Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is the latest in a series of infectious disease emergencies, including cholera, Ebola, SARS, Chikungunya, HIV/AIDS, and influenza. While scientists and drug developers, with support from governments and multilateral organizations, have been rushing to produce, test, and deliver vaccines and treatments, tech innovators also have a crucial role to play, both in the near term and to prevent and mitigate future disease outbreaks.

In the near term, improved solutions for prevention, accurate detection, and rapid response are needed. MIT Solve is seeking tech innovations that can slow and track the spread of an emerging outbreak, for example by improving individual hygiene, developing low-cost rapid diagnostics, analyzing data that informs decision making, and providing tools that support and protect health workers.

Climate change and globalization leave us ever more vulnerable to future epidemics and pandemics, and it’s critical to be prepared. Solve is also seeking solutions that focus on preventative and mitigation measures that strengthen access to affordable primary healthcare systems, enhance disease surveillance systems, and improve healthcare supply chains.

Eligibility

• Any domestic or international applicants who are already working in or plan to expand their solution to the Latin America and Caribbean region.
• Individual applicants who are at least 18 years old, or teams in which one member is at least 18 years old.
• Applicants can be individual students, entrepreneurs, teams, or established start-ups.

Benefits

• $1 million in prize funding.

Application process

• Click here for the application process.

How it works:

• You can provide all of your responses at once and submit your solution, or if you aren’t quite ready to submit, you can save your work and finish late.
• Complete the required questions at a minimum to save your application.