Loyola University Chicago and MATTER announce 2022 Loyola Chicago Health Equity Quest finalists
Innovators to pitch health equity and climate change solutions for the chance to win up to $75K
October 13, 2022, CHICAGO — Loyola University Chicago’s Parkinson School of Health Sciences and Public Health and MATTER, the premier healthcare incubator and innovation hub, have selected eight finalists for the 2022 Loyola Chicago Health Equity Quest. The eight startups innovating at the cross-section of health equity and climate change will pitch their solutions to a global audience on October 27, 2022, for the chance to win up to $75,000.
Launched in August 2022, the competition invited innovators with solutions that make health delivery more sustainable or reduce or treat the health effects of climate change. Chosen from a pool of applicants across the U.S., the eight finalists will participate in a two-week sprint consisting of mentoring, workshops and pitch practice with healthcare experts prior to pitching their solutions at the live pitch day at MATTER on October 27, 2022.
2022 Loyola Chicago Health Equity Quest finalists:
Aruna Revolution Health
Aruna revolutionizes menstrual health management by creating compostable menstrual pads out of food and crop waste that are affordable, inclusive and sustainable. Their biocircular economy model redirects food and crop waste from the landfill into their patent-pending process to turn into compostable pads, which are not only biodegradable but can also be turned into useful compost. This will not only prevent billions of menstrual pads from ending up in the landfill and turning into microplastics but will also prevent the harmful decomposition of millions of tonnes of food waste into greenhouse gases in the landfill.
Bioenzymatic Fuel Cells (BeFC)
BeFC makes paper-based biofuel cells that are environmentally friendly and compostable. They are thin, lightweight and flexible and allow their digital sensing platform to record and communicate the world around us. BeFC enables diagnostics, remote patient monitoring, cold chain monitoring and a range of innovative digital healthcare solutions.
Fusion Foods
Fusion Foods aims to cut American beef consumption in half to combat the devastating effects of beef production on our climate and increase access to healthy alternatives for the average consumer. Their blend of ground beef and mushroom mycelium is a cost-effective, minimally processed, eco-friendly replacement for traditional ground beef. By collaborating with local restaurants and grocers, they empower consumers to make healthier, more environmentally friendly choices at the register, without sacrificing taste.
HeartScreen Health
HeartScreen Health is developing a technology to remotely screen for and monitor heart valve disease without geographic restrictions. Their technology is a smartphone software application that enables cardiologists to remotely listen to a patient’s heart sound during a telemedicine visit by capturing, enhancing and transmitting high-fidelity heartbeat sounds. Their mission is to find early heart disease.
Parcel Health
Parcel Health is led by two female founders on a mission to replace plastic packaging in the healthcare system. Their flagship product, the Phill Box, is a fully recyclable and compostable medication packaging to replace orange pill bottles. It is currently available in 22 pharmacies across 12 states and coming to a pharmacy near you.
StormSensor
StormSensor works with cities and agencies to map how water moves through sewer, storm and coastal systems, and they tie that movement to socioeconomic, climate and weather conditions. Their customers use this information to (1) prioritize climate-related flood (and heat) risk based on physical and socioeconomic factors, (2) respond to flood events, either with advance notifications and/or with real-time flood alerts and (3) adapt critical infrastructure to manage climate-related risks.
Tikal Filters
Tikal Filters manufactures sustainable water filters, composed of agricultural waste, to combat America’s unregulated and contaminated drinking water epidemic. These filters have a closed-circle product life with an in-house recycling program to convert used filtrant media into green construction material. Their products aim to decrease daily single-use plastic consumption, decrease public health discrepancies associated with socioeconomic barriers, decrease agricultural waste and aid in making communities disaster resilient.
Xandar Kardian
Xandar Kardian’s XK300 is the first and only commercially available, FDA-cleared class II medical device that uses IR-UWB radar to continuously monitor vital signs autonomously and completely contact-free. The XK300 is a small, easy to operate, affordable and sustainable radar device that can be deployed across the healthcare continuum, from hospitals, post-acute and nursing homes, and in residential homes. The device does not require clinical expertise to install or use, making it versatile for use every day by patients outside the acute space and within their own homes.
About MATTER
At MATTER, we believe collaboration is the best way to improve healthcare. The MATTER collaborative includes more than 700 current and alumni startups from around the world, working together with dozens of hospitals and health systems, universities and industry-leading companies to build the future of healthcare. Together we are accelerating innovation, advancing care and improving lives. For more information, visit matter.health and follow @MATTERhealth.
About Loyola University Chicago’s Parkinson School of Health Sciences and Public Health
Loyola University Chicago launched the Parkinson School of Health Sciences and Public Health in Fall 2019 to educate the health entrepreneurs of the future and impact health care accessibility and equity nationally. The Parkinson School offers 19 degree programs and three certificate and internship programs in four areas of study: Public Health Sciences, Healthcare Administration, Health Informatics and Data Science, and Applied Health Sciences. The School builds on the foundations of Loyola’s nationally recognized Stritch School of Medicine and its Biomedical Programs, Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing, and Loyola’s partnership with Trinity Health (known in the Chicago area as Loyola Medicine). To learn more about the Parkinson School, visit LUC.edu/Parkinson or follow us on Twitter via @LoyolaParkinson or Instagram via @luc.parkinson.