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By: Kyaw Phyo Naing, BADT January 2025 intake
From 31 October to 2 November 2025, I took part in the Siriraj x MIT Hacking Medicine 2025 Hackathon. It was a 3-day innovation sprint hosted jointly by Siriraj Hospital and MIT Hacking Medicine. The event convened healthcare professionals, engineers, scientists, entrepreneurs, designers, and policymakers—creating a dynamic, multidisciplinary environment ideal for collaborative problem-solving.
Track Participation: Chronic Diseases (NCDs)
I joined Track 1: Chronic Diseases, which focused on reimagining care for long-term chronic diseases such as diabetes and hypertension. Chronic diseases remain Southeast Asia’s leading cause of mortality, accounting for 62% of deaths and more than 8.5 million lives lost annually. The track invited participants to rethink chronic care, bring forward innovative solutions, and shape a healthier future for communities across the region.
October 31, 2025 - Day 1: Problem Pitching and Team Formation
The hackathon began with a fast-paced problem-pitching session, where participants had 45 seconds to present issues they hoped to solve. This enabled organic discussions and team formation across diverse disciplines. By the end of the evening, teams of four to six members were established and ready to co-create solutions for the challenges ahead.
Our Concept: “Wellness Club”
From October 31 to November 2, 2025, our team developed the concept “Wellness Club”, an AI-driven community-building platform designed to support elderly individuals living with diabetes and hypertension. The concept centers on promoting happy and healthy living through shared interests such as cooking, dancing, and wellness activities.
The platform aims to:
• Build supportive communities and personalized health experiences
• Encourage patients to stay active, connected, happy and motivated
• Provide caregivers with greater clarity and peace of mind
Expert mentorship from clinicians and innovation leaders at both hosting institutions played a pivotal role in refining our approach. The experience underscored a key lesson: meaningful healthcare innovation requires not only technical capability, but deep empathy and coordinated collaboration.
Beyond Hack Conference – November 3, 2025
The day after the hackathon, I attended the Beyond Hack Conference at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Center. The sessions provided valuable insights into how technological, financial, and regulatory forces are shaping the future of health innovation.
Key discussions included:
Session 1. Venture Capital Fundraising and Health-Tech Investment Trends
A panel of venture, corporate, and strategic investors examined what it takes for health-technology startups to secure funding in 2025. Topics included evidence thresholds, regulatory signals, reimbursement pathways, data interoperability, and considerations necessary to scale from pilot projects to broad deployment. The discussion highlighted high-growth sectors such as AI diagnostics, digital therapeutics, hospital automation, and data platforms.
Session 2. Generative AI in the Software Development Lifecycle
This session explored how generative AI is reshaping software development—from rapid prototyping to enterprise-grade systems. Speakers emphasized the heightened requirements of building software for medical settings, including regulatory compliance, data privacy, and reliability in scenarios directly affecting patient safety. Attendees gained clarity on the governance, investment, and organizational shifts needed to adopt these technologies responsibly.
Conclusion
Participating in the Siriraj x MIT Hacking Medicine 2025 Hackathon cleared my view of how management and innovation in healthcare blend together. Working on the concept “Wellness Club” showed how effective solutions emerge when teams stay focused on real patient needs, validate assumptions quickly, and balance creativity with operational feasibility.
Mentorships and discussions from the clinicians and industry leaders reinforced me to focus on structured collaboration, clear problem definition, and design ideas to fit actual clinical workflows. It reminded me that even strong ideas need alignments with workflow, resources and long-term sustainability to create real impact.
Beyond Hack Conference further highlighted investment strategies, regulatory pathways, and responsible AI which innovations ultimately scale. It was a clear demonstration that effective healthcare solutions require not only technology but also thoughtful leadership, cross-sector coordination, and strategic planning.
Overall, this experience strengthened my understanding of how management plays a central role in transforming promising concepts into viable, patient-centered innovations – an insight that will continue to grow in my professional life.
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