Report: DSI Health Innovathon at the DSI

DSI Health Innovathon at the DSI

On November 21st and 22nd, the DSI hosted the Health Innovathon, funded by the Health Community of the Digital Society Initiative at the University of Zurich. Over two days, 22 bachelor’s, master’s, and PhD students from diverse backgrounds collaborated to tackle real-world health challenges proposed by five expert mentors. The mentors were researchers and professionals from industry and provided datasets, real-world scenarios, and guidance to the teams.

The Innovathon was organized by Alexander Lill, Clara-Maria Barth, and Federica Zavattaro. Alexander Lill is a PhD candidate in computer science focusing on Software Developer Productivity. Clara-Maria Barth is a PhD candidate in computer science focusing on personalizing digital health technologies for people with chronic conditions. Federica Zavattaro is a PhD candidate in digital and mobile health focusing on trust in the health data-sharing policy process.

The event began with keynote presentations from experts in digital health, data visualization, and entrepreneurship. Prof. Dr. Viktor von Wyl, Assistant Professor of Digital and Mobile Health at the Institute for Implementation Science in Health Care (IfIS), shared insights from the SwissCovid app, its evaluation, and lessons learned as part of the Swiss Covid Taskforce. Prof. Dr. Jürgen Bernard, Assistant Professor of Computer Science at the Department of Informatics (IfI), presented his research on interactive visual data analysis at the example of MS Pattern Explorer used for interactive visual exploration of temporal activity patterns for multiple sclerosis. Lastly, Andreia Fernandes, Lead of Entrepreneurial Training at the UZH Innovation Office, highlighted the entrepreneurial resources available to aspiring founders and offered valuable guidance on fostering creative thinking and effective brainstorming techniques.

The five health challenges proposed by the mentors were:

• Dr. Stephan Gerhard: Identifying Patterns in Longitudinal Health Data to Inform Clear Actions
• Dr. Markus Wolf & Nick Kabrel: Implementing a Secure, Smart LLM Chatbot for the InMind Psychotherapy App
• Gabriela Morgenshtern: Promoting Self-Reflection in Patients Managing Chronic Conditions
• Pietro Oldrati, Dr. Liliana Barrios & Marcelo Stegmann: Identifying Metrics for Visualizing Stress in Multiple Sclerosis Management
• Nimra Ahmed: Highlighting the Impact of Culture on Designing Culturally Sensitive Tools

Our jury awarded first place to Gabriela Morgenshtern’s team for their project on supporting self reflection in type 1 diabetes self-management and second place to Dr. Stephan Gerhard’s team for their project on analyzing and visualizing data on menstrual health for generating actionable insights for women.

The organizers would like to thank all the mentors, keynote speakers, and participants for their commitment and engagement throughout the DSI Health Innovathon.