Inaugural Biotech Bridge Hackathon Announces Winners, Innovators for a Longer, Healthier Life

Three teams of students from across Florida Atlantic University recently took home cash prizes for winning the inaugural Center for Molecular Biology and Biotechnology’s (CMBB) Biotech Bridge Hackathon, on Jan. 31 and Feb. 1. This year’s theme, Beat the Clock: Innovating for a Longer, Healthier Life, attracted more than 85 students to come together to answer the question: How do we extend health span and slow the effects of aging?

The two-day event challenged undergraduate and graduate students from various majors, including biology, mathematics, chemistry, computer science and engineering, neuroscience and more, to solve this real-world problem. By working together in teams, students harnessed their varied skillsets to create innovative solutions.

Expert faculty and industry leaders were on-site to provide students with guidance, insights, technical support and some tips to improve their pitches to the judges. Among them was Hananel Hazan, Ph.D., an interdisciplinary computer scientist at Tufts University, who delivered the event’s keynote speech, along with Valery Forbes, Ph.D., dean of the Charles E. Schmidt College of Science, who also addressed the students and attended the pitch presentations. Shailaja Allani, Ph.D., director, Center for Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, and associate scientist, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Schmidt College of Science, helped develop the Hackathon.

“The inaugural CMBB Biotech Bridge Biotech Hackathon showcased the power of curiosity and problem-solving driven by the spirit of teamwork and interdisciplinary collaboration to create solutions for a longer, healthier life,” stated Allani. “I was truly impressed by how many students with no prior experience in a hackathon worked tirelessly for nearly 30 hours to develop, execute and complete their projects with incredible dedication and creativity.”

This year’s inaugural Biotech Bridge Hackathon winners were:

First Place: Team “NeuroNexus”
$1,000 Cash Prize

Alzheimer’s begins damaging neurons decades before symptoms appear, yet current diagnostic methods are costly, invasive or unreliable, leaving a critical need for earlier detection. The team’s solution, NeuroNexus, leverages AI and Multi-Omics datasets to identify novel biomarkers, validated through brain-on-a-chip models. This real-time AI feedback loop continuously refines biomarker predictions, enabling earlier and more precise diagnostics. By integrating cutting-edge technology, NeuroNexus aims to make Alzheimer’s detection more accessible and improve early intervention outcomes.

Second Place: Team “Health Habit”
$500 Cash Prize

Medication adherence and chronic disease management remain critical health care challenges, often leading to complications and frequent hospital readmissions. To address this, the team developed an AI health assistant using Next.js, LLMs and Tailwind, providing personalized nutrition, exercise and therapy recommendations based on a 70-30 rule (70% user history, 30% family/genetics). Targeting health-conscious individuals and frequently readmitted patients, the team’s solution aims to improve treatment outcomes through proactive lifestyle support. Future applications include B2C integration with wearables like Alexa and Fitbit and B2B collaborations with hospitals while ensuring HIPAA compliance.

Third Place: Team “AI Medical Imaging”
$250 Cash Prize

Accurate weight and height measurement is essential in emergency medicine for precise medication dosing and treatment decisions, yet traditional estimation methods are often unreliable, particularly in high-pressure or resource-limited settings. This study explores advancements in body weight estimation, focusing on modern, contactless technologies such as 3D cameras and AI-powered computational models. By assessing their accuracy, reliability and practical applicability, the team aims to determine their effectiveness across various fields, including health care, forensic sciences and emergency response. The team’s findings highlight the potential of these innovative approaches to improve measurement precision and enhance patient outcomes in critical situations.

Honorable Mention: Team “Help”

As individuals age, subtle biological changes occur that can be detected through scent, yet traditional diagnostic methods often fail to identify these early indicators in a non-invasive and timely manner. Service animals, known for their highly sensitive olfactory abilities, have demonstrated potential in detecting age-related factors such as metabolic changes, neurological decline and disease biomarkers. By training service animals to recognize these scent-based aging indicators, the team can develop an innovative, non-invasive screening method for early detection of age-related conditions. This approach not only enhances preventative health care, but it also paves the way for integrating AI and scent-detection technology to further refine and scale these capabilities.

The event was sponsored by Fisher Scientific and Peter Attia, M.D., Chief Science Officer at David, and was developed in partnership with Nikki Cabus, CEO of South Florida Tech Hub and Addy Cha, student and founder of ekkolápto. Special thanks to Ms. Cabus as well as Jessica Hibberd, development coordinator, John D. MacArthur campus, Florida Atlantic University, for their tireless efforts to bring this event to fruition.

Established in 2023, FAU Biotech Bridge aims to bridge the gap between academia and industry to give students insights into the wide array of non-academic career options in the rapidly growing biotechnology field. FAU Biotech Bridge draws on the expertise of 35 Florida Atlantic faculty from various disciplines, including cancer biology, biochemistry, computational chemistry, neuroscience and aging.

For more information on FAU Biotech Bridge, visit e9ps.theabsolutelongestwebdomainnameinthewholegoddamnfuckinguniverse.com/science/cmbb/.