Letters of intent accepted December 1, 2008 - January 15, 2009.

CIMIT has announced a dynamic new engineering prize competition: the CIMIT Prize for Primary Healthcare. It calls for technologic innovations with the greatest potential to support and catalyze improved delivery of healthcare at the frontlines of medicine.  The top three entrants (individuals or teams) will receive $150,000, $100,000 and $50,000, respectively*, to help advance their winning clinically-relevant, primary care solutions.

This national competition is open to graduate and undergraduate engineering students from accredited engineering programs. CIMIT’s goal in offering these major awards is to encourage engineering students to develop technological innovations that have great potential to enhance delivery of primary healthcare. Student collaboration and team submissions are strongly encouraged.

Technologies of particular interest are those which promise improved access to medical care, leveraging the skill of caregivers, automating routine tasks, increasing efficiency of workflow, supporting patients with chronic disease and their family caregivers, increasing compliance with care-protocols, reducing medical error, or augmenting the physician-patient relationship.  Innovations are sought for use in any setting, not just that of the medical-practice office. The full range of venues of daily living, from home to work to shopping and beyond, present attractive opportunities for innovation, which can enhance the quality and continuity of primary care. 

The tangible reward for the ultimate winners will be monetary prizes to the winning individuals or teams to support their further work in implementing or actualizing their prototype innovations.  Specifically, up to ten finalists will be provided with $10,000 each to develop a final full submission; and the first, second, and third place winners will be awarded $150,000, $100,000, and $50,000, respectively.  In addition, CIMIT will provide national recognition to the winners and can offer help to facilitate the further development or successful implementation and possible commercialization of the innovations. 

This CIMIT Prize is made possible because of a generous gift from the Gelfand Family Charitable Trust, which will support the competition annually over the next five years.

* The funds will be transferred to the student(s) home institution for appropriate dispersal.

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Evaluation criteria for full entry proposals will be:

Innovation:

• Originality (disruptive technologies are sought, unconstrained by the forces of current fee-for-service reimbursement patterns, but offering better outcomes)
• Leverage (applying innovations from fields outside of healthcare)

Impact:

• Impact (some measure of the scope of the impact)
• Practicality (e.g., materials, cost, power requirements if relevant, “fit” with medical culture)
• Accuracy (compelling case that false positives or negatives will be manageable, if the technology is diagnostic, or, of the technology is therapeutic, that the care will be safely and accurately delivered)
• Generalizability (flexibility to fit different venues of practice and clinical scenarios)
• Safety (contribution to reduction of current risk, and compelling case made that new risks would not be introduced)
• Patients’ viewpoint (identification of patient demand and/or need, with data, if possible, from the literature)
• Simplification of work processes
• Cost-effectiveness

Implementation:

• Time-to-market (identification of obstacles and appropriate tactics for surmounting them)
• Use of Funds (the monies will be used in ways that lead to a significant advance)
• Acceptance (clear explication that the innovation will contribute to patient comfort and convenience, while improving or speeding positive outcomes)

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CIMIT Prize FAQs

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Letters of Intent Project Description

Contest participants will begin with a letter of intent. Up to ten finalists, students or student-led teams, will then be chosen by CIMIT to continue. Each of those ten will be provided with $10,000 to fund expenses for developing their idea into a full entry. Letters of intent will be due Jan. 15, 2009.

The letter of intent should include a project description of the following (two pages max):

• A statement of the targeted problem area or opportunity space
• A description of the proposed solution
• A listing of all collaborators, including students, faculty, and clinicians.  Involving clinical collaborators is encouraged.  Please include position and institution for each collaborator.

The two page project description should be combined with the signed coversheet and signed institutional letter of support into one document and then converted into a single PDF to submit online using the How to Apply Instructions below.

How to Apply

• Letters of intent will be accepted from 12/01/08 to 1/15/09.
• All applications must use the CIMIT web-based submission system.
• The URL for the submission site is: https://precisionconference.com/~cimit. Once you have registered and logged in, click on "new submissions" and then "Make a new submission to CIMIT …" to access the online form for CIMIT Primary Healthcare Prize.
• To input your proposal online, you must complete the application demographic fields and upload a single file in a composite pdf format containing the following documents:
  • A coversheet signed by the student project lead and responsible Institutional Official. (An "Institutional Official” is an individual with authority to accept responsibility for funds.)
  • A project description (2 pages max)
  • A signed Letter of Support from the responsible Institutional Official on official letterhead (2 pages max). The Letter of Support simply needs to be on institutional letterhead for verification of authenticity, and needs to affirm three things:
    1. that the entrant is a student in good standing in the school,
    2. that the institution will accept the responsibilities for oversight of any matters of compliance with regulations and policies,
    3. that the institution will disburse the funds for purposes related to the advancement of the project or for benefit of the student’s career, and will not deduct any indirect-cost amounts or other handling fees.
• All text must be in a readable font (at least Arial 11 point) and margins must be at least 0.7 inches.
• You may replace a loaded pdf with a newer version.
• Instructions for final proposals will be included in the invitation to submit a full proposal. Finalists will be chosen by February 9, 2009.
• Email cimitprize@partners.org with questions.
• Students can only submit one application on behalf of their individual or team project. However, there is no limit on the number of applications a university or program can submit.

Timeline for the award process:

December 1, 2008:        Submission process open
January 15, 2009:           Letters of intent due
February 9, 2009:           Ten finalists chosen
May 31, 2009:                  Final proposals due
June 30, 2009:                Announcement of three winners

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Sample Primary Care Scenarios

These illustrative primary care examples of patient needs and potential design opportunities are not intended to constrain the opportunity space but to stimulate thought. Applicants should feel free to work from their personal experiences and those of clinical collaborators.

Health and Wellness
A healthy 24-year-old woman with a sedentary lifestyle and stressful job feels motivated to develop strategies for weight management and long-term health. With her family history of heart disease, diabetes and cancer, prevention is her chief concern. How can technology enable patients to succeed at long-term personalized health management?

Living with Chronic Illness
A 16-year-old girl with insulin-dependent diabetes maintains an active schedule filled with soccer, band, and art. She wears a continuous insulin-infusion pump, frequently checks her blood-glucose levels and carefully plans her diet and activity to maintain her health. How can technology help her manage these complex calculations and support her desire to lead a "normal" adolescent lifestyle?

Mental and Cognitive Health
A 30-year-old male suffered multiple fractures and a traumatic brain injury in a motor vehicle accident two years ago. A multi-disciplinary team continues to work with him to manage physical and cognitive issues; he wants to do more for himself. How can technology enable patients struggling with mental health and cognitive disorders to increase the degree of self-management?

Alternative Care Models
A 48-year-old mother and full-time business executive must frequently disrupt her tight schedule to drive her kids to the physician’s office for evaluation of common childhood ailments, such as sore throats or rashes. These short office visits can take several hours out of her day with travel and wait-time. How can technology enable improved management of routine medical issues in a more convenient home or community setting?

Chronic Disease Management
An 82-year-old widower with hypertension, diabetes, congestive heart failure and arthritis lives alone and wishes to remain independent in his home as long as possible. He is becoming increasingly home-bound and socially isolated. How can technology enable continuous collaborative management of chronic disease by patient and care team, including medication management. How can technology–enabled social networks for peer support and care coordination be leveraged?

Design Your Own Primary Care Need
Using your own personal experience, describe a primary care scenario and the technology challenge your proposal seeks to solve.

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