Harvard by Oxford Hackathon

Harvard Oxford Hackathon

Hack the world's toughest healthcare challenges.

Bringing together the brightest minds from Oxford and Harvard for a hackathon that starts where most of them stop — taking digital health ideas out of the sandbox and into real clinical workflows.

Interested in participating Interested in judging or mentoring Become a sponsor
  • February 2027Exact dates to be confirmed
  • Oxford & HarvardVenue to be confirmed
  • Every subjectMedicine, engineering, policy, design
  • From code to clinicPrototype to deployment

From code to clinic

The greatest bottleneck in modern healthcare isn't innovation. It's deployment.

Brilliant algorithms, diagnostic apps and telehealth platforms are built every year, yet most never leave the sandbox. Those that do often stall against fragmented hospital infrastructure, regulatory hurdles and entrenched clinical workflows.

We are setting out to tackle the difficulties and failures of translation, serving as a bridge between ideation and integration: moving digital health ideas from prototypes to real clinical workflows that are equitable, usable and sustainable.

See how the hackathon runs →

Our aim

Turning ideas into impact

Four things this hackathon is built to do.

Solve real clinical problems

Partner students with researchers, industry experts and senior consultants to address genuine global healthcare challenges.

Accelerate translation

Leverage sponsors, talent and networks to adopt and translate promising prototypes.

Build cross-disciplinary teams

Bring together undergraduates, postgraduates and established professionals across all subjects from Oxford and Harvard.

Create deployable solutions

Culminating in innovations that can integrate across healthcare systems and deliver improved patient outcomes.

Key challenges

What keeps digital health stuck

These are the obstacles teams will be asked to design around, not ignore.

Pilotitis epidemic
Too many pilots. Too few scaled solutions.
Data and regulation
Complex rules and data barriers slow progress.
Equity gaps
Uneven access and bias limit impact and scale.
Workflow bottlenecks
Tools must fit clinical realities.
Burnout
Clinician burnout threatens adoption.

Hackathon structure

From problem to implementation

Four stages, starting weeks before anyone writes a line of code.

Pre-hackathon · 4–6 weeks before

Team formation

Harvard and Oxford students are matched into multidisciplinary teams:

  • Medicine
  • Engineering
  • Public policy
  • Global health
  • Population modelling

OutputDiverse teams with complementary experience and expertise.

Pre-hackathon · 2 weeks before

Challenge definition

Teams submit challenge statements and how they set out to tackle the chosen theme. Focus areas selected:

  • AI and diagnostics
  • Digital health
  • Health equity
  • Clinical workflow optimisation

OutputClearly defined real-world problems with an appropriate action plan.

Day one

Build and validate

Using provided materials and previously run lectures, teams develop their own prototypes:

  • Minimum viable product
  • Clinical implementation plans
  • Sustainability models
  • Regulatory considerations

OutputDeployable healthcare solutions.

Final day

Pitch and showcase

Teams present to a specialised panel of judges ranging from venture partners and industry experts to academic fellows.

  • Live pitch
  • Prototype demonstration
  • Implementation plan

OutputWinning projects and future collaborations.

Judged on

  • Innovation
  • Feasibility
  • Clinical relevance
  • Equity

Sponsor engagement

Support the pipeline from challenge definition to deployable digital health solutions

Visibility

Brand presence across the deck, website and event communications.

Access

Mentor, judge and meet Oxford and Harvard student teams.

Impact

Help prototypes move beyond the demo into clinical workflows.

Partnership tiers

Community

$250£200

  • Logo on website and deck
  • Thank-you post

Bronze

$1,000£750

  • Logo and social post
  • Opening and closing mention

Silver

$2,500£2,000

  • Everything above
  • Judge or mentor slot
  • Booth or table

Gold

$4,000£3,000

  • Everything above
  • Keynote or demo time
  • Named prize

In-kind

Non-cash

  • Food and venue
  • Cloud credits
  • Prizes and mentors
Become a sponsor

Our sponsors

The organisations backing this

With thanks to the organisations supporting the hackathon. We are still speaking to partners, so this list will grow.

  • AMBOSS
  • University of Oxford — Oxford Global Health
See the partnership tiers Become a sponsor

Beyond the hackathon

What teams carry out of the room

The weekend is the start, not the end. These are the routes we are working to open for the strongest projects. Exactly what is available will depend on the partners who join us.

Mentorship

  • Guidance from people who have built and deployed health technology before.
  • Conversations with clinicians, researchers and operators across technology, policy and venture.

Introductions

  • Where we can, warm introductions to organisations working in the team's problem area.
  • Connections into the wider Oxford and Harvard health innovation community.

Research collaborations

  • Routes to continue a project alongside university research groups.
  • Support in turning an idea into something that could be studied properly.

Funding routes

  • Signposting to student and university funding schemes, grants and early-stage investors.
  • Help understanding what a realistic next funding step looks like.

Tools and infrastructure

  • Where sponsors provide them, cloud and software credits for building and testing.
  • Practical support for prototyping beyond the weekend.

Nothing on this page is a guarantee. What we can offer will grow as partners and sponsors confirm.

Who we are

Organised by two student global health societies

Shorief Ali

President of Students for Global Health, Oxford. Fourth-year medical student.

Alyssa Cai

President of Harvard VISION Global Health Society. Fourth year at Harvard College.

Get involved

Three ways in

Register your interest now and we will send you dates, themes and application details as soon as they are confirmed.

Participate

For Oxford and Harvard students of any subject who want to be matched into a team.

Interested in participating

Judge or mentor

For clinicians, researchers, founders and investors willing to give teams their time.

Interested in judging or mentoring

Sponsor

For organisations who want to back the pipeline from challenge to deployment.

Become a sponsor

Prefer to email?

Write to harvardxoxfordhackathon@gmail.com and one of the organisers will come back to you.