The Innovation Impact Case Award recognizes research that has led to significant impact outside of academia and has made a meaningful difference in our communities.
Award Winners
The award and prize of $10,000 went to each of the following research projects:
Michael Pitt, Pediatrics, and John Sartori, Electrical and Computer Engineering, for “Making Access to Hospital Rounds a Right, Not a Privilege with Q-rounds.”
A new virtual hospital round queueing software, Q-rounds, developed by Michael Pitt and John Sartori, has significantly improved communication and reduced medical errors by providing real-time updates on doctors' rounds, allowing families to join remotely and enhancing hospital efficiency. During a twelve week pilot at Masonic Children’s NICU, family attendance during rounds more than doubled, nurse attendance for the entirety of the doctors’ rounds tripled, and over one thousand family members joined rounds remotely.
Read more: Making Access to Hospital Rounds a Right, Not a Privilege with Q-rounds
Tasoulla Hadjiyanni, Interior Design, University of Minnesota Twin Cities, for “Mobilizing Design in the Fight Against Sex Trafficking.”
After learning about the prevalence of sex trafficking in Minneapolis, Tasoulla Hadjiyanni was determined to use her skills in the field of interior design to make a difference. Design Against Trafficking was developed as a catalyst for partnerships among educators, students, and anti-trafficking advocates to broaden awareness about sexual exploitation across the globe and in our very own communities. The initiative has provided design solutions for healing environments for survivors along with spurring additional research at other institutions. Hadjiyanni’s When Places Speak photography exhibits have garnered much of the attention, with the goal of amplifying the storytelling around how places can be enmeshed in trafficking.
Read more: Mobilizing Design in the Fight Against Sex Trafficking