TMC PULSE

t m c » p u l s e | j u n e 2 0 1 6 26 26 H A C K AT H O N J U D G E S One of the ways he feels will help bring mental health to the forefront is for communities to work to take away the "undying stigma" related to mental health—to figure out ways the community can come together to support citizens with mental illness, and how that could be translated into a clinical setting. Though CHMI has partnered on previous hack- athons, Chan and Toral Sindha, Houston and Harris County regional director for CHMI, both say hav- ing this one run through the Texas Medical Center enabled a deeper dive into the specific unmet needs of the medical community and which ones could be disrupted in a good way. "The mental health space is becoming more emer- gent and diverse in terms of the populations experi- encing it, and institutions are really looking at how technology intersects with medicine," Sindha said. "The proactive application of technology, national trends and local trends will be a successful model here in Houston." The second unmet need presented at the hack- athon specifically guided the participants to devise a It really blew me away and spoke to the DNA in the room— these are bright, highly motivated folks, and it was inspiring and a wonderful thing to see. — WILLIAM COHN, M.D. Cardiologist and Director of the Center for Technology and Innovation at the Texas Heart Institute, Professor of Surgery at Baylor College of Medicine, Adjunct Professor of Bioengineering at both Rice University and the University of Houston Luke Bonney Co-founder of Redox Katherine Chambers Co-founder of The Right Place Alex Chan Director of national health for the Clinton Health Matters Initiative William Cohn, M.D. Cardiologist and director of the Center for Technology and Innovation at the Texas Heart Institute Thomas DeSouza Managing director at Allegory Venture Partners Mark Escott, M.D. Assistant professor of emergency medicine at Baylor College of Medicine and director of the EMS and disaster medicine division William F. McKeon Executive vice president, chief strategy and operating officer of the Texas Medical Center Nidal Moukaddam, M.D., Ph.D. Assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Baylor College of Medicine Vinay Patel Business development manager at AT&T Toral Sindha Houston and Harris County regional director for Clinton Health Matters Initiative Farzad Soleimani, M.D. Associate director of TMC Biodesign and assistant professor of emergency medicine at Baylor College of Medicine solution to enable emergency medical services teams to pull up a patient's medical history when they arrive on the scene, regardless of their underlying medical conditions. The Biodesign directors drew attention to the fact that nearly seven million transports are conducted in the U.S. by EMS responders without any knowledge of patients' medical histories. After all eight teams presented their solutions, the judges awarded SpaceApples with the $2,000 first prize; mBiometrics came in second and won $1,000 for its application that helps EMS identify patients; and 5 Tries Design won third, and $500, for its RadPal lead apron device. Nidal Moukaddam, M.D., Ph.D., assistant profes- sor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Baylor College of Medicine and one of the judges, thought the event was a good way to spend the weekend, and she enjoyed seeing how multidisciplinary and accom- plished the teams were. "It was great to hear their different perspectives," she said. "A lot of these people are very skillful and William F. McKeon, middle, executive vice president and chief strategy and operating officer of the Texas Medical Center, asks questions of one of the presenters during the pitch presentations.

• Cover