Scenes from the 2019 Health Wildcatters Texas Healthcare Challenge. [Photos: Health Wildcatters]
Dallas-based seed accelerator Health Wildcatters will hold the 7th annual Texas Healthcare Challenge Hackathon this weekend, April 4–5, at Pegasus Park, the Dallas-based innovation hub.
“The Texas Healthcare Challenge continues to highlight the incredible depth of talent and ingenuity within our region,” Dr. Hubert Zajicek, CEO and co-founder of Health Wildcatters, said in a statement. “The TXHCC Hackathon equips its participants with the tools and mentorship needed to develop solutions to major healthcare problems.”
This year’s two-day hackathon attracted over 200 applicants, with 120 participants selected to form cross-functional teams of students, researchers, clinicians, engineers, and entrepreneurs. The hackathon will be supported by more than 25 healthcare experts, mentors, and industry leaders serving as judges, speakers, and mentors throughout the event, Health Wildcatters said.
The accelerator said that the Texas Healthcare Challenge is designed to catalyze real-world healthcare solutions by bringing together multidisciplinary minds to take on the industry’s pressing challenges.
A focus on community health
This year’s Texas Health Resources Track, themed “Measuring and Improving the Health of Our Communities,” challenges participants to create solutions that address key health issues through data, technology, and cross-sector collaboration. Health Wildcatters said that focus areas include maternal mortality, chronic disease management such as hypertension, healthcare access, food insecurity, and preventive cancer screenings, with an emphasis on innovative, data-driven approaches that improve measurable health outcomes and strengthen community well-being.
The accelerator said the event will culminate Saturday afternoon, when finalist teams will pitch their solutions to a panel of judges representing leading healthcare institutions and innovation organizations, including Texas Health Resources, SMU Cox School of Business Spears Institute, Parkland Center for Clinical Innovation, University of Texas at Dallas, and Health Wildcatters’ mentor network.
Sponsors include Texas Health, SMU Cox, Dallas College, and more
This year’s hackathon is made possible by the support of presenting sponsor Texas Health Resources, and additional key sponsors including SMU Cox School of Business Spears Institute for Entrepreneurial Leadership and Dallas College. Also, support was provided by Lyda Hill Philanthropies, Dell Technologies for Startups, Dallas College, The University of Texas at Arlington, SuperAgent, and Biotech+ at Pegasus Park.
Health Wildcatters has 118 portfolio companies that have raised collectively over $300 million in the last 12 years. In November, it announced that it was expanding its office at Pegasus Park to advance its mission of supporting “transformative healthcare startups.”
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R E A D N E X T
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Combining cutting-edge research and real-world applications, the UT Dallas professor transforms public health with innovations in detection technology, including “a check engine light” for the human body. In collaboration with EnLiSense, the company she cofounded, Dr. Prasad combines chemistry with software and hardware to bring the technology to life as market-ready devices.
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Founded in 2012, Universal DX is focused on “cracking cancer’s code” via its multi-omics and machine learning models. Starting with colorectal cancer, it’s building a “multi-cancer platform” that can ID the unique DNA regions associated with different types of cancers.
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The expansion is aimed at advancing the health innovation incubator’s mission of supporting transformative healthcare startups and connecting them with the resources needed for success. Since 2013, 118 healthcare-focused companies have collectively secured over $350 million in follow-up funding after participating in its accelerator, Health Wildcatters said.
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The new center at Bridge Labs will train the workforce powering North Texas’ biotech boom—helping startups speed therapies, vaccines, and breakthrough biologics from lab bench to patients. Funded in part by Lyda Hill Philanthropies, the National Center for Therapeutics Manufacturing Satellite Campus is set to open this summer.
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That mission led to the creation of SilverStone Health, a fast-growing home health company, after Montiel acquired and rebranded Dallas-Fort Worth-based Comfort Care Hospice in 2020, This year, the company has expanded its continuum of care beyond hospice to include a full spectrum of home-based medical services, providing patients with seamless continuity of care across home health, wound care, telehealth, palliative care, hospice, and specialty physician services.
