Hackathon: Tech & Media Solutions to Reduce STIs

AI-Powered Software Solutions Track:

First Place: The winning solution, Poppy, an AI-powered STI diagnosis app and website, offers a personalized and humanized approach to diagnosis and support. By asking personalized questions and incorporating in-house image processing, Poppy will provide accurate preliminary diagnoses and tailored recommendations. Poppy also ensures user privacy by not transmitting sensitive data over the internet. With Poppy, individuals can confidently navigate STI diagnosis, access vital resources, and receive personalized sexual health recommendations. It aims to humanize health care by empowering individuals and dismantling barriers to sexual health services. The app flow involves user onboarding, an initial assessment with image processing, preliminary diagnosis, and personalized feedback. Poppy aims to leverage technology to empower and improve accessibility for end users.

Team members: Joshua Inhyuk Choi (University of California, Irvine), Nathan Choi (University of California, Irvine), and Paul Wong (University of California, Santa Cruz)

Second Place: STIcker allows patients to obtain preliminary STI consultation and self-education via a website (STIcker = STI: “Sexually Transmitted Infection,” C: “classification,” K: “Knowledge,” E: “Eradication,” and R: “Reporting”). The “Classification” page of the STIcker website relies on deep AI learning. Users upload several pictures of skin conditions, and the website classifies the images and gives a preliminary result, picture by picture, indicating whether the images imply chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis, trichomoniasis, or none (additional photographs will be needed to refine the prototype). The “Knowledge” tab provides preliminary information and links about STIs that can help bridge users to knowledge. The “Eradication” tab allows the user to access a list of nearby providers. The “Reporting” tab will track the number of STIs in a particular location (based on user data) to allow governmental and public health programs to be better target their efforts.

Team members: Lalit Patel (data science) and Sean Patel (University of California, Riverside, Neuroscience 2023 Graduate)

YouTube Health Innovation Prize: SympToDialog is an AI-powered chatbot designed to simulate patient interactions during medical appointments to improve health care providers’ proficiency at taking patients’ sexual histories, promote confidence, and enhance STI diagnostic skills. It offers a diverse range of personas with factors such as age, sexual orientation, ethnicity, cultural background, sexual behavior, geographic location, and biological factors. The chatbot engages in realistic conversations with medical professionals, allowing them to practice their skills and obtain feedback for improvement.

Team members: Jimy Bombela (California State University, Fullerton, Computer Science 2023 Graduate), Kenny Garcia (California State University, Fullerton, Computer Science Undergraduate), Mauricio Macias (California State University, Fullerton, Computer Science 2021 Graduate), and Ricky Morales (California State University, Fullerton, Computer Science Undergraduate)

Data Analytics Track:

First Place and YouTube Health Innovation Prize: Porcupine is a user-centered application (available via any mobile or web browser) aimed at improving the digital care pathway and providing a data collection model for future accurate and insightful real-time data analytics. It empowers people with tailored, AI-powered sexual health information based on their age, gender, sexual orientation, race, and ethnicity; reduces barriers by identifying sexual health checkup and testing sites based on preferences and filter criteria; and allows anonymous reviews. The testing experience is private and secure via unique test codes allowing patients to visit clinics and sites without sharing their personal details onsite.

Team members: Zhuyuan He (full-stack developer/data visualization/interaction design and prototyping) and Jimmy Wang (software engineering/computer science)

Second Place: STIgma addresses critical barriers to equitable sexual health education, easy linkage to sexual health services, and addresses other sexual health concerns faced by young adults using an evolving AI-powered interactive chat experience. AI will help generate organic social media posts and digital ads on social media and dating sites to target diverse subgroups of 15- to 24-year-olds. Based on the user’s interaction with the AI, they are provided with appropriate STI education and resources. AI can also help identify social media influencers who could create content for specific demographics.

Team members: Oscar Florez (full-stack developer/generative AI), Cornelius Jamison (family medicine physician/health care researcher), Matt Kilboy (registered nurse/health informatics), and Victor Nguyen (front-end developer/software engineering)