Pitt Competition Aims to Solve Health Problems through Patient Engagement
By: Anita Srikameswaran and Tim Betler
Just as a reality TV show gives contestants an opportunity to share their inventions, the Pitt Innovation Challenge, or PInCH, aims to give scientists and other community members a venue to be creative and develop new answers to the question: “How do we empower individuals to take control of their own health outcomes?”
The University of Pittsburgh Clinical and Translational Science Institute(CTSI), in collaboration with the university’s Office of the Provost and the Innovation Institute, is offering $300,000 in funding to three winners and also will provide them with project managers to implement the best ideas. Anyone can enter, and teams that bring together collaborators from different perspectives, institutions and disciplines are encouraged, but at least one member of the team must be a Pitt faculty member. If needed, PInCh organizers will help community members connect with a member of the faculty. The solution could be a device, a software application, an intervention strategy or any other approach that could address the health problem the team identifies. Watch PInCh program director John Maier, M.D., explain to a Pitt scientist how the competition works, and think fast! The deadline to submit a two-minute video entry is March 2. For more information, go to www.pinch.pitt.edu.
