The 2012 IOM-NAE Health Data Collegiate Challenge

The 2012 Go Viral to Improve Health: IOM-NAE Health Data Collegiate Challenge was a resounding success! Conducted from November 1, 2011 through March 28, 2012, the second annual challenge saw 51 teams register and 21 apps submitted. From the impressive pool of submissions, three winners were selected and announced at the Health Data Initiative Forum III: The Health Datapalooza on June 6, 2012 in Washington, DC. These teams showcased their apps at the Datapalooza’s Data & Apps Expo, and the first place team presented their app on the Datapalooza main stage. The first place prize was generously sponsored by the Heritage Provider Network.

The winning teams were: 

First Place ($10,000 award): VaxNation

Hashim Zaidi, Emma Corbett, Ronnie Ren, Peter Kamel, and George Chen 
Baylor College, Rice University, and the University of Texas 

VaxNation creates an unified, organized system to learn about, gain access to, and keep records of immunizations. The app allows for customized immunization tracking and record keeping and also contains a clinic locator to easily help locate where users can get vaccines. The app also includes information on the latest immunization guidelines and recommendations, and immunization statistics to help users see local and national trends relating to immunization practice. Their winning app can be explored atwww.vaxnation.org. 

 Second Place ($5,000 award): Rays Awareness 

Spencer Fox, Aaron Wilson, and Mark Vitale 
Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology 

RaysAwareness prevents skin damage from UV radiation by harnessing the power of social media through calendar integrations, push notifications, and data streamed from various sources. When the application is opened, it announces the UV index for the user’s location. To remind the user to take preventative measures against UV radiation throughout the day, the app accesses the user’s calendar of events searching for certain keywords that indicate time will be spent outside (beach, park, picnic etc...). If an outdoor activity is detected, RaysAwareness will create a reminder to apply sunscreen 30 minutes prior to the event. These reminders suggest applying sunscreen, and contain tips for outside activities during the specific UV index for the specific day. 

Third Place ($3,000 award): Healthy State 

Michele Degges, Matthew Holfelner, Mukta Gundi, Pranav Gupta, and Anthony Monaco 
Indiana University 

HealthyState is an app that transforms publicly available data into usable visualizations and information about the health of the population of each of the 50 states. After selecting a state, users see an avatar of the human body. Different parts of the body correspond with common diseases and conditions (brain = stroke, heart = cardiac disease, left lung = lung cancer, right lung = smoking, liver = binge drinking, lymphatic system = AIDS, pancreas = diabetes, stomach = obesity, blood vessels = HIV). Users can tap on any of these spots on the avatar to find more information about the prevalence of these conditions in the selected state. They can also click “More CDC Info” button to learn about preventative healthcare measures for the diseases listed. 

Watch the video of the announcements of the winning teams and demonstration of the VaxNation app:

Submissions were evaluated on their use and integration of health data, design and usability, innovation and creativity, and their potential to have real impact on improving health of individuals and communities.

The esteemed panel of judges for the 2012 Challenge were:

• Deborah Estrin, Professor of Computer Science, University of California, Los Angeles
• Reena Singhal Lee, Senior Technical Manager, Google
• Richard Merkin, President and CEO, Heritage Provider Network
• Todd Park, Chief Technology Officer of the United States
• Barbara Rimer, Dean and Alumni Distinguished Professor, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Read the News Release here. 

 

The 2011 IOM-NAE Health Data Collegiate Challenge

The 2011 Go Viral to Improve Health: IOM-NAE Health Data Collegiate Challenge was administered by Health 2.0 as a part of its Developer Challenge. The 2011 challenge was conducted from February 18, 2011 through April 27, 2011. Winners were officially announced on June 9, 2011.

Three winning teams were recognized on June 9, 2011 at the Health Data Initiative Forum in Bethesda, MD.

First Place: SleepBot ($3,000 award)

SleepBot  is an app that charts users' sleep habits and benchmarks them against potential threats associated with sleep deprivation. SleepBot's creators, a team of college students from Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, New York University, and Northwestern University, won the top prize.

Second Place: Freebee ($2,000 award)

A team from Arizona State University (ASU) claimed the second prize with Freebee, an app that spreads awareness within college campuses about a variety of health risks including alcoholism, smoking, unsafe sex, drug use, and campus safety issues.

Third Place: IMPAct ($1,000 award)

Another ASU team took the third prize with IMPAct, a Web-based, interactive planner that allows individuals and families to keep track of medical appointments.  

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