In recognition of World Arthritis Day, the Arthritis Society and Hacking Health Toronto, with the support of Eli Lilly Canada, will bring together some of Canada’s brightest minds to participate in ArthritisHack, a weekend-long hackathon, to collaborate, design and produce solutions to empower people living with arthritis in all aspects of care and life.
ArthritisHack will challenge its participants – programmers, designers, policy analysts, entrepreneurs, healthcare professionals, and people living with arthritis – to develop solutions to address one or more of the needs of people living with arthritis such as facilitating improved communication, fostering emotional health and wellbeing, or adapting at work. Over the three-day event, hacking participants will form teams, develop their solutions and then present them to an esteemed judging panel composed of medical, tech and health policy experts – as well as people living with arthritis.
Winners will receive a range of awards and prizing worth upwards of $10,000 to jump-start their idea and get it closer to implementation in the real world. They will also have the opportunity to work with the Arthritis Society to explore how to develop their solution for the arthritis community.
WHAT: ArthritisHack – an event to challenge participants to find innovative solutions to key unmet needs of people living with the disease, such as facilitating improved communication, fostering emotional health and wellbeing, or adapting at work.
WHEN: Kick-off – Friday, October 13, 7pm – 8pm (Doors open at 6pm)
(*Media interviews available before/after presentation)
Full-Day Hackathon – Saturday, October 14, 8:00am – 11:00pm
Prototype Demonstration/Judging – Sunday, October 15th starts at 3pm
WHERE: Auditorium, MaRS Discovery District, 101 College St, Toronto
WHO: Special Guests Presenting at Kick-off on October 13 at 7 pm
- Dawn Richards, Vice President, Canadian Arthritis Patient Alliance
- Fraser Ratchford, Group Program Director, Consumer Health & Innovation, Canada
Health Infoway - Janet Yale, President & Chief Executive Officer, The Arthritis Society
- Lisa Matar, President and General Manager, Eli Lilly Canada
Hackathon Judging Panel (Sunday, Oct 15th)
· Dr. Vandana Ahluwalia, Rheumatologist, President-Elect of the Canadian Rheumatology Association
· Annette McKinnon, Patient advocate, Patient Partners/Canadian Arthritis Patient Alliance
· James Agnew, Lead Architect & Developer Wrangler, Centre for Global eHealth Innovation (UHN)
· Christina Wong, Director, Public Relations, Canada Health Infoway
· Janet Yale, President & Chief Executive Officer, The Arthritis Society
· Lisa Matar, President and General Manager, Eli Lilly Canada
About The Arthritis Society
The Arthritis Society has been setting lives in motion for almost 70 years. Dedicated to a vision of living well while creating a future without arthritis, the Arthritis Society is Canada’s principal health charity providing education, programs and support to the over 4.6 million Canadians living with arthritis. Since its founding in 1948, The Society has been the largest non-government funder of arthritis research in Canada, investing over $195 million in projects that have led to breakthroughs in the diagnosis, treatment and care of people with arthritis. The Arthritis Society is accredited under Imagine Canada’s Standards Program. For more information about the Arthritis Society and to make a donation, visit www.Arthritis.ca.