Entries for this year’s STAT Madness, our annual, bracket-style competition in biomedical research, include some of 2022’s biggest discoveries, in areas ranging from Covid-19 and cancer treatment to medical imaging and surgery.
Popular voting begins on Wednesday, March 1, when first-round pairings will be revealed, along with descriptions of all the entrants’ research.
The 64 entries include an easy-to-use test to measure Covid-19 antibodies; a robotic drug-delivery capsule that powers its way through the perils of the digestive system; a helmet that boosts clarity in MRI images; and the discovery of genes responsible for seaweed-digesting enzymes (the study was sushi-inspired). A report on the pig-to-human heart transplant that made headlines early last year was also entered.
The research submitted for the contest made clear that Covid-19 still rests heavily on the minds of many scientists, as it does on society as a whole. Researchers examined the link between Covid-19 and diabetes, dove into the social impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on pregnant women and explored the biological factors that predict long Covid. One research group found an enzyme that, when blocked, might prevent the chronic form of the virus.
Not surprisingly, cancer was another common research focus in this year’s competition. Resistance to chemotherapy was explored by one research team, while another group determined how an unhealthy gut biome can trigger breast cancer metastasis. A study found that frozen testicular tissue held up after a 20-year freeze, potentially offering childhood testicular cancer survivors the ability to create sperm again. In another, a team sensitized tumors to immunotherapy by sprinkling nanoparticles across a tumor’s surface.
The research breakthroughs included advances in basic science. In one entry, scientists evaluated the functions of more than 5,000 essential human genes. Research teams peered inside the brain after traumatic brain injuries to find remapping in areas far from the injury site, and identified a molecule as a key decider in whether a memory will be remembered as good or bad.
The inventiveness of some entries made them standouts. One research team developed a sensor that could quickly classify whether pneumonia was bacterial or viral. Another created a “vagina-on-a-chip,” modeled on the vaginal microbiome, to test therapies that regulate bacteria levels in the vagina. Researchers immersed patients in virtual reality during hand surgery and found less anesthesia was needed to keep them under. Others created the Swiss army knife of flu vaccines — an inoculation that protects against all 20 known subtypes of influenza.
STAT Madness is a bracket-style competition based on college basketball’s March Madness tournaments. But the goal is larger than simply finding a winner. By scanning through the entries, STAT readers will gain an appreciation for the originality and range of biomedical research being pursued around the U.S.
Voting will continue through six, single-elimination rounds before the winner of the popular vote is announced on April 4. At the 2023 STAT Breakthrough Summit, to be held May 3 and May 4 in San Francisco, a handful of Madness teams will be asked to be part of our programming and present their research. And on May 3, a party will be held for all Madness competitors, past and present.
Follow the competition on Twitter using the hashtag #STATMadness.
Here are the teams selected for STAT Madness 2023. (There are fewer than 64 teams because some institutions have more than one entry.)
BAKX Therapeutics
Baylor College of Medicine
Beth Israel Deaconess
Boston University
Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard
Case Western Reserve University
Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
Duke University
Emory University
George Mason University
Institute for Systems Biology
MIT Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research
MIT McGovern Institute for Brain Research
MIT Whitehead Institute
New York University
New York University College of Dentistry
Oregon Health & Science University
Salk Institute
Stony Brook University
The Ohio State University
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
University of California, Irvine
University of Iowa
University of Louisville
University of Maryland School of Medicine
University of Miami
University of Michigan
University of Michigan Eisenberg Family Depression Center
University of Michigan Frankel Cardiovascular Center
University of Michigan Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation
University of Notre Dame
University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine
University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
University of Utah
University of Virginia
University of Virginia Cancer Center
Vanderbilt University
Wyss Institute at Harvard University
Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated the name of Baylor College of Medicine.
