new insights in the data and contribute to the fight against antimicrobial resistance.

What prizes can be won?

A total of 6 awards will be provided that are associated with monetary awards and/or travel

  • Grand Prize Award – $10,000 and a travel grant of $5,000 to travel to ESCMID Global or ASM Microbe in 2025, if their abstract is accepted
  • 4 awards – Each receiving $5,000 and a travel grant of $2,500 to travel to ESCMID Global or ASM Microbe in 2025, if their abstract is accepted – 2 in Innovation and 2 in Impact
  • 1 AMR Student Innovation Award – a travel grant of $5,000 to travel to ESCMID Global or ASM Microbe in 2025, if their abstract is accepted

Sign up to the data challenge Slack Channel to be notified when the challenge is open and to keep updated about the latest information and details about this data challenge.

What’s involved?

On June 17, 2024, teams will be invited to register and submit a short summary of the research they intend to undertake with the data (an Expression of Interest or EOI). The EOIs will be reviewed, and teams will be given access to the data for a 30-day window, during which solutions must be submitted.

These submissions will be reviewed by a panel of judges and finalists selected. Finalists will have the opportunity to pitch their idea to a panel of judges via Zoom and the prize winners will be chosen.

Announcement: New Wellcome Open Research Article on the Vivli AMR Register

We are pleased to announce the publication of a new article in Wellcome Open Research detailing the impactful use of data from the Vivli AMR Register. This article highlights how the register has served as a unique platform for 56 teams to leverage high-quality industry surveillance data.

The escalation of infections caused by drug-resistant bacteria worldwide poses a formidable challenge to global health, necessitating innovative approaches to combat this issue. In 2022, Vivli launched the Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) Register, a platform that consolidates antimicrobial susceptibility data from pharmaceutical industry surveillance programs. This register provides a freely available and fully searchable user-friendly repository to facilitate scientific understanding of resistance patterns and support the development of innovative strategies to address AMR globally.

To promote the register’s utility, raise AMR awareness, and encourage further re-use of the available data, Wellcome funded the Vivli AMR Surveillance Open Data Re-Use Data Challenge in 2023. This 2023 data challenge successfully fostered diverse, impactful, and innovative solutions that leveraged the AMR Register data to contribute to resolving the AMR crisis. The outcomes of the initiative underscored the importance of access to open data in stimulating collaboration and innovation in the public health domain, particularly in combating the growing threat of drug-resistant infections.

We invite you to read the full editorial to learn more about how the Vivli AMR Register is advancing the fight against antimicrobial resistance through the power of open data and collaboration.

Awardees Announced for the Vivli AMR Surveillance Open Data Re-Use Data Challenge, funded by Wellcome

Awardees Announced for the Vivli AMR Surveillance Open Data Re-Use Data Challenge, funded by Wellcome

Vivli is pleased to announce the awardees of the Vivli Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) Surveillance Open Data Re-Use Data Challenge. This initiative comes at a crucial juncture, with the World Health Organization (WHO) identifying Antimicrobial Resistance as one of the top 10 global health threats facing humanity. Alarmingly, antimicrobial-resistant infections have the potential to become the leading cause of death worldwide by 2050. In response to this pressing issue, Vivli and Wellcome joined forces in mid-2022 to launch the AMR Register, a novel platform featuring industry datasets, consolidating surveillance data for the benefit of researchers.

The AMR Data Challenge, funded by Wellcome, was launched in April 2023, as a catalyst for innovation and support for the inventive reutilization of the wealth of surveillance data available within the AMR Register.

“The AMR data challenge not only reflects the extensive interest but also underscores the significance of making AMR data readily accessible to investigators. Data serves as a catalyst for innovative approaches, which are essential in addressing the global AMR challenge,” said Arjun Srinivasan, MD. CAPT, USPS, Deputy Director for Program Improvement Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion, CDC.

A total of 56 teams from 28 different countries participated in the AMR Data Challenge. This event served as a unique platform for multidisciplinary teams to leverage high-quality industry AMR surveillance data, proposing groundbreaking advancements and tools for use in AMR surveillance. The Challenge culminated in the recognition of six outstanding winners for the AMR Surveillance Open Data Re-Use Data Challenge.

The Grand Prize was awarded to Dr. Fredrick Mutisya, Health Data Scientist & Medical Doctor of Narok County, Kenya, and Dr. Rachael Kanguha, Pediatrician, Chuka County Referral Hospital, Kenya. Their groundbreaking work involved training machine learning models on the Pfizer ATLAS datasets and the development of a novel artificial intelligence web application capable of predicting antibacterial/antifungal susceptibility. Dr. Mutisya expressed his team’s commitment to AMR and highlighted the importance of providing equitable data accessibility to scientists from his region,

“Our team feels incredibly privileged to have participated in such a meaningful data challenge. Winning the grand prize not only fills us with a profound sense of fulfilment but also ignites a stronger motivation within us to continue seeking solutions for global issues, especially in combating antimicrobial resistance,” he said. “We are deeply grateful to Vivli for providing a platform that facilitates data accessibility. This is particularly significant for scientists like us hailing from the Global South, where opportunities like these are often scarce.”

