WASHINGTON, June 9, 2011 – With SleepBot, an app that charts users’ sleep habits and benchmarks them against potential threats associated with sleep deprivation, a team of college students from Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, New York University, and Northwestern University won the top prize in “Go Viral to Improve Health: IOM-NAE Health Data Collegiate Challenge.”SleepBot was selected as the first-prize winner from products submitted by 15 teams in response to the challenge, which was issued by the Institute of Medicine and the National Academy of Engineering as part of the Health 2.0 Developer Challenge. “Go Viral to Improve Health” called on university undergraduate and graduate students to work in interdisciplinary teams to develop a Web-based or mobile product that tackles a health issue in a creative way and encourages community interaction. The developers of SleepBot are Edison Wang and Kevin Tulod, Cooper Union; Jane Zhu, NYU; and William Qiao, Northwestern. Their winning app can be explored at www.mysleepbot.com/about/.A team from Arizona State University claimed the second prize with Freebee, an app that spreads awareness within college campuses about a variety of health risks including alcoholism, smoking, unsafe sex, drug use, and campus safety issues. Freebee developers are Jennifer Burkmier, Ramya Baratam, Louis Tse, Chris Workman, and Jane Lacson. More details on their app are available at www.youtube.com/watch?v=yd-qKqIjCT0. Another ASU team took the third prize with IMPAct, a Web-based, interactive planner that allows individuals and families to keep track of medical appointments. IMPAct team members are Tania Lyon, Taylor Barker, Edgar Sanchez, Eric Kern, and Jennifer Jost. Their app can be expored at www.interactivemedicalplanner.com.

The first place team received a $3,000 prize and demonstrated SleepBot on June 9 during the plenary session of the Health Data Initiative Forum, a gathering of health leaders, software engineers, and IT developers to accelerate the public use of health data and spur innovation to improve individual and community health. The Freebee and IMPAct teams received $2,000 and $1,000 respectively and displayed their winning technologies in the forum’s exhibit hall. The forum, hosted by IOM and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, promoted interaction among health and data experts and explored topics related to the application of health information.  Several companies and organizations announced new challenges and other initiatives. More information on the forum is available at www.iom.edu/healthdataforum.

“We are delighted to showcase the ingenuity and talent of these future health, engineering, and IT professionals who have transformed raw health data into innovative, health-promoting products,” said IOM President Harvey V. Fineberg.

“The winning teams show the power of collaboration to tackle serious health issues and promote healthy habits by harnessing new technologies,” said NAE President Charles M. Vest. “We congratulate the winners and all the teams who responded to the challenge with such enthusiastic creativity and skill.”

The Institute of Medicine and National Academy of Engineering along with the National Academy of Sciences and National Research Council make up the National Academies. They are private, nonprofit institutions that provide science, technology, and health policy advice under a congressional charter. For more information, visit www.national-academies.org. “Go Viral to Improve Health” was administered by Health 2.0, an organizer of health care technology conferences, a community of innovators, and media network.

Contacts:
Christine Stencel, Senior Media Relations Officer, Institute of Medicine
202-334-2138; e-mail news@nas.edu
Randy Atkins, Senior Media Relations Officer, National Academy of Engineering
202-334-1508; e-mail atkins@nae.edu