UW students win award for developing life-saving medical tech
Mar 10, 2025, 4:45 AM
Top honors at the 2025 Hollomon Health Innovation Challenge at the University of Washington went to to the startup Luminovah. (Photo: UW Foster School of Business).
(Photo: UW Foster School of Business)
The 2025 Hollomon Health Innovation Challenge at the University of Washington (UW) awarded over $50,000 in prizes to student teams tackling major healthcare challenges.
The grand prize of $15,000 went to the startup Luminovah developing a non-invasive jaundice detection device that works effectively on all skin tones. Currently in testing with Seattle Children’s Hospital, the startup aims to prevent brain damage in newborns by making jaundice detection more accessible. They hope to make the device available for rental by parents of newborns, helping prevent the brain damage that untreated jaundice can cause.
The UW Foster School of Business describes the competition as offering “students the opportunity to come up with meaningful solutions to big problems the world faces today related to health.”
Medical tech is about saving lives
UW students Tejoram Vivekanandan, Lillian Tran, and Nana Wang led the team. Judges also awarded Luminovah the $2,500 Naturacur Wound Healing Best Idea for a Medical Device at the competition
“The whole motivation is we are saving lives,” Vivekanandan told Geekwire.
A tie for second place split the $10,000 WRF Capital Prize between two UW teams: 1) General Molecular Electronics, developing a genetic diagnostic for cardiovascular risk factor Lipoprotein(a); and 2) VISTA, using computer vision to improve image-guided surgery.
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