About the Challenge
Most people can identify challenges with healthcare of today, yet current solutions on the market struggle to simultaneously address clinical need, infrastructure requirements, and successfully scale. We are investing seed capital (through non-dilutive funds) in ideas that simultaneously bring together these needs and offering advice to support it.
Teams are invited to pitch a proposal of how you would leverage JupyterHealth and impact the Edge.
Challenge Timeline
Challenge Finalists Receive
In-person pitch at the inaugural Edge Medicine Pitch event.
Finalists will receive advising from our clinical + informatics team (up to 3 hours of time per finalist team) to inform development & design.
Teams will also get an introduction to UCSF / clinical health systems (as applicable).
5 Edge Medicine Innovation Challenge finalists will each receive $5K (in non-dilutive funding).
These teams will have the opportunity to compete for a larger prize at the Inaugural Edge Medicine Pitch (top prize: $15K, runner up: $10K, second runner up: $5K of non-dilutive funding).
Eligibility
- Teams must have passion for health, computation, and building at the intersection of the two.
- Applicants should be at least 18 years of age.
- All members of the team must travel to UC Berkeley to pitch in-person (if selected as a finalist) at the Inaugural Edge Medicine Pitch in mid-February.
- Teams may have up to 5 members. Collaboration with a larger group is welcome, but only 5 people can officially represent the team if chosen as a finalist.
Judging Criteria
Finalists demonstrate a depth of understanding of the problem space, potential to impact human lives, and proposed use of JupyterHealth. Proposals have bold ideas and alignment with healthcare system incentives for feasibility of execution.
Judges include top clinicians, computer scientists, investors, and other leaders in the field.
Access the Innovation Starter PackageFAQ
Idea Starters: Designing at the Edge
As you work on your application to the Edge Medicine Innovation Challenge, the following is meant as a jumping off point to help you start to think about the problem space. Creative discretion is encouraged!
The future state that JupyterHealth tools enable: Today, data from a person's life (wearables, home devices, symptoms they report) mostly stays stuck in whatever app collected it. Clinicians don't see it, don't trust it, and nobody acts on it.
- Capture: Health data from daily life flows in with the person's consent.
- Share: It lands on a standardized data layer that any approved tool can use.
- Interpret: AI and analytics turn raw data into a signal that's actually useful.
- Act: The right person (a clinician, a caregiver, or the patient) gets that signal and does something with it.
- Close the loop: The outcome feeds back in, so care improves over time.
How can you build a solution that enables this future state of care? Below are a few key building blocks to help get you thinking.
- Sensors: What health signals in someone's everyday life are going uncaptured at the Edge, and how could you capture them? For example, how might sleep or stress patterns show up at home long before they show up in a clinic?
- Data interoperability: What is possible if a person's health information wasn't scattered across different apps, devices, and health systems? For example, what if a patient's wearable data, prescriptions, and doctor's notes were all in one place, so their care team and family could see the full picture after a hospital stay?
- AI: What could the data reveal that a person or their clinician might miss on their own?
- Predictive modeling: What could you see coming early enough to change what happens next? For example, how might you catch signs of decline in the first weeks after someone goes home from the hospital?
- Behavior change: What small action could make a difference in health outcomes? For example, how might you help someone stick with a medication, exercise, or care routine post discharge or after a visit to their doctor?
- Evaluation: How could you use everyday health data to show whether a treatment, program, or care plan is actually working? For example, could you track whether it leads to fewer emergency visits, better sleep, or patients feeling more in control of their health?
- Partnerships: Who would you partner with and how would your idea fit into existing workflows? For example, a health system managing high blood pressure may already have a patient registry, a treatment protocol, and a care team. Which piece would your idea make work better or replace or redo entirely?
What is Edge Medicine?
We call medicine that's beyond clinic walls "Edge Medicine", where doctors can, for the first time, see and anticipate their patients' true disease states between visits, and where patients can have always-on intelligent support between visits like never before. Learn more here.
What is JupyterHealth?
JupyterHealth is open source infrastructure that enables Edge Medicine innovation via data standardization and data and integration. Learn more here.
Who can apply to the Edge Medicine Innovation Challenge?
Anyone who has a passion for health, computation, and building at the intersection of the two is encouraged to apply.
What will advising for Challenge Finalists look like?
Each finalist team will be paired with an Edge Medicine mentor.
Teams will have up to 3 hours of advising from the Edge Medicine team via virtual office hours.
What does the Inaugural Edge Medicine Pitch Day look like?
A maximum of 5 team members must be available in-person at the Inaugural Edge Medicine Pitch in Berkeley in February 2027. The team will pitch their work to a panel of judges.
Will participant expenses be reimbursed?
No. Participants are responsible for their own expenses related to the challenge, including travel, parking, meals, and lodging for the Inaugural Edge Medicine Pitch.
How can I keep up to date with Challenge updates?
Still have questions? Email us at info@edgemedicine.org.