Faezeh Marzbanrad is a researcher in Melbourne, Australia, and the investigation she conducts is focused primarily in fetal's health. The birth of her daughter was a moment of joy, while also being very formative of the challenges motherhood poses. It led Marzbanrad to find her research interests expanding into technologies that not only support the developing baby’s health but also maternal health. One appointment with the obstetrician was particularly memorable and in retrospect a turning point.

Born three months premature, Mackenzie Maher was diagnosed with severe spastic quadriplegia cerebral palsy and given a prognosis of a life impacted by severe disabilities. Never wanting to accept the dire prognosis of their daughter, Kevin Maher and his wife Rhonda became fully invested in doing all they could by providing Mackenzie with an intensive daily at-home therapy program.

Ben Bravery was trying to grow a business and had just fallen in love when, unexpectedly, he was diagnosed with stage three colorectal cancer. The diagnosis was rather surprising because, even though he was exhibiting some symptoms, such as weight loss and fainting, Ben was young, fit, and had no family history of cancer. The journey that followed truly changed the course of his life.

Raleigh Dewan, a student at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, witnessed first-hand the severe effects a neurologic disorder can make as his grandmother June was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. Dewan saw the debilitating hand tremors that would not allow her to eat without spilling food everywhere, preventing her from enjoying the family dinners, she lovingly prepared.

Fernando Batista, a member of the non-profit organization “Mais Feliz Associação” in Vagos, Portugal, is the man behind the project that wants to spread smiles in senior care institutions. The constant contact with people who usually stay indoors due to their disabilities led Fernando to challenge an expert from the bicycles industry to design one that allowed the transportation of people in their wheelchairs.

Vedant Tapiavala and Rithvik Ganesh were just two high school students from Texas when they designed an app to help patients with Alzheimer’s disease, a form of dementia. The study "Estimation of the global prevalence of dementia in 2019 and forecasted prevalence in 2050: an analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019" estimates that 57 million people were living with dementia worldwide in 2019, and that number is expected to rise to an astounding 153 million by 2050.

In 2014, Cameron Graham was taking part in a 10-kilometer run for charity when he suffered kidney failure and had to be hospitalized. During that stay in the hospital, he got to spend every day next to an elderly man with dementia and see what life and interactions with family and caretakers was like. That led him to create Storii (and its product StoriiCare).

Children with cerebral palsy, which is a group of disorders that have an impact on movement, balance, and posture stability, require daily sessions with a physical therapist to build strength and improve motor skills. As an undergraduate studying bioengineering at Columbia University, Blynn Shideler realized that equitable access to such services is a major barrier for many kids and so ought to create an alternative.

Phil Martie used his background in business process improvement to create an app that helps parents navigate the tough times spent in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). His journey started when one of his newborn twins passed away during surgery. Before the fatality, he and his wife noticed subtle changes in the shape of their daughters’ stomach but were told that was something normal. The reality is their daughter, Nicolette, had an intestinal perforation and when she went to the operating room the condition had already progressed.

Júnior Prado, a Brazilian with a master’s degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering, faced several serious challenges growing up, due to his medical condition. He was born with cerebral palsy. Regarding school, the main problem he had was not being able to write. So, Júnior had to rely on his colleagues for class notes and the evaluations were made orally.

Terri Ohlinger, a nurse and case manager at the Cincinnati VA Medical Center’s eye center, noticed that many of her patients with dexterity issues couldn’t squeeze small eyedrop bottles or position the drops over their eyes. To solve these difficulties, she partnered with engineering students of the University of Cincinnati and designed a brand new device, the ‘DropEase’.

Emily Sisco, an occupational therapy assistant and adjunct professor at Arkansas State University, challenged her students to develop a tool for her dad, Kevin Eubanks. Eight years prior, Eubanks had a massive stroke, which left him with weakness in his left arm.

The prevalence of mental health conditions is increasing worldwide and around 20% of the world’s children and adolescents have one, which is alarming. Mental health conditions have a substantial impact on all areas of life, such as school or work performance, relationships with family and friends, and the ability to be an active member of the community.

Angharad, a computational architecture student at the University of the West of England, has a 12-year-old son, Joey, who was diagnosed with autism in 2019. Nowadays, Joey is home-schooled because of the sensory overloading he experienced in classrooms, being particularly affected by sound and vibrations.

During an evening at the local pub on the Isle of Mann, friends Peter Quayle and Bruce Elliott were discussing their mother’s health status and had an idea for an app.

"My mum's got dementia so what I was looking for was a simple to use app that I can use, and my mum can use, to allow me to reconnect with her - turning memories into games.", says Peter. Bruce, the other founder, added that they used their gaming experience to design easy games for their mothers, which they ended up loving.

Linda Franco, an administrative assistant from Curitiba (Brazil), and her son, Gabriel, had a normal life until he was six years old. Then, in 2009 Gabriel was diagnosed with a rare genetic disease, known as adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD). They lived in the hospital for three years, and it was there that Linda, witnessing the situation of other mothers, had the idea for the group.

Like many expectant fathers, Josh Basile envisioned the day his son, Calder, would be born. However, he was aware that even the most fundamental interactions, like holding and feeding him, would be challenging. Basile, paralyzed since he was a teen, knew that most baby carriers designed for people with similar disabilities are made for those with more mobility in their upper body.

Karen Bonham, a patient with breast cancer, was very anxious before the start of radiotherapy. The treatment requires patients to raise their arm above their head, but often they find that task difficult or painful after breast surgery.

Although exercises are vital to being able to access radiotherapy, Karen Bonham felt that the leaflets giving details did not help her enough and confided this information to her physiotherapist. To her delight, the full breast care team, including the surgeon, gathered to produce something more easily accessible to everybody.