Other notable awardees and their project titles include:

  • Impact Award Winner: Quentin Leclerc, Institut Pasteur, “Stronger together? Potential and limitations of combining industry datasets to fill in global AMR surveillance gaps.”
  • Impact Award Winner: Yanhong Jessika Hu, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, “Global Geographic Patterns and Trends of WHO Priority Pathogens and AWaRe Antibiotic Resistance Among Children: amrinkids.com.”
  • Innovation Award: Robert Beardmore, University of Exeter, “Are antibiotic breakpoints globally consistent, and does it matter if not?”
  • Innovation Award Winner: Shraddha Karve, Ashoka University, “Novel approach to antibiogram analysis: looking at the composite resistance phenotype.”
  • Innovation Award Runner-up: Jacob Wildfire, LSHTM/SGUL, “Analysis of variations in minimum inhibitory concentration distributions by patient group.”

Data contributed by GSK, Johnson & Johnson, Paratek, Pfizer, Shionogi, and Venatorx was made accessible through the AMR Register, significantly enhancing the impact of the Challenge.

Prof. Marc Mendelson, Chair of the Vivli AMR Scientific Advisory Board, Professor of Infectious Diseases and Head of the Division of Infectious Diseases & HIV Medicine, Groote Schuur Hospital, University of Cape Town noted the exceptional quality of the Challenge applications,

“The quality of applications for the Vivli AMR surveillance Open Re-use Challenge was excellent and it is particularly exciting to see the innovative approaches used,” he said. “Ensuring open access to data across the spectrum of private and public sources is a fundamental key to driving innovation towards a better understanding of AMR and the mitigation of this global health crisis.”

Patricia Bradford, PhD, Antimicrobial Development Specialist and a member of the Judging panel spoke of the innovation of the solutions and their impact, “It was exciting to see the creativity of the various teams with regards to novel uses for the susceptibility data generated by the pharmaceutical industry.  Our hope is that these efforts will better enable patient care and foster antimicrobial stewardship on a local level.”

Alisa Serio, PhD, Executive Director of Microbiology and Nonclinical Development at Paratek Pharmaceuticals Inc. was impressed by the innovative approaches taken by the participating teams and noted, “The outputs of this challenge are exactly what the Vivli AMR initiative was set up for, specifically to openly share surveillance data for researchers to investigate a myriad of questions in AMR to help further understanding, decision-making and policy changes worldwide.”

For more details and to view the winning teams’ solutions, please visit https://amr.vivli.org/data-challenge/2024-finalist-and-award-winning-solutions.

Contact: Catherine D’Arcy, Rebecca Li

About Vivli
Vivli is a non-profit organization working to advance human health through the insights and discoveries gained by sharing and analyzing data. Data sharing initiatives include the AMR Register for AMR surveillance data and the Vivli Platform for clinical trial data. Vivli acts as a neutral broker between data contributor and data user and the wider data sharing community. For more information, visit www.vivli.org and follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter @VivliCenter.

Rebecca Li speaks at Duke-Margolis Center for Health Policy event

Vivli Executive Director, Rebecca Li, spoke at the Duke-Margolis Center for Health Policy event entitled “Data Capture to Measure, Track, and Improve Antibiotic Use” on March 2nd. She took part in the panel discussion for ‘Policy Approaches to Improve Data Capture for Antibiotic Use’ which discussed the need for the expansion of programs to capture antimicrobial resistance surveillance data, and the barriers stakeholders encounter in gathering evidence for novel antibiotics.

Vivli team authors new publication in GARDP’s REVIVE newsletter

Vivli Executive Director Rebecca Li and Antimicrobial Development Consultant Patricia Bradford recently authored a Viewpoint article entitled “Access to industry antimicrobial resistance (AMR) susceptibility surveillance data” in the GARDP REVIVE newsletter. This paper aims to raise awareness of the availability of high-quality AMR susceptibility data collected from surveillance programs by the pharmaceutical industry. These data are freely available and can be requested through the AMR Register by researchers wishing to advance the fight against antimicrobial resistance.

Vivli Executive Director Dr. Rebecca Li Speaking at the PACCARB September Public Meeting (Innovation Spotlight)

Vivli’s Executive Director, Dr. Rebecca Li, spoke at The Presidential Advisory Council on Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria (PACCARB) Public Meeting on September 13th for the Innovation Spotlight, on the topic “AMR Register – An Innovative platform for sharing industry surveillance data”. Dr. Li spoke alongside other companies with innovations in antimicrobial resistance. View Dr. Li’s slides here.

This meeting of PACCARB aimed to “identify key issues and critical policy gaps through a series of facilitated discussions examining a hypothetical large-scale disease outbreak scenario based on historic examples and estimates of future AMR outbreaks.”

Further information about the meeting can be found here.