2025 Design by Biomedical Undergraduate Teams (DEBUT) Challenge
NIMHD funds the DEBUT Healthcare Technologies for Low-Resource Settings prize, which challenges the next generation of biomedical engineers to develop innovative solutions to unmet health care and clinical needs of populations in low-resource settings within the U.S. and U.S. territories.
Important Dates
- Submission Deadline: Wednesday, June 18, 2025, 11:59 PM EDT
- Winners Announced: August 25, 2025
- Award Ceremony: October 2025, Biomedical Engineering Society Conference, San Diego, California
Read the Complete DEBUT 2025 Announcement
See DEBUT Participation Rules and Guidelines for details.
2024 NIMHD Prize for Healthcare Technologies for Low-Resource Settings
Winner: Cornell University, Ithaca, New York
Project Title: A Gold Nanoparticle Solution for Non-Invasive Lead-in-Saliva Testing (NanoLIST)
NanoLIST is a rapid and inexpensive test kit for the detection of elevated lead concentrations in saliva. There are significant disparities in lead exposure and related health outcomes, where children from low socioeconomic status populations are at higher risk. The NanoLIST kit is self-contained, requiring no additional reagents to function, and is designed to prevent any leakage, allowing for safe use and simple disposal without the assistance of a clinician.
Team Members: Ruchira Hariharan, Ariella Avigad, Francesca Azzarito, Viviana Esquivel, Sophia Hertel, Kendal Phinney, Nathan Palmuttam, Aiko Shibata
Press release, Aug. 26, 2024: NIH Prize Challenge Recognizes Undergraduate Biomedical Engineers for Innovative Medical Device Designs
All 2024 DEBUT Challenge winners
About DEBUT
The Design by Biomedical Undergraduate (DEBUT) Challenge is an annual contest that recognizes undergraduate excellence in biomedical design and innovation. The challenge is open to teams of undergraduate students developing technology to address unmet health and clinical problems.
DEBUT is supported by NIH and VentureWell and is led by the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB). NIMHD partners with NIBIB to support the DEBUT Healthcare Technologies for Low-Resource Settings prize, which is focused on advancing health care for populations in low resource settings in the United States.
Page updated June 6, 2025