Yesterday took place the Design Dash – Católica Medical School Edition, an innovation sprint with medical students, faculty, and mentors!
This Reciprocal Exchange was developed by the University of Iowa – John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Center – Jacobson Institute and the Católica-Luz Clinical Academic Center, with the support of the sponsors: Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade Católica, American Councils for International Education, YTILI (Young Transatlantic Innovation Leaders Initiative), and the U.S. Department of State.
We had 12 participant registrations, 7 mentors and 3 judges which are very positive numbers for a pilot edition of this initiative in Portugal!
Regarding the theme “Conquering Cancer One Idea at a Time,” four teams selected the following topics related to the cancer challenge: Caretaking, Processed Foods, Nutrition, and Provider Shortages.
The teams were: ABCare, Nutrioma, Foodboard, and MedBuddy!
After developing their poster, they had to present it in just one minute to a jury composed by Professor Mara de Sousa Freitas, our Executive Director, Ana Rita Constante, and Sarah Vigmostad, Associate Professor at the University of Iowa and Co-Founder of SynderBio, Inc!
Next, they had to listen to each other’s pitches and decide whether or not to invest fictional money – $5,000 given to each participant into the project they considered the best.
In total, $80,000 in fictional money was invested by all participants!
In addition to participation certificates for both participants and mentors, all participants competed for the following awards: Pitch, Innovation, Fastest of 15 Discovery Interviews, and a Peer Award — Investor’s Choice (an award where participants invested their own fictional money).
A plataforma Investor’s Choice was awarded to Nutrioma, the Best Pitch Award went to MedBuddy, the Innovation Award was given to Foodboard and the Award for Fastest of 15 Discovery Interviews is given to MedBuddy.
Overall, the Design Dash – Católica Medical School Edition was a great success, bringing together students, mentors, and faculty to collaborate, think creatively, and develop innovative ideas to tackle challenges related to cancer.
This pilot edition highlighted the strong interest in innovation and entrepreneurship within the medical community and laid the foundation for future editions that will continue to inspire new solutions and impactful collaborations!
