2026 IDEATOR Competition

Breathing New Ideas into Environmental Health

What if improving health outcomes in Northeast Ohio begins not only in clinical settings, but in the environments where people live, work and breathe?

That question guided the Healthcare Transformation IDEATOR 2026, held February 11–12 at the Midtown Collaboration Center in Cleveland. The two-day innovation experience brought together faculty, students and healthcare professionals from Northeast Ohio Medical University (NEOMED) and University Hospitals to address environmental drivers of health outcomes, from asthma and cancer risk to lead exposure and chronic disease.

Working in multidisciplinary teams, participants developed solution-oriented concepts that extend beyond traditional care delivery and into community-based and environmental interventions.

2026 Competition Winners

First Place

Team AIR (Cancer Focus)

Team AIR earned first place for developing the Environmental Lung Screening Index (ELSI), a data-driven model that integrates environmental exposure with lung cancer risk. The team proposed deploying mobile CT screening units to underserved communities, expanding access to early detection for individuals at risk due to environmental factors rather than traditional smoking criteria.

Second Place

Team Deep Breath (Asthma Focus)

IDEATOR Teams

Team Deep Breath received second place for creating a subscription-based asthma navigation platform designed to reduce environmental triggers in the home. The solution connects patients with local remediation resources and tracks outcomes over time, with the goal of improving asthma control and reducing preventable exacerbations.