Self chec, gyro and Startup Institute To Host Inaugural Women Against Breast Cancer Hackathon
‘Coders vs. Cancer’ challenges hackers to devise proactive social tools for self-exams
Breast cancer is the second deadliest cancer in the world. It also has the highest survival rate if caught early and managed with a healthy lifestyle. Despite the widespread awareness of the disease, very few women take action to prevent it.
This September, Self chec, a nonprofit created to minimize the number of those we love from dying unnecessarily of cancer and other chronic diseases, in partnership with gyro, the global ideas shop, and Startup Institute, a career accelerator for those looking to succeed in startups, will host the inaugural “Coders vs. Cancer” hackathon. The hackathon will challenge attendees to come up with innovative tools to help women learn and adhere to an effective self-examination schedule.
Participants include WomenWhoCode, NYU ITP and other female-focused tech groups who innovate in the cancer prevention field. The three-day event will be held at gyro’s new state-of-the-art space in Manhattan’s Financial District fromFriday, September 11 to Sunday, September 13. Nearly 100 people – engineers, developers, marketers and more – are expected to attend.
The hackathon will conclude on Sunday with presentations, judging and prizes. The final prizes will help the winning team transform their hack into a working product that can be launched and scaled in the future. Following the presentations and prizes will be a networking event for all of the attendees and sponsors.
Additional event partners include KISSPatent, Starbucks, JPD Studio, FoodtoEat and more.
To participate, learn more about the event and ways to get involved, visit codersvscancer.org.
“When we put this hackathon together, we realized we had an opportunity not just to help people become proactive about their health and prevent breast cancer, but also to provide a platform for the talented individuals who will be creating these tools,” said Joan Peckolick, founder of Self chec. “We’re thrilled to partner with gyro and Startup Institute and their incredible network of people to host this life-saving challenge.”
Wendy Lurrie, managing director of gyro New York and gyro’s healthcare division gyro:human, said: “This is an awesome opportunity to be at the nexus of women’s healthcare and women in technology, two of the most important issues and opportunities in the world today. This event provides the ability to use one to help address the other. We hope that the innovations developed in September will be used and launched to ultimately transform health by giving people a destination they need to manage their health and wellness needs.”
Kelcey Gosserand, associate director of Startup Institute, added: “SINYC is thrilled to be working with gyro and Self chec to deliver an innovative and potentially life-saving hackathon supporting breast cancer awareness and prevention.”
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About Self chec
Self chec is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to providing the best and most comprehensive free “keeping healthy” one-to-one communicated tools to help protect you and those you care about from cancers, heart disease, diabetes and obesity; diseases that are often preventable, treatable and curable.
Our goal is to spread the importance of health self-empowerment to everyone who has the potential of being diagnosed with a chronic disease, and help save the more than one million people who die unnecessarily each year. Our dream is to transform our inactive and reactive “Sickness” Nation to a more proactive “Prevention” Nation. Self Chec is about what you and those you care about must do to work together to make sure this happens.
About gyro
As a global ideas shop, our mission is to create ideas that are humanly relevant. gyro is the 2015 and 2014 BMA Global B2B Agency of the Year and an Advertising Age Top 50 agency. gyro also serves as Global Marketing Advisor to Fortune. Our 600 creative minds in 14 offices work with top companies including BlackBerry, Cars.com, DuPont, eBay, FedEx, HP, John Deere, SAP, Tate & Lyle, TD Ameritrade, Time Inc. and USG. www.gyro.com
About Startup Institute
Startup Institute is the No. 1 career accelerator helping individuals gain the skills, mindset, and network to succeed in jobs at startups. We cultivate human capital for high-growth companies.