From artificial intelligence that can help detect overlooked heart attacks to digital platforms designed to connect expectant mothers with prenatal care sooner, the winners of Yale New Haven Health’s 2026 Innovation Awards share a common goal: helping clinicians and patients identify and address health issues earlier.
The annual competition, run through YNHH’s Center for Health Care Innovation, awarded funding to projects aimed at expanding access to care, improving clinical workflows and using technology to support healthcare providers. This year’s theme was “Breaking Barriers, Building Access.”
Each gold and silver award honoree received $50,000. The winners were announced May 27 during the Yale Innovation Summit in New Haven.
“The awards highlight the extraordinary depth of innovation across our health system and academic partners,” YNHH CEO Christopher O’Connor said in a news release.
Top honors went to two projects.
Neuroprobe, led by Hitten Zaveri, an associate research scientist in the Department of Neurology at Yale University, is developing an implantable monitoring system for patients with severe brain injuries and other neurological emergencies. The device would continuously track brain pressure, electrical activity, temperature and oxygen levels, giving clinicians a real-time picture of a patient’s condition.
The other gold award winner, Enrich Health, a Black woman-led OB-GYN practice in Hamden, is developing a digital platform designed to help Medicaid recipients and other underserved patients gain earlier access to prenatal care and support services during pregnancy.
Silver award winners included:
- ECG OMI — led by Dr. Rohit Sangal, associate medical director for the Yale New Haven Adult Emergency Department — which is developing an AI tool that analyzes electrocardiograms to identify subtle heart attack patterns that can sometimes be missed in busy emergency departments.
- Lumen, led by Dr. Jonathan Tefera, a resident physician in Interventional Radiology at Yale New Haven Hospital, uses mixed-reality technology to place live medical imaging directly into a physician’s field of view during procedures, reducing the need to look away from patients and toward separate monitors.
- Elevare Health, led by Lucas Favazza, clinical program manager at Yale New Haven Hospital, which provides digital support and care coordination for patients during pregnancy and after childbirth.
Bronze award honorees included PROMPT CKD, which embeds clinical guidance for chronic kidney disease into electronic medical records; SterileVision, an AI-assisted system that inspects surgical instruments for defects or contamination; and Hygieia, an AI-powered platform that helps physicians diagnose rare diseases by analyzing medical and genetic information.
