DOHA: Ayya Azzahra of CervivAI from Indonesia and Neda Razavi of iSono Health from the US were announced as the two winners of Qatar Foundation’s World Innovation Summit for Health (WISH) 2024 Innovation Competitions during the closing ceremony of its 2024 summit last week.
Ayya Azzahra was successful in the Young Innovators (health startups led by founders aged 30 years and younger) category and Neda Razavi was successful in the Innovation Showcases (health startups that have moved beyond the ideation phase and have established their market presence within the past five years) category. The awards include cash prizes and mentoring sessions with leading industry experts.
The winners were chosen from 12 global healthcare innovators, who had earlier been shortlisted from more than 150 applicants, to showcase their innovations to global policymakers and healthcare leaders at this year’s summit.
Ayya Azzahra for CervivAI, a company making early detection of cervical cancer accessible with AI-enhanced testing, notched the top winner in the Young Innovators category.
While in the Innovation Showcases category Neda Razavi for iSono Health, a company that develops automated, AI-powered, 3D ultrasound solutions for breast cancer screening, was the winner.
Commenting on their success, Neda Razavi of iSono Health said: “I am so proud of this award as it authenticates the importance of early detection of cancers using automation, robotics, AI, and ultrasound and thus, saving lives, a priority of Qatar’s government.”
Dr Mutiara Auliya of CervivAI said, “We have a company of six women, and we want to make our product cheaper, giving access to women living in rural areas.”
Ayya Azzahra added, “I was inspired to work on this project after my friend became very depressed following the death of her mother, who simply could not get access to a gynecologist. After dropping out of medical school for financial reasons, I hope to resume my medical studies, but I don’t need to be a doctor to help people.”
Karmila Putri Maulidya, the third member of the winning team, said “As a biomedical engineer I designed the product using 3D modeling.”
This year’s competition benefits from being delivered in partnership with Qatar Research Development and Innovation Council (QRDI), a Qatari organization dedicated to advancing research, fostering global innovation collaborations, and attracting global talent to the Gulf state.
The WISH Innovation programme was launched in 2013 and has supported a total of 160 innovators from 41 different countries to date.
The two-day WISH7 conference opened in the presence of Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, Chairperson of Qatar Foundation and founder of WISH. The opening ceremony, held at Qatar National Convention Centre in Doha, included speeches from Dr Hanan Mohamed Al Kuwari, Qatar’s former Minister of Public Health; Lord Darzi of Denham, Executive Chair of WISH; and Christos Christou, President of Médecins Sans Frontières.
The theme of WISH 2024 was ‘Humanising Health: Conflict, Equity and Resilience’. It aims to highlight the need for health innovation to support everyone, leaving nobody behind and building resilience, especially among vulnerable societies and in areas of armed conflict.
Ahead of the summit, WISH entered into a strategic partnership with the World Health Organization (WHO), collaborating on the development of a series of evidence-based reports and policy papers, as well as working with the United Nations health agency to develop a post-summit implementation strategy.
The summit featured more than 200 experts in health speaking about evidence-based ideas and practices in healthcare innovation to address the world’s most urgent global health challenges.
The World Innovation Summit for Health (WISH) is a global healthcare community dedicated to capturing and disseminating the best evidence-based ideas and practices. WISH is an initiative of the Qatar Foundation for Education, Science, and Community Development (QF) and is under the patronage of Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, its Chairperson.
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