On the 5^th July 2022 the UK MS Register's first ever Datathon was held in Swansea where 23 early career researchers had the opportunity to explore anonymised UK MS Register data and to collaborate with other researchers.

The first day, the group learned and developed fundamental skills in data loading, cleansing, and basic manipulation within small collaborative groups, with support and guidance from the UK MS Register team. They then progressed to more advanced techniques for linking datasets and learned methods for producing descriptive statistics. Finally, on the second day of the event, the attendees used these skills and knowledge to take part in a Datathon, using the large and varied dataset that is the UK MS Register.

Their findings were presented as posters at the MS Frontiers Conference which was also held in Swansea in the days following and were judged by the Frontiers academic reviewers.

Poster titles included

• Time to secondary progression in People with Multiple Sclerosis using UK MS Register Cohort
• Choice of Disease Modifying Therapy in Multiple Sclerosis. Does it really matter?
• Are anxiety and depression associated with choice of disease-modifying treatment in multiple sclerosis?
• Comparison of patient web-reported self-assessed vs. clinically-assessed EDSS scores

Winning Poster

Early Anxiety and Depression predict disability in people with MS

The event was extremely successful with most attendees feeling that they had been taught excellent fundamental skills in data analysis.

We also hope to hold another Datathon later in the year which would allow more time spent with the data.

Look out for similar events, including a 'Data Academy' (for those who do not have a good basis of understanding yet) which will be held in London on 16^th and 17^th May 2023.