Hacking Through a Crisis – Part IV: “Immunitor”

by Marianne Lucien, International Communications Officer, 24 April 2020

Team "Immunitor" (from left to right): Florian Bieberich doctoral researcher in the System and Synthetic Immunology group; Elisa Garulli, Master’s student in Biotechnology; and Andreas Cuny, doctoral researcher in the Computational Systems Biology group at ETH Zurich (photo credit: Elisa Garulli)

The last, but not least, in our 4-part mini-series on HackZurich’s #CodeVsCOVID19 Hackathon. We regale you with the story of 3 Biotech talents known as team “Immunitor.”

In the spirit that binds the world together in times of crisis, Elisa Garulli, a Master’s student in Biotechnology, Andreas Cuny, a doctoral researcher in the Computational Systems Biology group, and Florian Bieberich also a doctoral researcher in the System and Synthetic Immunology group dedicated their free time and talent to the “vibrant (virtual)” weekend-long hackathon. The team’s biotechnological background gave them insight into the type of data structure researchers need. It also motivated their design of a data validation platform crucial for scientific analysis and research. With Bieberich’s critical input into testing techniques, Cuny’s experience with data management software, and Garulli’s passion for coding, this dream team developed a platform that allows patients, who test positive for COVID-19, to report their health status while maintaining guaranteed anonymity and full control over the information they wish to provide.

Carrier pigeons?

“As scientists, we know very well how difficult it can be to collect, analyse, and especially validate data, so this became our focus,” said Elisa Garulli. Building upon existing open source projects developed at ETH Zurich, team "Immunitor" demonstrated the value of open-source code to expedite projects and build public trust through transparency. Although there are many "unsupervised" apps or questionnaires that collect valid data, it is challenging to exclude fake or double entries while protecting the privacy of the users. This is why the team proposed a strategy using the serial numbers of test kits as a validation method.

Hacking in a crisis under social distancing restrictions added an additional element of challenge. With a bit of a laugh implied, Garulli said that the team considered carrier pigeons as a means of communicating and coordinating their work, but like many around the world, they eventually resorted to video calls and instant messaging to communicate. GitHub served as their platform to share their work and combine their contributions.

Flatmates kept hackers alive

While serious biotech students tend to be workaholics, team Immunitor stayed motivated by the excitement of it all and the potential to contribute something positive to support their fellow human citizens. In fact, the team was so motivated that they were reluctant to take a break. Concerned flatmates and partners occasionally stepped in to feed the hackers. When flatmates heard expressions of desperation such as, "I can't do curly brackets anymore,” and “I think the cat stepped on the keyboard," they reminded the dedicated team of the neurological benefits of sleep.

Keeping a finger on the pulse of this crisis

“While great effort is now being invested to increase COVID-19 testing capacity, systematically collecting data regarding the outcome is still challenging,” notes the team on the Immunitor website. This project is not just a weekend hack for the team. They anticipate that as home testing becomes a viable option, collating data from clinics, individuals, manufacturers, different regions, and varying test types will require a common database. “A database compatible with multiple sources that can also be validated is crucial to keep the finger on the pulse of this crisis,” reports the team. The team also envisions a strategy where a QR code connecting to the website might be delivered along with the home test, facilitating the voluntary result submission.

The Immunitor team continues to dedicate their spare time and resources to data collection and updating the user interface. Their next, and perhaps greater, challenge is reaching out to currently over-burdened clinical staff and manufacturers to collect valid serial numbers. The team calls to action anyone who might be able to collaborate, contribute, or establish these types of connections.

Immunitor is a self-reporting platform, yes, another one! There are so many awesome self-reporting tools being developed;
however, being biotech scientists, we saw a need that was still unmet: data validation.