The Dhaka Hub of Harvard HSIL Hackathon 2025
The Bangladesh round of Harvard Health Systems Innovation Lab Hackathon 2025 was held on April 12, 2025 at UIU campus through 2 days of exclusive brainstorming and mentorship, followed by rigorous pitches in front of a distinguished jury panel, and two teams emerged as proud winners.
The Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health’s Health Systems Innovation Lab (HSIL), the hackathon is running its 6th edition with the theme- ‘Building High-Value Health Systems: Leveraging Artificial Intelligence’ and saw more than 3000 participants from 19 countries with major other hubs being Harvard University (USA), University of Sydney (Australia), King’s College London (UK), Koç University (Turkey), Tsinghua University (China), and NTU Singapore, among others.
United International University’s Institute for Research, Innovation, Incubation, and Commercialization (IRIIC) - the first-ever Regional Hub in Bangladesh for this prestigious global program- joined an elite network of global institutions and has successfully organised the Bangladesh round finale.
The winners are - TEAM NURIX with their smart move to use brain-computer interface technology to address mental health issues. TEAM SMARTENDO for their pragmatic solution to help endometriosis concerns among the female patients, enabling personalised care.
Both winners received an honorary prize money, certification and the opportunity to participate with winners from 19 other countries in the Harvard HSIL Venture Incubation Program—a four-week initiative providing mentorship, funding strategies, and market access support.
Bangladesh round of the Hackathon saw inspiring participation from the shortlisted nominees - students & professionals alike - around the country. The program took off in partnership with Digital Entrepreneurship and Innovation Ecosystem Development Project (DEIED) of Bangladesh Hi-Tech Park Authority along with the ICT Ministry and Health Domain partner MIS, DGHS.
The jury panel consisted Dr Rui Liu - Health Specialist (Asian Development Bank), Fahima Chowdhury - Director (Adcomm), Dr Arif Mahmud - Group Medical Director (Evercare Hospital), Dr. Shah Ali Akbar Ashrafi - Director (MIS), DGHS, Dr. Muhammad Zahirul Islam - Health Advisor, Development Cooperation Section, Embassy of Sweden & Prof Khondaker A. Mamun - Director (IRIIC), UIU.
The Hackathon finale was presided over by Prof. Abul Kashem Mia, PhD, Vice-Chancellor, UIU, with guests of honor being Md Saidur Rahman - Secretary, Health Services Division, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Prof. Dr. Md. Abu Jafor - DG, DGHS and Monjur Mohammad Shahriar - Project Director (DEIED), BHTPA.
Over the years, the HSIL Hackathon has played a critical role in shaping transformative healthcare solutions worldwide. Previous editions have tackled challenges such as digital health in Africa and diabetes care in Asia and Latin America, leading to the incubation of impactful startups that continue to drive change.
This milestone of being the first and only regional hub for this program underscores IRIIC and UIU’s commitment to driving innovation and fostering collaboration. Through this partnership with Harvard HSIL, IRIIC continues its journey toward transforming Bangladesh’s healthcare system.
