The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a respiratory disease caused by a new type of coronavirus, known as “severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2,” or SARS-CoV-2. On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the outbreak a global pandemic. Although most people have mild symptoms, the disease can cause severe medical complications and lead to death in some people. Identifying risk and protective factors for severe COVID-19 illness is crucial to better protect, triage, and treat at-risk individuals. The Veteran population in particular has a higher prevalence of several of the known risk factors for severe COVID-19 illness, including advanced age, heart disease, and diabetes. To better understand the risk and protective factors in the Veteran population, the VHA Innovation Ecosystem and precisionFDA are calling upon the public to develop machine learning and artificial intelligence models to predict health outcomes, including COVID-19 status, length of hospitalization, and mortality, using synthetic Veteran health records.

Challenge Start Date: June 1, 2020.