Uncommonhacks
From left to right: MediScan team members, Romeo Shamoun, Farhat Hazara, Sandra Washington (judge), Karen Curtiss (judge) (photo provided by University of Chicago)
The University of Chicago’s UncommonHacks 2025 brought together 145 passionate participants for 30 hours of innovation, collaboration, and problem-solving. This annual intercollegiate hackathon challenges students to develop creative solutions to real-world problems, offering hands-on workshops, mentorship, and the opportunity to develop impactful innovations.
The Patient Safety Technology Challenge sponsored the hackathon and offered participants a chance to win visa gift cards worth a total of $500. The challenge was judged by Karen Curtiss, BCPA, the Founder and Director of The Care Partner Project, and Sandra Washington, Founder and CEO of Medi-Helpz. Their expertise in patient safety advocacy helped guide and evaluate innovative solutions submitted by the hackathon teams.
Grace Yu, one of the event organizers, expressed the excitement surrounding the Patient Safety Technology Challenge. “It was a great success,” she noted, adding that it was the most popular challenge among all the sponsor challenges. The goal of the partnership was to encourage participants to develop transformative solutions that could improve patient safety, with a focus on solutions that give patients and their families power in managing and better understanding their healthcare.
The winning team, consisting of Farhat Hazara and Romeo Shamoun, both students at Oakton Community College, impressed the judges with their innovation. They designed an app called MediScan to help patients and their families avoid preventable harm due to medication errors. The app reviews diagnostic information, medication history, and user-specific data like a user’s age and symptoms, and then alerts users to potential medication contraindications, ensuring they receive the safest possible care. In developing the app, the MediScan team aimed to empower patients by providing critical information to prevent dangerous drug interactions. By making this information easily accessible, MediScan helps users understand the potential risks associated with their medications and take steps to avoid harm.
Since winning the competition, the team has been working on several updates to make the app more user-friendly. Additional updates include screens that provide clearer explanations of diagnoses, symptoms, and medication interactions. The team will continue to make updates so that patients can easily navigate their healthcare information and stay informed about their treatment plans.
