More than 200 participants expected at medical technology hack-a-thon to tackle diabetes healthcare challenges in India
The Consortium for Affordable Medical Technologies (CAMTech) at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Global Health will host a Diabetes Innovation Hack-a-thon in Hyderabad on October 10-11, 2015. Organiz\sed in partnership with Lattice Innovations and with support from Marico Innovation Foundation (MIF), Terumo and Medtronic, the event aims to bring together some of India’s brightest minds to develop innovative and affordable health technologies that will improve the prevention, diagnosis and management of diabetes in India and globally.
CAMTech is a global network of academic, corporate, and implementation partners whose mission is to build entrepreneurial capacity and accelerate medical technology innovation through an open innovation platform. Through the Diabetes Innovation Hack-a-thon, teams – through cross-disciplinary collaboration, mentorship and award incentives — will turn ideas into breakthrough innovations that can shift the paradigm and transform diabetic care in India and beyond.
“As the diabetes capital of the world, CAMTech wanted to direct our innovation efforts to India. Through our hack-a-thon, we can identify the clinical challenges influencing this epidemic and mobilise a talented network of innovators from all over the country to create solutions that will improve and save lives in India, and across the world,” said Elizabeth Bailey, Director at CAMTech.
Reportedly, over 90 per cent of this year’s applicants are from India. The event marks CAMTech’s 11th medtech hack-a-thon, and will offer monetary prizes of $2,750 for the top innovations that focus on specific diabetes-related healthcare challenges. Awards include a $1,000 CAMTech Grand Prize and a $1,000 MIF First Place Prize. Participants will work around the clock to pitch healthcare problems, form teams, prototype solutions, and develop business models before presenting their ideas to a panel of judges from public health, engineering and business.
In addition, MIF has also partnered with Villgro, a social enterprise incubator, to help incubate the winning ideas after the Hack-a-thon by launching new ventures. Through hands on mentorship and funding, MIF and Viillgro will help teams convert their prototypes into viable, low-cost innovative solutions.
“Marico Innovation Foundation is keen to support the Diabetes Hack-a-thon, as it is the ideal source of the next generation of disruptive innovations that have the potential to be game changers for the bottom of the pyramid in India. By providing them with mentoring opportunities and direct funding, both of which are critical to successful incubation, MIF aims to play a catalytic role in fostering innovation to develop scalable and replicable solutions that have the potential to create sustainable direct impact,” said Harsh Mariwala, Founder of Marico Innovation Foundation
The event will take place at the Indian School of Business (ISB) in Gachibowli, Hyderabad.
Prior to the Hack-a-thon, CAMTech will host the Diabetes Clinical Summit: An Ecosystem Approach, at LV Prasad Eye Institute (LVPEI) in Hyderabad. This day-long event is made up of a series of panel discussions featuring a diverse group of stakeholders, including patients, physicians, nurses, ASHA workers, government and industry representatives, and public health experts – focused on tackling pressing clinical health challenges and barriers to diabetes care in India. Dr Gullapalli N Rao, Founder and Chair at LVPEI and an ophthalmology expert, will give the keynote address at the event. The day concludes with the CAMTech Technology Showcase, an interactive presentation of early-stage and newly-marketed diabetes focused technologies.