Objective

Leverage the power of collaboration, technology, and innovation to address challenges faced by individuals with muscular dystrophy. The primary goal is to produce prototypes or concepts that can be further developed into real products or services. All projects will be showcased on the hackathon’s website, as well as the Stanford iGEM website, and through partner channels to encourage further development and adoption. More than just a competition, BioHacks is a collaborative effort to drive meaningful change in the muscular dystrophy community. 

 

Meaning?

  • Direct application into research or the market

  • Summer project extension

  • To proudly put on your resume

  • Learn through a project based learning approach

  • Grow along with professionals and patients of the muscular dystrophy community

Topics

Every team needs to choose one topic that best describes its project. Each topic has its own suggested outputs, and each output has its own ‘grading’ criteria.

 

The four topics including their suggested output and examples are as follows:

  • Mechanism

  • Therapy 

  • Biomedical Engineering

  • Public Health 

 

Here is a list of example projects for each topic: BioHacks 2024 Topic Examples

 

Topics

Details

Related Topics

Suggested Output

Mechanism 

Mechanism refers to the understanding of biological processes at the molecular, cellular, and systems level. Projects in this field may involve investigating signaling pathways, gene expression, protein interactions, or the behavior of cells in response to different stimuli. 

  • Propose a new signaling pathway related to a disease

  • Analyze gene expression data to identify potential biomarkers for a disease

  • Develop a computational or mathematical model to study cell behavior in response to different stimuli

Research paper / proposal

Software / algorithm design 

Therapy

Therapy involves the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of diseases. Projects in this field may involve proposing or optimizing therapies using computational or literature-based approaches, or investigating the mechanisms of action of different drugs. 

  • Propose a new therapeutic target for a disease based on genetic or proteomic data analysis

  • Review of clinical trials and regulatory pathway for a specific drug

  • Systematic review of alternative medicine approaches for a disease

  • Research into a type of cancer treatment, e.g. CAR-T

Research proposal

Business proposal

Biomedical Engineering 

Biomedical engineering is an interdisciplinary field that applies engineering principles and design concepts to healthcare and medicine. Projects in this field may involve designing and developing medical devices, prosthetics, or diagnostic tools, or applying engineering approaches to solve biomedical problems. 

  • Design algorithm for medical image recognition

  • Design and prototyping a medical device or instrument

  • Analyze the effectiveness of different materials or processes for medical applications

  • Design a brain machine interface

Hardware device design

Software / Algorithm design

Research paper / proposal

Public Health

Public health is concerned with improving the health and wellbeing of populations, through prevention, education, and policy interventions. Projects in this field may involve studying the epidemiology of diseases, designing public health campaigns, or evaluating the effectiveness of different public health interventions. 

  • Design a volunteering program

  • Analyze health data to identify trends or risk factors

  • Design a public health campaign or intervention to address a specific health issue

  • Develop a policy proposal to improve the healthcare system or reduce health disparities

  • Propose suggestions to local clinics and hospitals

Research paper / proposal

Software / Algorithm design (app and website)

Prototype*: All apps, websites, and hardware devices must have a working prototype that can be demonstrated during presentation. Algorithm design and business proposals do not necessarily need a prototype, but some presentable form of the potential end product should be completed.

 

 

 

Final Output and Grading Output

Every project belongs in one output category and is evaluated according to its output.

  1. Research proposal

  2. Research paper

  3. Software

  4. Hardware

  5. Business proposal

 

Every group is required to submit their written work to the provided google drive and submit a summary academic poster before September 23rd 9:00 AM PT. 

Awards 

First place and second place are awarded prize money 

  • Selected solely based on highest scores on grading rubric across all teams

  • Independent of track or output

 

Three honorable mentions

  • Most feasible

  • Most creative

  • Best presentation

Grading

What is being graded on

  1. Grading is based on poster presentation according to their output. 

    1. The poster should include content outlined in the written work requirements.

  2. Written work is mandatory and is a supplement to the presentation.