Imagine, despite the rise of new technology in the last fifty years, there are about 7000 diseases without effective cure in the world. Seven people, in every group of one hundred people, suffer from an ailment that has no total effective treatment. On the other hand, researchers have struggled with budget constraints from governments and institutions to carry out projects that would provide solutions for these diseases ("Repurposing Drugs").
Enter CureAccelerator Org, a startup medical research organization that is determined to repurpose medical research to come up with cures for the untreatable diseases. It runs under the Company Cures Within Reach, a drug repurposing platform that redefines the approach to modern research. Instead of waiting for the government, CureAccelerator allows members of the public and corporate to fund the program through a process called crowdfunding.
Perhaps, the most interesting thing about CureAccelerator is the peer approach to research. The organization has a community of clinicians, funders, and researchers who play complementary roles to ensure that solutions are found for problems. For instance, clinicians - certified healthcare professionals - like dentists and clinical officers, give concerns and experiences with some drugs and treatment approaches to the researchers. It helps the researchers to understand the problems in a better way.
Many people have different passions. Some people have been known to raise funds for long periods to be able to go on tourism trips in many parts of the world. Same way, there are hundreds of people who are very passionate about healthcare, either as a result of family experiences or just passion for the field.
These people have resources that can be used to boost research by equipping researchers to carry out projects. Once the research is done, a team reviews them before publishing the results on the website to avoid passing across misleading information. At that stage, researchers get a chance to review results from peers, and the clinicians get a chance to voice their concerns.
Technology has disrupted the way we think, live and do things. The internet has offered us a very important platform to communicate with people and create virtual communities. It is on this backdrop that CureAccelerator aims to create a research repurposing community that links funders and researchers.
Of course, every startup has challenges; moderate budgets, strained staff and competition from sprouting and existent businesses. CureAccelerator has had staff constraints, and this has affected its outreach communication and network enhancement. Despite the challenges, the organization still manages to do wonderful things like 100 in 100 campaign that has helped the organization to create real and very crucial connections (CureAccelerator).
Version 2.0 of the web application is out. It has an extension of scientific reviews, and the third version, version 2.1 will be available soon. The keenness on the level of technology used in the creation of the network understates the importance of adopting swift and efficient technology in the modern business setting.
Social media creates a perfect avenue for institutions and entities to create communities around their products, brand, and services (Bradt). So far, CureAccelerator has 110 followers on LinkedIn, the largest professional network in the world, and 446 followers on Twitter. These successes might seem small, but they are key drivers to CureAccelerator, a company that seeks to redefine repurposing of research. Social media, combined with the institutional network will be sure thing to increasing the visibility of CureAccelerator.
Works Cited
Bradt, George. "Forbes Welcome." Forbes Welcome. N.p., 25 Mar. 2014. Web. 12 May 2016.
CureAccelerator. CureAccelerator: Discovering Treatments Through Repurposing Research. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 May 2016.
"Repurposing Drugs." National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 May 2016.
