January 6, 2026

Students harness AI to shape the future of digital health

New tools are accelerating innovation, and students are rising to meet the moment. On November 15, 2025, 30 undergraduate and graduate students from diverse disciplines gathered at the University of Washington’s Hans Rosling Center for Population Health for the 2025 Sacia Digital Health Innovation Workshop, a dynamic day of ideation in the fast-growing field of digital health.

Now in its fifth year, this cross-campus collaboration between the Buerk Center for Entrepreneurship at the Foster School of Business and the Population Health Initiative offered students an immersive, hands-on opportunity to develop solutions and build connections. The theme: AI tools and the future of healthcare.

The workshop opened with Shilpa Kanna of Pioneer Square Labs introducing Lev, a new project designed to serve as an AI “co-founder” for early-stage entrepreneurs. Lev guides users through a proven venture-building process, provides feedback to refine ideas, and generates key assets for launching a business. Students received early access to Lev to bring their concepts to life throughout the day.

After team ideation sessions, participants heard from Teddy Johnson, director of technology development at the Institute of Translational Health Sciences, who spoke about ecosystem mapping, market segmentation and the importance of market sizing for investor and customer confidence in new clinical products.

Next, a panel of industry experts, including representatives from Fred Hutch, UW School of Medicine, ScriptPro and local startup CLARA, shared insights on demonstrating value in digital health products. They addressed critical questions about validating ideas with healthcare stakeholders, understanding clinical and financial implications and identifying areas for the greatest and fastest impact.

The day concluded with a lightning-pitch round where students presented their innovations to local digital health investors, including Life Science WA Institute, Washington Research Foundation and Creative Destruction Lab Seattle. Ideas ranged from centralized AI health databases and smart bandages for wound care to an app integrating Aura Rings for hormonal biomarker tracking and an accessibility-focused website extension. ShiftSpark, an app designed to combat nurse burnout and improve retention through resilience tools, boundary-setting resources and mentor matching, won Best Pitch.

“Our goal for this annual workshop has always been to bring together impact-driven students from different backgrounds to tackle grand challenges in healthcare,” said organizer Jessica Roberto, Associate Director at the Buerk Center and manager of the upcoming Hollomon Health Innovation Challenge (HIC). “It was truly impressive to see teams go from Dream to Demo in just hours using the AI tools provided by our industry collaborators. We look forward to seeing where their passion takes these projects next.”

Students can continue developing their ideas with support from the Population Health Initiative and the Buerk Center. Participants are encouraged to submit to the 2026 Hollomon Health Innovation Challenge and other Buerk Center competitions for additional feedback and advancement. Applications for the 2026 HIC opened December 1.

This workshop exemplifies the Population Health Initiative’s commitment to fostering interdisciplinary collaboration at the Hans Rosling Center to address major population health challenges. “We’re honored to again partner with the Buerk Center to convene such an impressive group of students seeking entrepreneurial approaches to improve population health,” said Arti Shah, Associate Director for Strategic Engagement. “Their work underscores the importance of diverse disciplines and perspectives in driving meaningful advances in health and well-being.”

Please contact Arti Shah via email at artishah@uw.edu if you are interested in partnering with the Population Health Initiative to host a workshop or convening. If you have questions about the HIC or additional entrepreneurial opportunities for students, please contact Jessica Roberto at jlb42@uw.edu.