NJ Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) Challenge and NJ Med-Tech Showcase
The Cooper Innovation Center was abuzz with energy and ideas as the 2025 NJ Med-Tech Showcase and NJ Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) Challenge brought together innovators, clinicians, and community leaders to spotlight the future of health care in Camden and beyond. The NJ SDOH Challenge celebrated community-driven solutions to health disparities, with a spotlight on local ingenuity and compassion.
Top honors went to the Camden Anchor team, four Camden-based medical students, who developed a powerful, hyper-local app designed to connect unhoused residents with essential resources. Their one-stop platform allows users to view real-time shelter availability, reserve beds, and access up-to-date information on food, healthcare, hygiene, and clothing services. Grounded in community needs and built with empathy, the app impressed judges as a scalable model for addressing social challenges through technology.
NJ Med-Tech Showcase
The Med-Tech Showcase featured 45 posters highlighting insight into groundbreaking projects emerging from Cooper University Health Care and Rowan University took center stage. Among the highlights was Upstream Access, a startup founded by Cooper surgeons Dr. Katherine McMackin and Dr. Jeffrey Carpenter. Their team unveiled a next-generation, multi-directional vascular access device designed to revolutionize endovascular procedures. This balloon-anchored sheath and steerable catheter system enables clinicians to treat blood vessel disease from any direction—potentially reducing complications and improving outcomes for patients with peripheral artery disease.
Upstream Access exemplifies how clinical insight and local innovation can drive real-world impact. It’s one of many exciting technologies featured at the showcase, each reflecting the region’s growing role in advancing medical innovation.
NJ SDOH Challenge
The SDOH Challenge took place over four weeks, with multidisciplinary teams engaged in virtual workshops and mentoring sessions to develop innovative solutions addressing social determinants of health. The program Culminated in the in-person pitch event where nine teams presented strategies to improve access to care and advance health equity.
First Place:
Team: Voices for Wellness
Members: Raaha Kumaresan, Rhea Sharma, Vani Bhagat, Meghan Merenich (all CMSRU students)
Presentation: Camden Anchor – A one-stop shop app and website for individuals experiencing housing insecurity, homelessness, or domestic violence, offering real-time shelter availability, online bed booking, and access to food, healthcare, and hygiene resources.
Second Place:
Team: +Pouch
Members: Ryan Wilkinson, Zac Carcanague, Braeden Twomey (all Rowan University students)
Presentation: +Pouch – The world’s first electrolyte oral pouch utilizing the buccal pathway to deliver electrolytes directly to the bloodstream. Designed for athletes and being tested for implications with POTS.
Third Place:
Team: StickerRX
Members: Shruti Dalwadi (Rowan-Virtua SOM)
Presentation: StickRx – A smart sensor sticker for medication containers that provides audio and visual reminders to improve adherence, especially for caretakers and individuals with limited English proficiency.
All three winning teams also pitched their innovations to an audience at the NJDV HIMSS Fall Conference in Atlantic City, highlighting South Jersey’s commitment to bold ideas that improve health.
All three winning teams also pitched their innovations to an audience at the NJDV HIMSS Fall Conference in Atlantic City, highlighting South Jersey’s commitment to bold ideas that improve health.
These twin events were made possible by the vision and leadership of the Cooper Innovation Center team. Led by Dr. Michael Kirchhoff, Neal Lemon, Joseph Boland, Sarah-Beth Vaughn, and Artrena Rhodes—in collaboration with Rowan Innovations’ Sanaz Shahi and Nile Delso. Their vision and energy united inventors, clinicians, and students to spark bold ideas and collaborative solutions. From high-tech medical devices to neighborhood-level health hacks, the Showcase and Challenge together reflected South Jersey’s commitment to innovation that improves lives.