In a competitive showcase of ideas, two Missouri S&T teams of students and alumni advanced to the semifinals of the Global Health Innovation Grand Challenge hosted by the Carle Illinois College of Medicine in April.
While the teams didn’t advance to the finals, their projects had potential.
“This experience is exactly why S&T attracts such remarkable students: to be surrounded by other students who are unafraid to take learning beyond the classroom, who thrive in interdisciplinary collaboration and apply their knowledge to create solutions that benefit others,” says Julie Semon, associate professor of biological sciences.
Parker Boyce is a third-year medical student at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, who earned a bachelor’s degree in biological sciences from S&T in 2022 and was on the “OsteoInjex” team.
His team developed a hydrogel to treat osteoporosis in elderly people. The main idea is to prevent hip fractures by injecting the hydrogel into the hip bone to help it grow stronger over time, lowering the risk of a break.
“We had several physicians as our judges, and they gave us some good feedback on potential future uses for the product,” Boyce says. “It was a great experience working with the team from S&T. I do work with biomaterials, so getting to design something like this and to think about how we can treat a disease associated with aging was a really cool project.”
Meet the teams
OsteoInjex
The OsteoInjex team competed in the sub-category “Slowing or Reversing Disease Progression in Aging Populations.” Team members were:
- Aiden Pickett, junior in computer science and psychology
- Christian Bigler, senior in biological sciences
- Julia McIntrye, master’s student in biological sciences
- Kiernan O’Boyle, Ph.D. student in mechanical engineering
- Maya Washington, second-year medical student at UMKC, who earned a bachelor’s degree in biological sciences from S&T in 2022
- Parker Boyce, third-year medical student at UMKC, who earned a bachelor’s degree in biological sciences from S&T in 2022.
RuralMed
The RuralMed team competed in the sub-category “AI Applications to Improve Outcomes in Rural or Underserved Areas Globally.” They developed “RuralMed,” an AI-driven system designed to improve emergency care in rural areas. S&T students and alumni were:
- Emily Pesselato, master’s student in chemical engineering
- Kenzie Kilpatrick, senior in psychology
- Caleb Ehlers, sophomore in chemistry
- Austin Ennis, Ph.D. student in bioengineering
- Adrian Peacock, second-year medical student at the University of Missouri-Columbia (MU), who earned a bachelor’s degree in biological sciences from S&T in 2022
- Sarah Thornton, second-year medical student at MU, earned a bachelor’s degree in ceramic engineering from S&T in 2022.