FALL 2026
ACP Data Challenge Pilot
What can we learn when decades of MS data come together in one place? The ACP Data Challenge gives research teams access to a unique collection of biological data and information about how people experience MS over time. Teams explore the data to ask new questions, uncover connections, and put decades of contributions from the MS community to work in new ways.
About the event
Data challenges have a proven track record of accelerating scientific discovery. The ACP Data Challenge Pilot brings that model to MS research for the first time, putting decades of biological and longitudinal data from the ACP Biosample Repository and iConquerMS into the hands of researchers ready to put it to work.
The challenge
Think of it as part science fair, part collaborative research sprint, and entirely focused on moving MS science forward. Mentorship and subject-matter expert access are built into the program, and findings will be shared with the broader research community through a post-event white paper.
Read the press releaseWhy this event matters
ACP has spent more than two decades building the infrastructure for this kind of research: a biosample repository, a returned multi-omics data resource, and iConquerMS, a 10,000+ strong research network governed by the people most invested in finding answers. The ACP Data Challenge Pilot brings that infrastructure to the scientific community in a bold new way.
We expect this event to generate new hypotheses, surface novel computational approaches, and catalyze collaborations that outlast the challenge itself. And we’re building it to grow: each edition will deepen the datasets, broaden the community, and sharpen the science.
Who participates
The challenge is open to researchers and multidisciplinary teams including computational biologists, MS neurologists, data scientists, early-career investigators, trainees, and people living with MS who want to engage directly in the science. Three teams have been selected and will be announced soon.
The MS community built this data. Help us unleash it.
Your support helps us build the ACP Data Challenge Pilot into an annual event that grows more ambitious, more inclusive, and more impactful every year. What we learn this fall could reshape how the field approaches MS for years to come.
Support the ACP Data Challenge Pilot
This event runs on community investment. Sponsorships and individual gifts fund platform compute costs, participant scholarships for early-career teams, expert honoraria, and the post-event white paper that gets findings into researchers’ hands.
You don’t have to be a scientist to be part of this. A gift at any level helps make this first event possible and helps us build toward an annual ACP Data Challenge that grows more impactful every year. The people who support this pilot are the reason it exists.
Become a founding sponsor
Organizations that sponsor the ACP Data Challenge Pilot gain visibility with MS researchers worldwide, early access to cutting-edge analyses, and a direct role in shaping how this event evolves year over year. Sponsorship opportunities start at $5,000 and include recognition across all event materials, access to final findings and the post-event white paper, and opportunities to engage directly with participating teams and ACP leadership. Premier presenting sponsorship is available at $50,000 and is exclusive.
Learn about sponsorship opportunitiesHelp launch something new in MS research.
Support the ACP Data Challenge Pilot and help us build toward an annual event that gets more powerful every year.