Center for Digital Health

Digital Health Pitch Competition

The Center for Digital Health, in partnership with the Nelson Center for Entrepreneurship, invited junior investigators to develop and refine their pitches for innovative digital health solutions to sticky public health challenges.

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Digital Health Pitch Competition

The Center for Digital Health, in partnership with the Nelson Center for Entrepreneurship, invited junior investigators to develop and refine their pitches for innovative digital health solutions to sticky public health challenges.

The Brown-Lifespan Center for Digital Health (CDH) and Nelson Center for Entrepreneurship (NCE) invited Brown University and Lifespan Health System junior faculty, postdocs, graduate students, medical students, residents, and fellows to participate in a Digital Health Pitch Competition. This program offered up to $25,000 seed funding to interdisciplinary teams designing innovative digital health solutions to address population/public health challenges.

Teams had the opportunity to network with other innovators and entrepreneurs in the Brown-Lifespan ecosystem, workshop their ideas with community experts, and pitch their innovations to a panel of esteemed judges. 

Innovations appropriate for this competition included digital applications and platforms which focus on improving population health, public health, and/or health care delivery with an emphasis on health equity. Priority will be placed on innovations that demonstrate the intention to pursue further external development and dissemination (e.g., commercialization, grant funding, dissemination with non-profits, etc)

Congratulations Docs for Health!

The pitches are done and the judges have spoken. Dr. Rahul Vanjani's team took home the top award for the night. Docs for Health (DFH) is a digital platform intended to empower health care providers to proactively address patient social risk factors to improve overall health. Congrats to all the finalists!

Read About It

Important Dates

About the Digital Health Pitch Competition

Looking to fund your next innovative idea? See the details below to find out if you're eligible to apply.

Eligibility Requirements

Teams eligible for the Digital Health Pitch Competition will be led by early-career investigators with appointments at Brown University and/or Lifespan. Junior faculty members, postdoctoral graduates, or graduate students (including medical students) OR a Lifespan resident physician, fellow, or other relevant clinician with a co-appointment at Brown University are all encouraged to participate.

Teams should have diverse representation from two or more different schools/departments.

* All interested parties are welcome to submit an interest form. Applicants for the final pitch competition must have team members affiliated with Brown University and/or Lifespan. Priority will be given to teams led by junior investigators, medical students, graduate students, residents, and fellows.*

Innovation Details

  • We seek innovative digital applications or platforms to improve population health, public health, and/or health care delivery.
    • Digital applications or platforms include social media, text message, remote monitoring, wearables, integration of predictive analytics into behavior change interventions, and other novel digital techniques for monitoring, early signal detection, prevention, and intervention to identify, prevent, or treat public health epidemics.
    • We are not looking for medical devices or medical technology innovations (e.g, catheters, examination instruments, surgical instruments, physical therapy aids, etc.)
  • All proposed innovations must prioritize meeting the needs of underserved populations or health care delivery systems and providers, with a strong emphasis on health equity.
  • Priority will be placed on innovations that demonstrate the intention to pursue further external development and dissemination (e.g., commercialization, grant funded research, dissemination with non-profits, etc.)

Judging Criteria

Applications will be evaluated by a panel of subject matter experts selected by the Brown-Lifespan Center for Digital Health. Judges will assess the following:

  • Unmet Need - how does the proposed solution address the public health challenge?
  • Impact - what is the scope of impact the proposed solution offers?
  • Health Equity - how does the innovation prioritize health equity?
  • Feasibility & Sustainability - What is the feasibility of development and implementation into the marketplace or healthcare ecosystem?

Pitch Prize

From the final pitches, the winning team(s) will be awarded the following prizes:

  • Financial award of up to $25,000 seed funding, which can be used in flexible ways to accelerate the success of their ideas, innovations, and commercialization objectives. Funds will be set up as a grant award and distributed to the team's department within Brown or Lifespan. If there are multiple affiliations within one team, the team must select which department will receive the award.
  • Ongoing mentorship from CDH Leadership Faculty and/or Advisory Board members who will provide a minimum of quarterly check-ins for one calendar year following the pitch.

FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

The Digital Health Pitch Competition is a partnership between the Brown-Lifespan Center for Digital Health and the Brown-University Nelson Center for Entrepreneurship in order to support the growth and scalability of digital health research and innovation within the Brown-Lifespan ecosystem. 

Teams eligible for the Digital Health Pitch Competition will be led by early-career investigators with appointments at Brown University and/or Lifespan. Junior faculty members, postdoctoral graduates, or graduate students (including medical students) OR a Lifespan resident physician, fellow, or other relevant clinician with a co-appointment at Brown University are all encouraged to participate.

Teams should have diverse representation from two or more different schools/departments.

* All interested parties are welcome to submit an interest form. Applicants for the final pitch competition must have team members affiliated with Brown University and/or Lifespan. Priority will be given to teams led by junior investigators, medical students, graduate students, residents, and fellows.

This program allows members of the Brown-Lifespan ecosystem to connect with new colleagues working to advance public health innovation and healthcare service delivery. Your participation means contributing to the growing body of digital health research and innovations, a market that is projected to grow by an average of 28 percent annually between 2018 to 2024, expanding to over $400 billion. 

Your involvement in this program means mentorship from community resources and exposure to venture capitalists, thought leaders, and industry experts. Not to mention the possibility of walking away with up to $25,000 seed funding and ongoing mentorship.

You do not need to have an idea or a team to apply for the Digital Health Pitch Competition. By completing an interest form you will be matched with individuals and resources to support you and your pitch.

Yes! If you have an idea for a digital health innovation suitable for this program (see Innovation Details section above) you should participate. If you already have a complete interdisciplinary team you're working with you should complete an interest form to be connected with mentors and community resources that will help you refine your innovation and final pitch. If you've already started to build your team but need someone with a particular skillset, complete an interest form and the planning team will match you with someone who can fulfill that role.

The winning team(s) will receive up to $25,000 seed funding to be used in flexible ways that accelerate the success of their ideas, innovations, and commercialization objectives.

Funds will be set up as a grant award and distributed to the team's department within Brown or Lifespan. If there are multiple affiliations within one team, the team must select which department will receive the award.

Applicants are not guaranteed a spot to pitch at the final Pitch Competition. However, anyone who completes an interest form will have access to workshop sessions and mentorship office hours throughout the February - June time period.

Applicants will be given the opportunity to indicate their preferences for mentors, however, the planning team will match teams with mentors based on innovation, field, and need.

External applicants can participate if they're willing to be matched with team members at Brown and Lifespan. Interested external parties are welcome to complete an interest form or email Allison Seeley (allison_seeley@brown.edu) with details about their digital health interests and expertise to be appropriately matched. Matching is based on interest, availability, and fit and is therefore not guaranteed.