In today’s smartphone-savvy world, most business is done on-the-go and over the phone. Now that includes medical research. Apple has teamed up with various universities and medical groups to develop ResearchKit, a new software platform that allows users to participate in research just by using their iPhone. Apple users will indeed be able to aid in medical research and better understand their risk for certain conditions.

During Monday’s “Spring Forward” presentation, Apple executive Jeff Williams announced that the company has now sold more than 700 million iPhones. So thanks to the new technology, all 700 million iPhone users will be able to do their part in the battle against life-threatening diseases, including heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. Applications built with ResearchKit will be available to all iPhone users on the App Store.

“One of the biggest challenges researchers have is recruiting,” Williams explained. “They often have to pay people to participate, which does not give the best cross-section of the population, but the bigger issue is small sample size. It's sometimes 50 to 100 people, which limits our understanding of diseases.”

ResearchKit is expected to launch next month in an open source format; however, users can access five disease-specific apps on Monday. ResearchKit will not share any data the user wishes to keep private, and shareable data will only be sent to medical groups or universities involved with the app. For example, people with asthma can track how many times they use their inhaler with help from Mount Sinai Hospital and Weill Cornell Medical College.

Apple also developed the breast cancer app alongside Penn Medicine, the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and the UCLA School or Public Health. The cardiovascular disease app was developed with help from the University of Oxford and Stanford University. The Diabetes research app was created in partnership with Massachusetts General Hospital. The company also collaborated with the University of Rochester, Capital Medical University, and Xuanwu Hospital to develop the Parkinson’s disease app.