About Us 2019-08-04T22:54:53-04:00

What is a Healthcare Hackathon
& What is A2 Health Hacks?

Our definition:
An all-weekend, high-intensity brainstorming and prototyping event for participants from all walks of life: students and professionals and retirees from fields across IT, engineering, design, health and business, collaborating, putting their skills and knowledge together to create an new solution to a problem. Solutions can be websites or apps, devices, service offerings or or business models, to present to the judges by Sunday to win prizes. In the worst case you’ll have a great weekend creating new things with interesting people and go back to your day job on Monday. In the best case you just met your co-founders and started a company.

Ann Arbor Health Hacks (A2H2) is an entirely volunteer-run non-profit with the goal to foster healthcare innovation and spawn healthcare startups in SE Michigan by hosting an annual 150-person hackathon and monthly meetups.

See also:
What’s a Hackathon?
What’s a Makeathon?

In The Press

Women’s Business Conference, A2 Health Hacks, Mackinac Policy Conference


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Expanded A2 Health Hacks event tackles health challenges in the developing world

The A2 Health Hacks hackathon will return for its third year June 22-24 with new partners, a new and bigger space, a new prize, and a new focus on addressing health problems in the developing world.

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A2 Healthcare Hackathon, Microsoft Philanthropy, TEALS


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Ann Arbor Health Hacks Weekend 2017: Removing Barriers to Healthcare


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At 2017 Ann Arbor hackathon, groups have 24 hours to find new solutions to old health care problems

Usually, when we hear the word “hacking,” we think of someone breaking into something — like your computer or customer data at a credit card company. But there’s a constructive, positive spin on the word hack too.

A2 Health Hacks is a weekend-long exercise where people come together to find new solutions to old problems in health care.

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2017 Ann Arbor Health Hacks Weekend invites broad range of participants to address barriers to care

Ann Arbor Health Hacks Weekend is now in its second year. This year’s theme is “Removing Barriers to Healthcare.” Participants will tackle solutions to problems that prevent people from receiving appropriate care, from affordability to transportation to difficulties taking time off work.

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Cardiovascular Center Co-Sponsors 2016 Ann Arbor Health Hackathon

The first annual Ann Arbor Health Hackathon brought together medical professionals, software engineers and public health workers, among others, to brainstorm solutions to global healthcare problems.

The “hackathon” included 24 hours of health-related “hacking,” which involved teams pitching ideas and creating prototypes for solutions to health problems. The event focused on preventing disease in underserved areas of the developing world.

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The first annual Ann Arbor Health Hackathon brought together medical professionals, software engineers, public health workers among others to brainstorm solutions to global healthcare problems from Friday to Saturday in Palmer Commons.

The “hackathon” included 24 hours of health-related “hacking,” which involved teams pitching ideas and creating prototypes for solutions to health problems. The event focused on preventing disease in underserved areas of the developing world.

Read The Full Article

Teams Innovate, Create At 2016 Ann Arbor Health Hackathon

A kid-friendly mobile app giving children the power to participate in research studies to improve their health won first place at the inaugural Ann Arbor Health Hackathon: Prototyping Disease Prevention, co-sponsored WDI.

The round-the-clock event, held June 24-26 on the University of Michigan campus, drew 91 participants who formed 18 teams comprised of students, researchers, and professionals from the biomedical, engineering, IT, business, clinical, design, and public health sectors. Hackathon judges awarded prizes for first, second and third places, as well as a Cardiovascular Prize. Participants voted on a People’s Choice Prize. Teams were assisted by more than 40 mentors who wandered the room, listened to the groups and provided feedback.

The second-place team created a virtual reality app to help patients suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, while the third-place team developed a personalized, real-time motion capture application to improve physical therapy. The Cardiovascular Prize went to a team that developed an easy-to-understand, paper-based test to signal onset of atherosclerosis – the buildup of fats, cholesterol and other substances on the artery walls. Finally, the People’s Choice Prize went to a team that worked to connect transportation and grocery stores to increase access to nutritious food.

