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New iPhone Apps Will Allow Users to Help Possibly Cure Diseases

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As of next month, Apple’s 700 million iPhone users will be able to contribute information that helps medical professionals study and possibly cure diseases.

What is Parkinson’s Disease?

At Apple’s “Spring Forward” event on March 9, Jeff Williams, Senior Vice President of Operations at Apple, announced ResearchKit, a new software platform that pulls medical data from the iPhone and sends it to researchers around the world, Apple Insider reported.

Apple teamed up with research facilities around the world to release five disease-centered apps today that work in conjunction with the platform. One of the apps, mPower, tests users for Parkinson’s disease symptoms. Users can contribute to Parkinson’s research by using the app, which sends their diagnostic data to researchers working toward a cure. Other apps focus on diabetes research, asthma and breast cancer.

“There is nothing more sensitive than your medical data. You decide what apps you participate in, what research you participate in. You decide how your data is shared, and Apple will not see your data,” Williams said in his announcement.

See the full announcement in the video below.

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Originally published: March 9, 2015
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