Yale New Haven Health has named its 2026 Innovation Award winners after a live finalist pitch competition focused on expanding access and improving care.
According to Yale New Haven Health, the awards are run through its Center for Health Care Innovation and support new care models, digital and AI-assisted tools, and frontline ideas across the health system.
This year’s theme was “Breaking Barriers, Building Access,” with entries focused on access to care, workflow design, community-based care, generative AI, and advanced analytics.
Per the health system, 43 applications came from across YNHHS and Yale University. Twenty-seven passed the initial screening, and 12 finalists were chosen for the live event.
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The Gold Award winners, each receiving $50,000 and a data validation opportunity, were Neuroprobe and Enrich Health. Neuroprobe, led by Hitten Zaveri with Dennis Spencer, MD, and Emily Gilmore, MD, is an implantable neuro-monitoring system for neurocritical care. Enrich Health, led by Monique Rainford with Andrea Lee, MD, is a digital platform aimed at improving early prenatal care access for Medicaid and underserved populations.
Three Silver Award winners also received $50,000 each. ECG OMI, led by Rohit Sangal, uses AI-enabled ECG surveillance to detect underrecognized heart attack patterns in emergency workflows. Lumen, led by Jonathan Tefera, MD, is a mixed reality platform that streams live fluoroscopy into clinicians’ field of view. Elevare Health, led by Lucas Favazza, is a maternal care platform that supports patients from pregnancy through postpartum.
Bronze Award honorees were PROMPT CKD, an EHR-integrated decision support tool for chronic kidney disease care; SterileVision, an AI-assisted surgical instrument inspection tool; and Hygieia, a multimodal AI agent supporting rare-disease diagnosis and genomic analysis.
Finalists were evaluated by an independent panel of judges from healthcare, technology, and investment sectors.
