CRIMP- getting a hold on COVID-19

COVID-19 Resource Indexation and Materials exchange Platform (CRIMP)

Inspiration

As an international group of Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions early stage researchers in the field of virology, we understand the flood of information researchers are confronted with every day. This information is provided on a broad range of different, sometimes unclear, platforms with a varying degree of reliability and user friendliness. Especially in the context of a crisis, time is a rare resource and every tool that improves the access of the medical and scientific community to reliable information, protocols and reagents is important in the fight against the clock. This includes the spread of scientific negative-results, since in a global crisis such as the current one, research groups around the world are likely to perform similar experiments but to this day, negative results are unlikely to be published and even less likely to be seen by researchers, leading to unnecessary repetition of experiments. Furthermore, it is of the utmost importance to provide a clear and understandable collection of data for the lay people, since the intended or unintended spread of false information on social media can have a devastating impact on non-pharmaceutical intervention efforts.

There is a COVID-19 information overflow due to the fast pace of the technical, medical and scientific communities
Healthcare professionals and researchers waste time screening for reliable sources, adding up to vast amounts of time lost which are needed elsewhere in times of crisis
The intended or unintended spread of false information on social media can have a devastating impact on non-pharmaceutical intervention efforts
Scientific negative-results are not spread enough and experiments are repeated around the world, wasting precious time and resources

What it does

The information age is a double-edged sword. The speed with which information can be shared around the globe is key in effectively combating outbreaks such as current one. Unfortunately, the sheer volume of data makes it difficult to find pertinent information for the individual. CRIMP will provide a one stop shop for COVID-19 related resources, all curated to reduce the spread of false information and direct healthcare professionals, researchers, and the general public to trustworthy sources. This would reduce time spent milling through pages of irrelevant information and increase time spent where it actually matters, fighting COVID-19.

CRIMP converges research resources and databases in a single, free to use online platform, in order to (i) enhance visibility through indexing resources and filtering customised searches, (ii) contextualise contents and (iii) grade their source trustworthiness. Medical doctors, researchers, journalists, policy-makers, entrepreneurs or any citizen can directly benefit from CRIMP. At this stage, CRIMP is a proof-of-concept application, focused on official and curated sites with high reliability of scientific and social value. WHO and NIH resources, COVID-19 scientific and medical literature, sequence libraries and protocol exchange platforms will be the first resources to include in CRIMP. In addition, CRIMP summarises national and international resource exchange platforms to increase their reach and visibility. The final goal is to extend the platform to all relevant fields around COVID-19. Prompt access to the right content will boost our effectiveness against COVID-19.

CRIMP is a free to use online platform that collects, curates and connects COVID-19 related information and resources for healthcare professionals, researchers, and laypersons.
CRIMP will be a one stop shop for COVID-19 related information and resources, saving urgently needed time that can be devoted to combating the disease and performing research.

How I built it

During this weekend’s hackathon we have formed and conceptualised the idea of CRIMP and designed a proof of concept. We have discussed the type of content and sources that should be included, and how content should be indexed in Information Exchange and Materials Exchange subsections and presented in different categories and sub-categories. Each entry has a colour system, indicating its source origin (government, open source, non-government, public, private, etc). Independently, we have developed a scoring system for ranking quality and trustworthiness of the indexed sources, indicated by 1 (lowest) to 5 (highest) stars according to users' feedback. We identified the overload of unfiltered information as a severe problem for the scientific and medical community as well as the broader public.

We conceptualised and designed a prototype database to index and rank different kind of COVID-19 related information.
We brainstormed about the future of this database to branch out and develop a user-friendly surface with more elaborated ranking system, including a database for scientific negative-results.

Challenges I ran into

After a successful design round, launch of CRIMP depends on a web design team. We are a group of virologists, and thus able to conceptualise what type of content CRIMP should include, and which factors and sources are relevant, but have little to no experience in web design. We could greatly benefit from a skilled professional in front and back end web design, to help as develop CRIMP as we envisage it. Working closely together with a web designer will allow CRIMP to be launched online promptly. In addition, funds would be needed for web hosting and maintenance. When our rating system will be implemented, more resources and manual or robust automated curation might be needed. CRIMP needs to be tested in real-life conditions. We would involve our vast scientific and medical network to test the product and provide us useful feedback to improve platform content and user-friendliness. The product should be also be tested by the broader public to fill gaps that are not immediately visible for professional users.

CRIMP was launched from a scientific viewpoint, identifying an actual problem in the field.
Professional front and back end web design is needed to design a user-friendly surface that satisfied the scientific community as much as the broader public.
With an increase of information, an automated curation algorithm needs to positioned to ensure high quality content during times of growth.
We aspire to continue growing the platform content and quality. Therefore, constant testing by and feedback from the different target groups (scientific, medical, lay people) is indispensable.
Data handling will be compliant with privacy policies and copyright protection.

What's next for CRIMP- getting a hold on COVID19

Research into SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 will still continue after the crisis, thus, CRIMP will remain a valuable platform for making reliable SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 information more visible and accessible. CRIMP also enables its users to find materials and protocols exchange platforms for faster implementation in research, and this service can still be continued after the pandemic. Additionally, the CRIMP platform can be adapted for future outbreaks with minimal changes in its design.