UCL Global Business School for Health recently welcomed innovators, clinicians, entrepreneurs and problem-solvers from across industries to host the London Hub of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health’s Health Systems Innovation Lab (HSIL) Hackathon.
The annual global Hackathon, organised by Harvard HSIL in collaboration with institutions around the world, challenges participants to develop practical solutions to strengthen health systems through rapid innovation and interdisciplinary collaboration.
Hosted at UCL East’s Marshgate campus, the London Hub brought together 100 participants for an intensive two-day experience focused on this year’s theme: Building High-Value Health Systems: Leveraging AI.
Working in multidisciplinary teams, participants moved from idea generation to prototype development, supported by expert mentors and judged by leaders from healthcare, business and innovation.
Collaboration Across Disciplines
A defining feature of the Hackathon was the diversity of expertise in the room. Participants from medicine, engineering, AI, venture capital, academia and business collaborated to solve shared healthcare problems.
The event also featured support from an experienced panel of judges and mentors, including Omar Din, Dr. Uddhav Vaghela, Lucy Marples, Mo Elzek, MD, PhD, Ahmed Zahlan, Annapoorni Chandrashekar, Michael Morgan-Curran, Dr Isabel Van De Keere, PhD, Dr Raees Lunat, Silvia Cerolini, and Dr. Conrad Coelho.
From Concept to Prototype in Two Days
Across the event, 22 teams tackled real-world healthcare challenges by designing solutions that could improve quality, efficiency and patient outcomes.
The Hackathon encouraged participants to think entrepreneurially, test ideas quickly and create working concepts within a short timeframe, mirroring the pace of modern innovation environments.
Two teams were selected as the London Hub winners.
Winning Teams
Foresight: AI-Powered Surgical Training
Developed by Ramzi Ben Hassen and Nir Mathur, who met on day one of the Hackathon, Foresight focused on enhancing surgical training for endoscopic procedures through AI-enabled simulation and learning support.
Fitzcrew: Clinical Audit Intelligence
Created by Marie Zedler, Octave Oliviers, Jannik Steinkamp and Praneeth Vedagiri, Fitzcrew developed a solution designed to transform fragmented electronic health record data into actionable insights for clinical audits.
Both teams progressed to the next stage of the Harvard HSIL venture-building programme, where selected participants receive further mentorship and support to refine their ideas.
Driving the Future of Health Innovation
By hosting the London Hub of the Harvard HSIL Hackathon, UCL Global Business School for Health continues to create opportunities where healthcare meets business, entrepreneurship and emerging technology.
Events like these reflect the School’s mission to develop future leaders who can design, build and scale solutions for healthier societies worldwide.
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