Knight News Challenge Awards $2.2M to Health Data Projects

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Seven projects that harness the power of data and information for the health of communities will receive more than $2 million as winners of the Knight News Challenge: Health. The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation made the announcement today at the Clinton Health Matters conference in La Quinta, Calif.

The winners provide data-driven solutions to issues from prescription drug abuse and youth crisis counseling, to better medical resource allocation and connecting communities with local health services.

Launched in August, the challenge was a collaboration between Knight and four major players in health: the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the California HealthCare Foundation, the Clinton Foundation and the Health Data Consortium. The Knight News Challenge: Health asked innovators to present solutions that harness the power of data and information for the health of communities, with a strong focus on civic participation and solution building.

Winners include:

Ohana API, which connects the public with community resources through a centralized database that aggregates information on health, human and social services, so users can quickly access targeted information through search engines, smartphones or SMS.

Camden Health Explorer from Camden Coalition of Healthcare Providers, which creates an interactive dashboard with real-time health care enrollment, cost and outcomes metrics to make the local health care system more efficient.

Homebrew Sensing Project from Public Laboratory, which provides low-cost chemical analysis tools that allow residents to track hazardous chemicals in the environment and their health impacts.

Other winners allow individuals to offer their genomes up to researchers for study, medical journalism, crisis hotlines and a means of preventing prescription drug abuse. The Knight Foundation has provided video with the winners: