Students at Queen Mary, University of London have the chance to solve problems in healthcare and win £1,000 by using their creative ideas and entrepreneurial skills in a new technology competition.
The QHealth competition is open to all Queen Mary students. Students who are accepted onto the programme will work with medical practitioners and computer science experts to identify healthcare problems then design a technology solution, such as an app, website, hardware or software, to improve orthopaedic healthcare.
While QHealth is interested initially in ideas specific to orthopaedics - a branch of surgery which covers the musculoskeletal system and includes treatments for sports injuries, tumours, congenital disorders and degenerative diseases - other innovative medical-related ideas will also be considered.
Professor Peter McOwan is Queen Mary’s Vice Principal for External Relations and Public Engagement and head of QM’s apps venture QApps. He says: “QHealth is the first programme of its kind in the UK. It is open to all students at Queen Mary - you don’t have to have any previous experience in business, technology or healthcare to enter, as long as you have an entrepreneurial mind and are willing to work as part of a team.”
Examples of existing orthopaedic initiatives include a website that allows patients to learn about a surgical procedure at home before giving their consent to a procedure, and an app that tracks bone and joint symptoms in patients before and after surgery.
In addition to a cash prize, the competition will put students in contact with a host of experts who will help them develop their idea and skills, and prepare winners to pitch to a panel who could provide funding to help the winning student’s ideas become reality.
QHealth will launch on Wednesday 12 June at the Queen Mary Bioenterprises (QMB) Innovation Centre in Whitechapel. All those interested in entering the project are welcome to attend and should reserve their space via eventbrite by Sunday 9 June: http://qhealthlaunch.eventbrite.com/#
Speakers at the launch event include Manoj Ramachandran, Barts Health NHS Trust Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon, Honorary Senior Lecturer at QM and co-founder of QHealth, and Pramod Achan, Clinical Director of Orthopaedics at Barts Health NHS Trust, talking on challenges and innovation in healthcare.
Bruce Hellman, CEO of mobile and web software company UMotif closes the evening event, discussing digital health start-ups.
Manoj Ramachandran comments: “This exciting new joint venture between Computer Science at Queen Mary and Orthopaedics at Barts Health NHS Trust is the start of a really exciting new development in healthcare, with computer scientists and clinicians collaborating with entrepreneurial students to create exciting novel healthcare innovations.”
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