Jeff Williams: ResearchKit was personal

Jeff Williams: ResearchKit was personal

<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p class="intro">ResearchKit was reportedly the topic of conversation at a recent Apple employee Q&A session hosted by SVP of Operations Jeff Williams and VP of software engineering Bud Tribble.</p> <p>Williams and Tribble reportedly answered many questions about Apple's new medical research framework. Topics included how the idea for ResearchKit came about, as well as the decision to make it open source.  9to5Mac:</p>

<p>[

Bud Tribble] commented on the decision for making ResearchKit open source by saying, "If someone comes with a new way to measure the impact of Parkinson's disease, they can put that module in ResearchKit and other researchers can use that as well." He added that this strategy is "actually a very good match between Apple's motives and how researchers are used to working, which is in a very open collaborative environment."</p> <p>Williams also highlighted how personal the ResearchKit project was for many at Apple:</p>

<p>Williams ended the conversation with employees by saying that "the engagement [of the developers] was just at the most personal level I have ever seen" because "so many of us have been affected by these diseases that there's a strong personal connection." He added that the "team working on ResearchKit seem to be really touched by that."</p>

<p>ResearchKit was unveiled during Apple's Spring Forward event on March 9. Five apps were launched alongside the announcement, including studies for heart health, Parkinson's disease, and diabetes.</p> <p>Stanford's MyHeart Counts cardiovascular study app saw 11,000 signups in the first 24 hours of availability.</p> <p>ResearchKit will be available to developers at some point in April.</p> </div></div></div><img width='1' height='1' src='