Heart health is important for all individuals, particularly veterans. Cardiovascular diseases, such as heart failure, heart attacks, strokes, and peripheral artery disease are the leading cause of hospitalization in the Veterans Affairs healthcare system and a major cause of disability impairing the lives of veterans across the United States. Consider participating in the Veterans Cardiac Health and AI Model Predictions (V-CHAMPs) Challenge, intended to encourage the development of artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) models to predict heart failure related outcomes -- including hospitalization, readmission, and mortality -- using synthetic veteran health records.

This challenge was launched in collaboration between the following agencies, the:

• U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) Digital Health Center of Excellence,
• PrecisionFDA,
• Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Innovation Ecosystem. and
• UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (UK MHRA).

The challenge submission period for AI/ML models is open now until July 26, 2023. V-CHAMPs Challenge participants must sign a Data Use Agreement (DUA). Participants who did not pre-register for the V-CHAMPs Challenge should email precisionfda@fda.hhs.gov to request the DUA.