World’s Famous Medical Research Facilities Join Hands with Apple in Effort to Cure Autism

Recently several famous medical facilities of the world showed interest in collaborating with Apple’s ResearchKit for iPhone and Apple Watch to support the effort to help cure diseases like autism, epilepsy, and melanoma.

In the new research, studies using ResearchKit researchers will rely on participants that use the mobile apps. It will allow the users to complete active tasks, submit survey responses, and choose how their health data is shared with researchers. The major goal of ResearchKit is to make contributions to medical research even easier.

Researchers from Duke University and Duke Medicine will review Apple's ResearchKit for its ‘Autism & Beyond’ app that has been specifically designed for parents with concerns about autism and other developmental issues.

Since the launch of ResearchKit, more than 50 researchers have contributed to support new method of research.

“We’re honored to work with world-class medical institutions and provide them with tools to better understand diseases and ultimately help people lead healthier lives”, said Jeff Williams, Apple's senior vice-president of Operations.

He said that in just ResearchKit apps studying a wide variety of diseases ranging from asthma and diabetes to Parkinson's disease has provided insights to scientists around the world.

People using the apps must consent to their data being used for research purposes. The data about a user is shared at her/her permission. Once the permission is granted researchers can access data from the iOS Health app, including weight, blood pressure, glucose levels and more. Three new ResearchKit apps debuted in the App Store on Thursday.