Judging the Docathon Grand Finale 2025
Anand Mahalingam served on the jury panel for the Docathon™ Grand Finale 2025, held at Bangalore Medical College & Research Institute (BMCRI) on 7 December 2025. Organised by CellStrat in partnership with BMCRI, the initiative ran for months before the finale — beginning with a 250+ attendee webinar on real-world AI in medicine and a hands-on workshop series that brought doctors and engineers together around clinical data, workflows, and safe medical use.
A Unique Cross-Disciplinary Format
The hackathon spanned 14+ locations with 150+ participants from medical and engineering colleges, hospitals, and tech hubs. From 130+ registrations, 30 teams advanced to a two-week build phase. Each paired doctors who understood ground realities with engineers who could turn those insights into working prototypes — clinical domain expertise meeting technical execution.
Innovation Rooted in Real Clinical Gaps
The top three ideas reflected the format's strength: a home-based uroflowmetry system for children, a unified early Parkinson's assessment tool, and a deprescribing support system to make polypharmacy safer. Beyond the competition, teams that didn't win stayed back to discuss collaboration — a reminder that healthcare innovation needs collaboration over hype.
