Students from all three Cornell University campuses and 26 other universities gathered in New York City over a productive weekend to brainstorm and develop solutions to health care challenges.
The health hackathon, sponsored by Cornell University Entrepreneurship and the Weill Cornell Medicine and Clinical Translational Science Center, will be held March 8-10 and will feature backgrounds in medicine, business, computer science, economics, engineering, and other fields. Students who had the following participated. There was also a makerspace hosted by Cornell Tech, equipped with 3D printers and other materials for prototyping.
The team addressed weekend patient safety challenges related to medications, patient care, procedures/surgeries, infections, and diagnostic errors by creating physical products and digital solutions.
“There's a lot of hope and brainpower here,” said My Linh Nguyen Novotny, deputy director of the Weill Cornell Medicine Clinical and Translational Sciences Center. “Weill said that Cornell University and Cornell University encompass all these different schools and skill sets, and that it's a great place for students to showcase what they're capable of and imagine themselves in the future.'' I'm very happy that it's a great place.”
The health hackathon is in its ninth year, and Gwen Novotny said at least one Weill Medical staff member who participated in past hackathons has taken the idea and created a device to help retrain people who have lost their voices. The company was established using their vocal system. Ami Stewart, director of entrepreneurship hackathons at Cornell University, said at least a dozen companies have spun out of these hackathons over the past decade, focusing on a wide range of industries.
At this year's health hackathon, the top prize of $3,000 for the most effective patient care went to the Current Care team, which developed a patch that can be worn by bedridden patients. The patch delivered electrical stimulation to pressure ulcer-prone areas, resulting in a reduction in the prevalence of pressure ulcers. Ulcer.
Members of that team include Johnson Liu ’26 (English), Antlanig Baghdasarian ’27 (English), Andrew Lee, MD ’25, Briana Leung ’25 (English, University of Pennsylvania), and Justin Liu ’27 (CS, Northeastern University) were included. Dr. Leah Lackey, 28 years (English).
“This idea has been in the back of my mind for years,” Leon said. “I was really looking forward to getting this out into the hackathon world and seeing if anyone else was interested.”
Baghdassarian said the team investigated some of the most common causes of bedsores, such as insufficient blood flow, and devised a technique that measures blood flow and uses electrical stimulation to increase blood flow.
“Having people on the team with different backgrounds allowed us to narrow down what each person was good at from the beginning,” says Lee. “From there, we were able to bounce ideas off each other and see the bigger picture.”
This was Liu's first experience with a hackathon.
“I had a great experience. I made friends, we had fun with each other, and we learned a lot,” he said. “Although I don't have much business experience, I learned a lot from the other students.”
Throughout the weekend, over 40 mentors supported the students during the three days they spent at Next Jump's flagship office in Chelsea.
“We've gotten a lot of feedback from people in the field that this is a concrete idea that could be implemented,” Leon said.
“When I heard this, I thought we can do it,” Baghdassarian said. “We have ideas, and with the right resources, leadership, and time, we can accomplish important things.”
Other winning teams include:
Most Potential Impact, $500: IP Vision, software that uses AI to detect incidents of intimate partner violence in acute care settings and provide personalized treatment and support. The team members are: Lina Chihoub ’25 (University of Pennsylvania, CS), Elizabeth Madamidola MHA ’24 (Brooks), Emily Leventhal (Postdoctoral Fellow, Icahn School of Medicine), Keshika Gopinathan MPH ’25 (Cornell University VET), Mariam Rizvi ’26 (University of Pennsylvania, CS) and Raquel Castromonte MPH '25 (CUNY).
Most Market Ready, $1,500: Fennostics, a one-step medical test to diagnose many common women's vaginal health problems. Team members include: Bhavishya Agarwal MS '24 (ENG), Justin Xiang '27 (ENG), Edward Kim '27 (Dartmouth, CS), Antonia Li '24 (CALS), Rebecca Wang '26 (University of (Pennsylvania, ENG), Urmila Sehrawat (Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center Research Scientist)
Most Innovative, $2,500: Cedar, a wearable device that detects carotid artery problems and prevents strokes. Team members include: Claire Zhang '26 (University of Pennsylvania, ENG), Duong Nguyen MPH '24 (Columbia University), Ethan Tse PhD '28 (Weill Cornell), Phuong Anh Dinh PhD '28 (Columbia University), Reem Ulay 24 (New York, UK)
Making the Most of AI, $2,500: Team Rocket. A home health nurse co-pilot who counters negative health care impacts and provides care coordination and automation. Team members include An Tran '27 (Tufts University), Dany Alkurdi MD '27 (Icahn School of Medicine), Ferdinand Gross MBA '24, Khanh Do '26 (Denison University, CS), Sally Zhao MS '24 (Columbia, CS). ), Stephanie Nguyen ’26 (Columbia, CS)
This hackathon was made possible through sponsorship from Johnson & Johnson, as well as grants from the Patient Safety Technology Challenge, Engaged Cornell, and dCommunity.