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2019 Leadership

Daniela KnoeflerExecutive Director
All throughout my biomedical and life science career I have been driven by the passion to positively impact people’s lives. Based on my experience in fostering collaboration within academic research I believe that connecting people with diverse sets of skills and experiences enables the creation of innovative solutions. And sometimes it is simply a fresh set of eyes or looking at a problem from a different perspective that leads to the inception of a groundbreaking idea!

A2 Health Hacks has successfully demonstrated that this mindset also works on health care innovation, and I am honored to have been trusted with the opportunity to lead the Ann Arbor Health Hackathon into its fourth year! I am looking forward with excitement to bring together our innovative and entrepreneurial community.

Naveen BandepalyaExecutive Director
Hailing from small village in southern India, availing the best healthcare had always been a struggle. I have seen firsthand how important a good healthcare can be. A personal loss due to improper care & negligence and a survival story of my toddler son through BMT enlightened me about the problems facing today’s healthcare industry. It led me to involve myself in finding ways to help others to understand and get best healthcare.

As a mechanical engineer, entrepreneur, and coach, I’ve always had the instinct to find better ways to solve problems, improve quality & efficiency by means of innovation and new technology. I joined A2 Health Hack as a channel for like-minded people from diverse communities to gather and find various solutions & improvements in today’s healthcare.

Advisory Board

Beatrix BaloghCo-founder and Board Advisor
I always knew I wanted to help others, I just didn’t know in what capacity. Getting the opportunity to study applied mathematics with a focus on biological systems showed me that I can use my analytical mindset and work alongside clinicians and policy researchers to better understand current, and future, health systems. My current research in public health markets has helped me put those skills to use and my further studies in health system design will help me better understand how to create better access to health for those that need it the most.

My belief is that community is key, and my reason for wanting to get involved in A2H2 is to further develop collaboration in the Ann Arbor area. There are an immense amount of organizations and companies doing really amazing work in health, but a lack of an avenue of sharing between them. If unique minds and skillsets are given the opportunity to work together, then some great ideas and solutions can develop to help improve access to health.

Britt G. JohnsonCo-founder and Board Advisor
Moonlights in work on health commodity supply chains through her work at Integral Chain.
As a supply chain manager, I’ve always loved problem solving and understanding how small changes can affect the big picture. I am happiest incorporating large doses of analysis,strategy, data,creativity and discovery into my daily life. I also love learning about global issues and have spent the majority of my life working in international development.

When I was a student at MIT, I participated in a health hackathon. My team developed a phone app that allows doctors and patients to measure the amplitude of blood flow. Many major medical issues require diagnosis and monitoring of amplitude, among them diabetes, ulcers, cancer, peripheral vascular disease, and heart disease. In addition to creating a useful product, I had the opportunity to work with a group of people with new ideas and diverse backgrounds and skills. The two days were tough, I was in the middle of exams for my masters. But so invigorating and exciting. I knew I wanted to share this experience with the greater Ann Arbor community.

Diane BouisCo-founder and Board Advisor
I told people I wanted to cure cancer and AIDS at age 14 and clearly haven’t succeeded, but along the way – through an academic career in oncology and cardiology- I learned that great progress it’s not just about being smart but about engaging and inspiring others.

I now work as an innovation consultant and constantly and purposefully work with people from very diverse educational and personal backgrounds. I want to bring this spirit of diversity and innovation back to my first love: healthcare. For me, a healthcare hackathon is also great way to give back to my community: the healthcare folks (in and outside of academia), the crazy innovators as well as the town and region that has become my home: SE Michigan.

Neelima RamarajuCo-founder and Board Advisor
As an Industrial Engineer, I’ve always been interested in finding the most efficient way to do things. A career in healthcare consulting led me to recognize the many opportunities for process and design improvements in healthcare. A passion for global development steered me towards working on improving health supply chains for developing countries across the globe.

The same interest in continuous improvement and passion for making the world a better place led to my involvement in A2 Health Hacks. During my time in Southeast Michigan and working in global health, I’ve come across so many people with great ideas but not necessarily working together. I believe that the most effective teams are often the most diverse teams. So what better way to solve pressing healthcare issues other than by bringing together a diverse group of smart and talented folks!

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