$275,000 to be awarded in the first competition of its kind in the State
New Haven, CT (May 15, 2025) – On May 27, the Yale New Haven Health (YNHHS) Center for Health Care Innovation will host the Health AI Championship, a premier competition designed to showcase groundbreaking applications of artificial intelligence (AI) in healthcare. The competition invited innovators from health systems and hospitals across Connecticut to develop AI-driven solutions that address critical challenges in patient care and healthcare operations.
“By inviting innovators to share cutting-edge ideas, we are accomplishing several things. We are fostering collaboration but also paving the way for real-world applications that can significantly improve patient outcomes and streamline healthcare operations,” said Lee Schwamm, MD, SVP and chief digital health officer, YNHHS and associate dean, Digital Strategy and Transformation, YSM. “In turn, this initiative is more than a competition – it’s a step towards designing more efficient, learning healthcare systems. This collaboration comes at the perfect time when AI’s potential to revolutionize healthcare has never been greater and Yale New Haven Health is very proud to take a leadership role in the AI domain.”
Of the 54 applications received, the independent panel of judges narrowed the field down to 12 finalists. Each of those 12 teams will present their innovation ideas on May 27 before a sold out crowd and a panel of expert judges comprising strategic investors and industry experts from across the nation. The top prize will be $100,000 to help fund their project, followed by two awards of $50,000 each for second place and three awards of $25,000 for third place.
The 12 finalists and their projects are:
- Ramesh Batra, MBBS YNHHS Deep machine learning model for prediction of deal in organ donation after circulatory death
- David Chen, MD Gaylord Specialty Care An AI-driven pre-authorization optimization platform
- TZE Chiam, PhD CT Children’s The use of AU, computer simulation and mathematical optimization for optimizing Emergency Department resources allocation
- Alex Hogan. MD CT Children’s Automation of low-value care metrics using natural language processing
- Rohan Khera, MD YNHHS Ensight AI: AI-enabled ECG analysis tool
- Po-Jen Lin, MD Nuvance Health Re-Agent: AI driven research collaboration platform that employs agentic AI to automate complex administrative workflows
- Changchun Liu, PhD UConn Health AI-driven mobile health tool for infectious disease detection at the point of care
- Tapan Mehta, MD Hartford Healthcare Detection and localization of subdural hematoma with subsequent recurrence prediction using AI
- Richa Sharma, MD YNHHS POLARIS: AI-driven co-pilot that aims to improve stroke outcomes and brain health
- David Sink, MD CT Children’s NEC Detect: AI-driven early detection model for severe necrotizing enterocolitis in premature infants
- Hua Xu, MD YNHHS Agentic AI for healthcare scheduling: A use case on optimizing anesthesiology staff scheduling in surgery rooms
- Steven Zweibel, MD Hartford Healthcare AI-enabled multi-class diagnosis of ejection fraction from electrocardiograms
The Health AI Championship was created by the YNHHS Center for Healthcare Innovation. The Center’s goal is to challenge people from all areas, industries and backgrounds to identify problems in health care and find impactful solutions.
Yale New Haven Health (YNHHS), the largest and most comprehensive healthcare system in Connecticut, is recognized for advanced clinical care, quality, service, cost effectiveness and commitment to improving the health status of the communities it serves. YNHHS includes five hospitals – Bridgeport, Greenwich, Lawrence + Memorial, Westerly and Yale New Haven hospitals, several specialty networks and Northeast Medical Group, a non-profit medical foundation with several hundred community-based and hospital-employed physicians. YNHHS is affiliated with Yale University and Yale Medicine, the clinical practice of the Yale School of Medicine and the largest academic multi-specialty practice in New England. Yale New Haven Hospital is the primary teaching hospital of Yale School of Medicine. www.ynhhs.org
