First Published: 23rd May 2024
Image: Imperial College
In a remarkable display of creativity and collaboration, students and early-career professionals from diverse fields came together last week for the 2-day 'REDESIGN Women’s Health Hackathon' at Imperial College. The event, aimed at addressing women's health challenges, brought nearly 100 participants from Engineering, Design, Medicine, Public Health, and Business to focus on innovative solutions in gynaecological health, maternal health, cardiometabolic health, and brain and mental health.
A Focus on Gender Health Disparities
Hosted by the Dyson School of Design Engineering and organised by the Women's Health Network of Excellence, the hackathon spotlighted gender health disparities and fostered interdisciplinary collaboration. The event was part of an effort to innovate with a human-centred approach, emphasising the importance of designing healthcare solutions that genuinely meet women's needs.
Established in 2023, the Imperial Women’s Health Network is a multi-faculty initiative dedicated to promoting interdisciplinary research and innovation in women’s health and gender-based health equity. Network lead Dr. Carinna Hockham highlighted the importance of the event: “This event is a prime example of why we set up the network - to create opportunities for students and staff from diverse disciplinary backgrounds to come together and brainstorm ideas to improve the health of women and girls.”
Shifting Perspectives in Healthcare Design
Historically, healthcare has been predominantly shaped by male perspectives. Dr. Céline Mougenot, a member of the network leadership team and head of the Collective Innovation Lab at the Dyson School of Design Engineering, stressed the need for a shift towards designing healthcare innovations tailored for and co-created with women. This approach ensures that healthcare solutions are truly user-centred and effective.
Keynote speaker Sarah Graham, an award-winning health journalist and author of "Rebel Bodies: A Guide to the Gender Health Gap Revolution," set the scene for the hackathon by outlining the various ways in which women’s health has been underserved. She emphasised the necessity of a multidisciplinary approach to women's health.
Workshops and Collaborative Innovation
The hackathon featured several workshops to support participants, including sessions on Needs Finding and Problem Framing by Tahira Resalat, Ideation and No-Code Prototyping by Jasper Jia, and Business Canvas and Pitch by Linh Nguyen. Shefali Bohra, co-founder of the award-winning startup Dotplot, shared her experience in creating a FemTech startup, inspiring participants with her journey.
Seventeen teams presented their innovative solutions to a panel of healthcare experts, including Dr. Shikta Das (AstraZeneca), Dr. Karim Sandid (Kuma Health), Rebecca Leppard (Upgrading Women), Sarah Fox, and David Robson (TPXimpact). They competed for a cash prize and an annual membership to the FemHealth Insights platform, gifted by founder Dr. Brittany Barretto. Winners were chosen based on user-centred innovation, development, viability, and communication.
Innovative Solutions and Winning Ideas
The winning team, MenoBand, designed a smart bracelet for menopausal women to provide relief during hot flushes. The bracelet uses colour-changing thermo-chromic technology to alert users to hot flushes and applies pressure to induce cooling, powered by thermoelectric generators using body heat. Paired with a mobile app, it allows users to track symptoms and access medical insights for enhanced comfort. The team plans to use their cash prize to start developing prototypes for their idea.
Reflecting on their experience, MenoBand team members Amelia Gustave, Hannah Gheel, and Rishi Viswanath, undergraduate students in Design Engineering, shared: “The insights gained through the various talks were invaluable. And we enjoyed applying what we learnt about user research from our Human Centred Design course to Woman’s Health, an overlooked area within medicine.”
Other notable ideas included an AI-powered monitor for assessing stroke risk factors in women, an IoT device aimed at fostering empathy between peri-menopausal women and their partners, an app empowering new mothers to maintain health goals, an app designed to assist with managing vaginal thrush, and an information system dedicated to recruiting female participants for clinical trials.
A Tradition of Innovation
The diversity and creativity of the women-centred solutions presented at the hackathon reflected the event's success and collaborative spirit. Led by Echo Wan, a PhD student in Design Engineering, and supported by student volunteers from various societies, including the Imperial College London FemTech Society and Design Engineering Society, and the Royal College of Art FemTech Society, the organising team was impressed by the enthusiastic engagement and caliber of solutions produced.
The team aims to establish the REDESIGN Women’s Health Hackathon as an annual tradition on campus, fostering continued innovation and addressing critical issues in women’s health. By bringing together bright minds from various disciplines, the event promises to drive meaningful change and empower women's health for years to come.
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