Evidation Health grants its first Digital Research Collaboration Award to the American Sleep Apnea Association (ASAA) to create a partnership focused on expanding research in sleep through innovative digital methods. In their first joint effort, Evidation Health and the ASAA have enrolled more than 1,000 participants in the first 24 hours of the Sleep Health Web Study.

Evidation Health and the ASAA partnered to enable the ASAA’s community and new individuals interested in sleep health to participate in research. Participants in the initial study contribute self-reported outcomes and wearable device data to the research. Following the initial study, Evidation Health and the ASAA are planning to expand the population involved and conduct studies in segments of the enrolled population.

The research partnership brings together the ASAA’s patient community and early experience running digitally-enabled studies in sleep with Evidation Health’s health outcomes research, consumer marketing, and machine learning expertise to accelerate and enhance sleep outcomes research.

The Sleep Health Web Study demonstrates the power of Evidation Health’s Real Life Study Platform for rapid virtual recruitment. “If we ran this study through a traditional clinical trial, we’d expect to enroll a few hundred participants over 2-3 years; so, the fact that with Evidation, we were able to enroll 1,000 in a day is wildly impressive,” says Carl Stepnowsky, PhD, chief science officer of the ASAA, in a release. “The proven ability of Evidation Health’s technology platform to rapidly recruit participants into this study makes possible our longtime goal of reaching and studying sleep in the broader population at massive scale.”

Claire Meunier, director of strategic partnerships at Evidation Health, says, “Real life patient data from connected devices gives us powerful insights into population health behaviors—and, since everyone sleeps, this is one of the most relevant areas of study for real world evidence. In selecting the ASAA as our first Digital Research Collaboration Award partner, we are recognizing the ASAA’s unique expertise and innovative approach to advance the field. By bringing our technology platform to these efforts, we can then deepen understanding of sleep health and better understand the impact interventions have on a condition, at massive scale.”