Blockchain to accelerate medical research – GCN

Blockchain to speed up medical research

Representative David Schweikert (R-Ariz.) Stated that he intends to reintroduce the FORWARD Act to authorize the National Institutes of Health to conduct a blockchain pilot related to the eradication of valley fever, a lung fungal infection that may to hit bones, skin, eyes and brain. The pilot project would allow three hospitals to work with the NIH to gain faster and faster access to clinical data for research while preserving patient privacy.

"The later half of the valley fever law has a very good use of the distributed and encrypted ledger and is able to extrapolate data from the hospital servers in a safe way to drastically change the timing of the trials," Schweikert said after a speech at the Jan. 15 Blockchainge Conference. "There are examples of the kind that could be amazing and beneficial for the country and society".

Schweikert also spoke of his plans for 2019 for the Congressional Blockchain Caucus, which co-chairs. The caucus plans to bring together experts from around the world to show how blockchain technology will work in the real world. "We want to do less theoretical work and more case studies on this [technology] it works, "he said.