AI MedTech Match Grand Challenge
$100,000 in funding available to unique AI Health research proposals for improving patient care.
What is AI MedTech Match Grand Challenge?
Leveraging AI Health Research To Improve Patient Care
AI & Digital Health Innovation and e-HAIL are partnering with the Michigan Medicine Department of Surgery and the Rogel Cancer Center to launch the inaugural AI MedTech Match Grand Challenge, a competition–style program designed to pair clinicians and faculty with expertise in AI. U-M has some of the greatest AI and clinical expertise in the world - we’re pulling them together to develop impactful research ideas!
How it Works
STAGE 1
STAGE 2
STAGE 3
STAGE 4
Process in Detail
Stage 1 - Clinical Idea Submission (Winter, 2025/2026)
Interested Michigan Medicine faculty from the Department of Surgery and the Rogel Cancer Center submit a short (up to 5-minutes) video presenting a health AI research idea.
This stage occurs before AI faculty have been engaged
Video presentation needs to include a project summary, defined healthcare significance, specific aims, and criteria for a successful proof-of-concept
Stage 2 - AI Faculty Match (Winter, 2025/2026)
AI faculty experts will review the videos and indicate which clinical faculty they would be interested in partnering with.
AI faculty will have the opportunity to watch the videos at any time during a two week period after submissions
AI faculty will fill out a short survey to indicate which project(s) are of most interest to them
Clinical faculty will be provided with a list of AI faculty interested in collaborating on the project
If multiple AI faculty are interested in the same project, the clinical faculty will meet with each AI faculty and determine the best fit to collaborate on the project
All interested AI faculty will be notified whether or not they matched with a clinical researcher
Once matched, the AI faculty and clinical faculty will work as a team to define and present their proposal
Stage 3 - Project Proposals and Review (Winter, 2025/2026)
Teams submit 2-3 page proposals for their project in Competition Space. A panel of leaders from Michigan Medicine, the College of Engineering, and the School of Public Health will review and rate each proposal based on the outlined criteria. Up to 6 projects will advance to Pitch Day.
Each team must have at least one AI faculty and one clinical faculty
A budget must be provided with the proposal
Each team that applies will receive written feedback from the Review Team
The project must be completed within one year and will have semi-annual milestones that must be completed
This year should be spent developing a proof-of-concept for an external grant application
Stage 4 - Pitch Day (Spring, 2026)
The top scoring teams will pitch to the “Wolverine Den” panel, which will rate each project after the presentation. Two teams (one from each clinical area) will be awarded funding.
The Wolverine Den will discuss and rate projects after the presenters have left the Zoom
All scores will be tallied by the Wolverine Den at the conclusion of Pitch Day
Award Announcements and Funding (Spring, 2026)
The winners of the competition will be announced within 3 days after Pitch Day.
All teams that present will be provided written feedback from the Wolverine Den
Winners will receive funding within 2 weeks after Pitch Day
Project Completion
All projects must be completed within one year.
AI&Digital Health Innovation Administrators will check in on milestone updates semi-annually.
After a project is completed, it is expected that it will be ready to apply for an external grant.
Want to get involved? Let us know!
AI MedTech Match is actively looking for AI faculty experts to participate.
If you’re interested, we invite you to connect with us through the survey below.