Monash University, established in 1958 and located in Melbourne, Australia, is a prestigious public research institution renowned for its contributions to various fields, particularly neuroscience. With a strong emphasis on research excellence, Monash has garnered significant recognition in the scientific community.
Monash University launched the Healthy Brain Project, a groundbreaking, community-based initiative aimed at understanding optimal brain health and aging. The project’s ambitious goal was to track and collect long-term data from approximately 4,000 participants, many of whom had a family history of dementia.
To succeed, the initiative required a scalable, flexible digital system capable of
- Administering memory tests and surveys over time, allowing participants to contribute valuable cognitive and lifestyle data.
- Providing convenience and flexibility, enabling users to complete assessments at their own pace and on their own schedule.
- Integrating seamlessly with external platforms such as Cogstate and CanTab, widely used tools for remote cognitive testing.
- Ensuring sustained participant engagement through personalized notifications and reminders to maintain high completion rates.
With these requirements, the challenge was not only technical but also behavioral-creating a system that was intuitive, accessible, and motivating enough to sustain engagement for years.
- Cloud-Based Platform for Remote Participation: A user-friendly, scalable digital platform was built to allow participants to register and complete memory tests and surveys from the comfort of their own homes. By leveraging the cloud, participants could engage with the project at their own convenience, and data could be collected securely and in real-time.
- Year-Over-Year Configurability: The platform was designed to be highly configurable, allowing it to evolve and adapt to the changing needs of the project over time. This ensured that the platform could accommodate new assessments, cognitive tests, or updates in project objectives without requiring a complete overhaul.
- Automated Alerts for Participant Engagement: To keep participants engaged and ensure consistent data collection, an alert system was developed. This system automatically notified participants when they had missed completing surveys or tests, making it easier to maintain their involvement and commitment over time.
- Seamless Integration with External Systems (Cogstate & CanTab): The platform integrated with Cogstate and CanTab, well-established tools for memory testing. This integration was achieved via APIs, enabling seamless data collection from external systems directly into the platform, ensuring accurate and efficient memory assessments.
- Robust, Scalable Technology Stack: Built using modern technologies, the platform was constructed on ASP.Net Core 2.0, C#, Identity Framework 4.0, and MS Azure SQL Server. These technologies were chosen for their scalability, performance, and security, ensuring the platform could handle large-scale data collection and analysis over multiple years.
The Healthy Brain Project, powered by a cloud-based system developed by PearlArc, achieved remarkable success in streamlining data collection and enhancing participant engagement resulted in a 40% increase in participant retention. These outcomes directly contributed to the project’s ability to track and analyze brain health and aging over multiple years.
- Increased Participant Retention
- Convenience and Flexibility for Participants
- Seamless Integration with External Memory Testing Systems
- Long-Term Tracking with Scalable and Flexible System
