The Quest Award: Digital Solutions to End Cervical Cancer

The Quest Award

Solutions to End Cervical Cancer

- Startup Challenge -

days left for submissions

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Submissions will be accepted from Jan. 4th 2016 (12:00 PST ) to Feb 28th 2016 (11:59 PST)

The Challenge

We are looking for bold new solutions in the fight to end Cervical Cancer in the United States.

Cervical cancer is the third most common cancer in women worldwide, affecting over 500,000 women and resulting in approximately 275,000 deaths every year.

The American Cancer Society estimates that 95 percent of cervical cancers could be prevented or effectively cured if caught early through regular, standard Pap tests and human papillomavirus (HPV) screening.

In the United States most women have access to cervical cancer screening, yet ~4,000 women die every year from cervical cancer in the US and it is estimated that 5-10% of US women do not receive regular pap screenings.

Genentech has started The Quest Award to solicite bold new solutions from startup and healthcare communities in an effort to identify viable and impactful digital solutions options in the fight against cervical cancer.

4,000

WOMEN DIE EVERY YEAR FROM CERVICAL CANCER IN THE US

Awards

1st Place

$50,000

AND continued mentorship by Genentech for one year post-award with quarterly check-ins

all finalists will receive:

AN INVITE TO SAN FRANCISCO TO HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO MEET AND PRESENT THEIR SUBMISSIONS LIVE TO A PANEL OF INDUSTRY THOUGHT LEADERS AND GENENTECH TEAMS

A FEATURED POST ON THIS WEBSITE DESCRIBING THEIR SUBMISSION, PROGRAM OR COMPANY AS WELL AS A LINK TO THEIR WEBSITE IF APPLICABLE

Education

Cervical Cancer Statistics for Non-screeners:
Based on a patient survey with women of the age 21-65 who were not screened in the past 5 years, 56% of non-screeners had health insurance and a primary care physician. The “Under-engaged population” are unscreened largely due to lack of awareness reasons. See more information in the 2015 Cervical Cancer Patient Survey.

Other useful links:
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
National Cancer Institute
American Cancer Society
Cervical Cancer Background Information

95%

of cervical cancers could be prevented

Categories

awareness

How can we make women aware of the need to screen?

education

How can we educate women about this disease and available resources?

screening technology

How can we make the screening process easier and more comfortable?

reducing stigma

How can we reduce stigma and cultural barriers?

other

What other aspects of cervical cancer does your solution address? Tell us here!

Tips:

  1. We will favor solutions which have progressed beyond the ideation stage
  2. Judging criteria is on a scale of 1-5 and will cover impact, innovation, pilot potential, team and viability and of long-term success

Timeline

CONTEST OPEN FOR SUBMISSIONS

The Startup Challenge opens. You can now submit your solutions.

CONTEST DEADLINE

Deadline for entries. This is the start of the judging review period.

FINALIST NOTIFIED

Five finalists will be selected and notified. If you are not one of the finalists you will be notified as well.

Finalist Event in San Francisco; Winner Selected

Our judging panel will award the $50k prize at a dinner event in San Francisco.

Judges

Meet these volunteer judges at the finalist event

Anne DeGheest

Founder, HealthTech Capital and MedStars

  • Invests and mentors Seed to Series A stage ventures
  • Business Architect with over $6 Billion disruptive new market categories
  • Expert in Lifescience and HealthTech Markets
More Info

Pascal Finette

Managing Director, Singularity University

  • Built startups, acquired companies (M&A) and built a VC fund
  • Held leadership positions at eBay, Mozilla and Google.org
  • Preaches the power of exponential technologies to address humanity’s grand challenges all across the globe
More Info

More Info

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