Finalist
Untangling the complexity of COPD
by Atomic Matter on behalf of Roche
Summary of work
COPD is the third leading cause of death worldwide, claiming more lives than lung and breast cancer combined. It is primarily driven by neutrophilic inflammation, but in recent years the focus has gradually shifted to eosinophilic inflammation – partly due to the way drugs developed for asthma have been used in COPD.
We developed a campaign based on tangled woollen threads, as an analogy for the truly complex nature of the disease. As part of this, we built a wall at ERS Congress in Vienna and posed 6 questions related to current treatment of COPD. We then handed over the reins to delegates at the event – creating a live and ever-evolving piece of data visualisation during the congress. In the end, we were left with a criss-crossing, beautifully complex demonstration of the heterogeneous nature of COPD – and evidence that healthcare professionals agreed with our assessment of its drivers.
Judges’ comments
The “Untangling the complexity of COPD” entry was done on a low budget, but had a lot of bang for the bucks. The way it went about data collecting was very interesting.
