December 18, 2024

Initiative, Buerk Center co-host third annual Sacia Digital Health Innovation Workshop

For the fourth year in a row, a cross-campus collaboration between the Foster School of Business’ Buerk Center for Entrepreneurship and the Population Health Initiative offered students an immersive and hands-on opportunity to workshop new solutions in the growing and dynamic field of digital health. Approximately 30 undergraduate and graduate students from a variety of disciplines came together on November 16, 2024 in the University of Washington’s Hans Rosling Center for Population Health to make the 2024 Sacia Digital Health Innovation Workshop an exciting and engaging day of ideation around the topic of mental health.

After generating initial ideas within small groups, participating students heard from the Director of Technology Development at the Institute of Translational Health Sciences (ITHS), Teddy Johnson. He spoke on ecosystem mapping, refining market segments, and the importance of market sizing as compelling components of investor and customer satisfaction for a new clinical product.

Groups then had the opportunity to hear from a panel of industry experts on how to demonstrate value with digital health products and avoid an innovation’s “death by pilot.” The panelists, who included Neha Patadia from SeaHealth Tech; Hannah Weisman, a clinical psychologist and consultant; and Carla Pagotto, a commercialization and market access consultant, addressed crucial questions about understanding stakeholders, metrics to measure success and what pitfalls to avoid when pitching an innovation to hospital representatives.

The workshop concluded with a lightning-pitch round where students shared their innovations with influential local digital health investors. Representatives from MultiCare Capital Partners, WRF Capital, the AI2 Incubator and the Life Science Washington Institute offered real-world advice and feedback to the groups before deciding on a winning pitch. Students presented ideas ranging from AI-powered smart glasses to assist those with dyslexia; to apps to addressing burnout, social isolation and anxiety; and a VR platform for senior citizens to build community. The winner for Best Pitch was Lucid Dreams (pictured), a system to induce lucid dreaming as a way to treat PTSD.

“Our goal for this annual workshop is to always bring together students with different backgrounds and experiences to tackle some of these large, grand challenges in healthcare. Mental healthcare in particular is a topic we have seen students galvanize around in recent years. We look forward to seeing where this ongoing passion takes these projects next!” said organizer Jessica Roberto, associate director of the Buerk Center and the manager of the upcoming Hollomon Health Innovation Challenge (HIC).

Students who developed and presented their innovations now have the opportunity to further work on their ideas with support from both the Population Health Initiative and the Buerk Center. For starters, participants are encouraged to submit their ideas to the 2025 HIC and other Buerk Center competitions to receive additional feedback and continue to advance their projects. Applications for the 2025 HIC are now open.

The workshop is an example of the types of events the Population Health Initiative is hosting in the Hans Rosling Center for Population Health to help foster a space that catalyzes interdisciplinary collaboration to take on major population health-related challenges.

“We’re honored and delighted to have been able to again partner with the Buerk Center to convene such an impressive and engaging group of students who were seeking entrepreneurial approaches to improve population health,” shared Arti Shah, the Population Health Initiative’s associate director for strategic engagement. “Their collective work underscores the importance of having a range of disciplines and backgrounds at the table when seeking to make major advances in health and well-being.”

Please contact Arti Shah via email if you are interested in partnering with the Population Health Initiative to host a workshop or convening.