Interdisciplinary Health Data Competition

Teams are required to use a specified dataset created for use in the competition by MN Community Measurement. The data set will be announced at the Competition Kickoff on March 16th. Additional publicly available data is permitted. 

All students participating in the Health Data Competition will be required to return the signed Data Use Agreement Acknowledgement & Consent form prior to receiving access to the required data set. 

• All participants must sign and return the signed Data Use Agreement Acknowledgement & Consent form prior to receiving access to the required data set. This form will be sent to all registered participants prior to the Kickoff on March 16th. 
• Submit a one-page Executive Summary - maximum of 500 words (not including references) 
• Submit a PowerPoint presentation outlining the team's project - maximum of 20 slides 
• Record a voice-over with PowerPoint, presenting the team's analysis, insights, and innovations - maximum of 20 minutes
• Finalists will present projects to a panel of industry expert judges - each team has 20 minutes to present followed by 5 minutes for judges' questions
• A rubric will be provided when data is released on March 16, 2023

• Competition is open to all current graduate and professional degree-seeking students at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
• Maximum of 5 students per team 
• Each team must have students from at least 2 different colleges or schools within the U of M Twin Cities
• Students may only participate on one team
• You can form your own team or request to be placed on a team
• No individual entries are allowed

• First Place Team: $4,000 - Sponsored by United Health Foundation
• Second Place Team: $2,000 - Sponsored by the University of Minnesota Office of Academic Clinical Affairs and Office of the Vice President for Research, Research Computing
• Third Place Team: $1,000

New in 2023, the Interdisciplinary Health Data Competition is part of the 1Health interprofessional education curriculum at the University of Minnesota. This means that the competition offers a valuable interprofessional learning experience that has been carefully designed to expand upon students' skills and knowledge in preparation for their future as collaborative health professionals. 

For scholars participating in the 1Health interprofessional education curriculum this means that upon completion of the Interdisciplinary Health Data Competition, a record demonstrating your involvement in this experience will be added to your personal "1Health IPE Transcript" which can be accessed via the 1Health Database after completing all competition requirements and reflection.   

This competition would not be possible without the support and involvement of University of Minnesota faculty and industry partners!

Industry Experts: 

• Matt Chock: Bind Benefits
• Alex Everhart, PhD: Harvard-MIT Center for Regulatory Science
• John Hargraves, MPP: Health Care Cost Institute
• Erene Hammond: OptumLabs
• Todd Johnson, MBA: IZiel Healthcare
• Cora Peterson, PhD: National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• Craig Solid, PhD: Solid Research Group, LLC
• Julie Sonier, MPA: MN Community Measurement
• Nancy Walczak, PhD, FSA: The Lewin Group (retired) 
• Kurt Waltenbaugh, MBA: Unite Us
• Michael Webber, MBA: Hennepin Health
• Mark Wehde, MS, MBA: Mayo Clinic Division of Engineering
• Audrey Workman, MHA: DaVita Kidney Care
• Ma Xiong, MPH: MN Community Measurement

University of Minnesota Faculty: 

• Robin Austin, PhD, DNP, DC, RN-BC: School of Nursing
• Caitlin Carrol, PhD: School of Public Health 
• Joel Farley, PhD: College of Pharmacy
• Russ Funk, PhD: Carlson School of Management
• Steve Johnson, PhD: Institute for Health Informatics
• Pinar Karaca-Mandic, PhD, Carlson School of Management
• De Liu, PhD: Carlson School of Management
• Helen Parsons, PhD: School of Public Health
• Karen Quick, PhD, DDS: School of Dentistry
• Julian Wolfson, PhD: School of Public Health
• Rui Zhang, PhD, FAMIA:  Medical School

How do I record the voiceover for the presentation?  

• Teams can use any method of recording the voice-over on their slides; however, we recommend VoiceThread or Zoom.

I registered as an individual. When will I find out what team I am on? 

• Emails will be sent by March 10, 2023 to all registered participants and will include their team members' information as well as other important details.   

Are we more in favor of an exploratory analysis?

• It is up to your team whether you want to do exploratory analysis, predictive analysis, or take another approach. 

I competed in the Health Data Competition in the past. Can I compete again?

• Yes! Past participants are welcome to compete again since each year the topic and required dataset change so teams will need to take different approaches and bring new insights to their projects.

Our team members are dual-degree programs from the same 2 schools. Does this meet the requirement of 2 colleges/schools?

• Yes! Dual-degree programs meet the requirement of having 2 colleges/schools represented on each team.

I am a part-time student. Can I participate in the competition? 

• Yes! All graduate and professional degree-seeking students at the University of Minnesota are eligible to participate. 

Can our project focus on one specific area of the dataset or do all aspects of the data need to be used? 

• Teams can choose a topic that is of most interest to them while utilizing the required dataset in some way. They can choose a specific topic that only incorporates a portion of the required dataset while using other publicly available data. 

Contact csombach@umn.edu with additional questions.