STAT Madness FAQs

Previous Winners  |  Official Rules

What is STAT Madness?
STAT Madness is a contest in two parts to select the top innovation or discovery of 2024 in biomedical science: one, a fan favorite, voted on by you, bracket-style, and two, an audience pick during our STAT Breakthrough Summit East.

Who’s eligible? What’s eligible? 

• Research performed at any accredited U.S. university or college and published in a peer-reviewed journal in 2024.
• Research performed at any research institution or medical center affiliated with an accredited U.S. university or college, and published in a peer-reviewed journal in 2024.
• Research performed at any research institution not affiliated with an accredited U.S. university or college, so long as one of the collaborators on the research team is from an accredited U.S. university or college; the research must have been published in a peer-reviewed journal in 2024.

By when do I need to submit my entry?
To be eligible for inclusion in STAT Madness 2025, entries must be submitted by 11:59 PM EST on January 16, 2025.

I work for a standalone research institution. Can we enter?
Yes, but you can only submit research in which you had a collaborator who was employed by or studying at a university. It can be a graduate student, a post-doc, or a professor at an academic institution who worked with you on the project.

How many entries can we submit?
That depends on how your institution is set up, but in general, each part of your campus that hosts biomedical sciences/health sciences can submit three (3) entries. So, for example, your undergraduate college can submit up to three entries from whatever departments or schools comprise it, your medical school can enter three, your graduate school or other professional schools can enter three, your institute for biomedical sciences or similarly-named research segment can enter three, etc. Contact [email protected], with questions.

If we enter a lot, are we guaranteed a spot in the bracket?
No. No guarantees.

What is a bracket?
As is done in many sports, a single-elimination tournament is set up, pairing different teams against each other, with winners advancing from round to round until a final championship matchup. In STAT Madness, you’ll see the full bracket in front of you, and you’ll vote for your winners in subsequent rounds until the championship.

How do I enter?
Visit https://www.statnews.com/feature/stat-madness/apply/ to enter!

What happens after I enter?
STAT’s editorial team will review the description you provide (up to 200 words), along with the peer-reviewed published paper that details the research. It will then create a short write-up incorporating information from both, which will be included in the STAT Madness bracket if that submission is chosen. A member of the editorial team will reach out to the main point of contact in the application with any questions while reviewing the entry.

When does voting happen?

What do we win?
See here.