About The Hope Pyramid
Visitors to the site will be encouraged to buy a brick, which will be inscribed with the donor’s name and laid on the pyramid. As such, the pyramid will grow over time and visually represent the amount of data collected. One pyramid per major continent is contemplated. The Hope Pyramid will aim to become a destination where people and families may travel to have meaningful, educational, and even potentially spiritual common experiences.
The Hope Pyramid organization will make the anonymized data available to interested research organizations such as universities and biopharmaceutical companies to enable a search for cures to disease and to improve the human condition.
The Pyramid(s)
The pyramids (one per continent) will be built by crowdsourcing. Visitors will each purchase one brick, which will be laser-inscribed with the name of the contributor and placed on the pyramid. The land will be purchased by the Hope Pyramid organization. An area larger than 100 hectares is envisioned to allow for the footprint of the pyramid (the great pyramids in Egypt have footprints of around 5 hectares of 13 acres), data collection buildings surrounding the pyramid, partner organizations, parking, etc.
Four information collection sites are envisioned to be placed at the corners of the pyramid:
Blood Collection
Microbiome
Medical Imaging
Electronic Medical Records
In the center of the pyramid, will be the main visitor center, including exhibits, a movie theater, etc. This visitor center will be built first and bricks will be laid around and on top eventually forming the shape of a four-sided pyramid. From the visitor center, there will be elevators to the top of the pyramid, where there will be an observation platform. This platform will from time to time need to be raised as the pyramid grows.
Surrounding the pyramid on the Hope Pyramid campus, partner organizations such as research centers, patient organizations, spiritual organizations, and technology companies may establish themselves.
Geography, Infrastructure and
External Partnerships
Location of the pyramids has not yet been determined; however one pyramid per continent is envisioned. Given that most genomic data to date is from Caucasians, the first pyramid to be started will most likely be located in Asia or Africa to hopefully obtain much more genetic diversity.
All specimen samples will be analyzed (sequenced etc) and the resulting data will be combined with all collected data (EMR etc) and will be cleaned, anonymized, formatted, and stored.
The organization will partner with technology providers such as sequencing manufacturers to provide cost-efficient solutions. These partnerships are envisioned to be more than vendor relationships.