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HealthLab

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Accelerating solutions for public and planetary health

A joint initiative from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Harvard College’s Lemann Program on Creativity and Entrepreneurship.

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HealthLab, an accelerator for student solutions in public and planetary health, will open in the fall of 2022 to all students across Harvard University.

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About HealthLab

HealthLab aims to nurture a culture of entrepreneurship by helping students turn academic insights and personal passions into startups with the potential for real-world impact. ​At the start of each academic year, students with ideas for building a healthier world can form teams and apply to join the cohort. HealthLab seeks to promote collaboration between graduate students and Harvard undergraduates and encourages multidisciplinary teams drawing on expertise from across the university.


Selected teams will earn startup cash, receive personal mentoring, and attend specialized workshops designed to nurture skills in entrepreneurship as they work on their project. After a pitch competition in the spring, a panel of distinguished judges will award the top three teams honors — and funding to continue their enterprise. For our inaugural year, the total purse will be $100,000. 
 

Teams can apply with any idea that advances public or planetary health, on a local or global level. HealthLab will also offer a yearly challenge prompt of an emerging problem. Our inaugural HealthLab challenge is:​

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How do we fight misinformation?

Logo Contest FAQ

  • Who is eligible?

    • All Harvard community members are eligible to apply to the logo competition.​
       

  • What themes should I keep in mind when designing the logo?

    • HealthLab is an accelerator for student solutions in public and planetary health.

    • The logo should reflect the energy, creativity, and ambition of student-led startups on a mission to solve some of the world’s toughest challenges.

    • Student ventures in HealthLab will seek to solve our most intractable problems using creativity, entrepreneurship, and innovation as defining forces.

    • The logo should be designed with end use in mind. It will be used on websites and social media and may be printed on merch such as shirts and hats.
       

  • Are there specific design parameters and/or trademark rules I need to abide by?

    • The logo should not incorporate the logos of either LPCE or Harvard Chan School. It should stand on its own.

    • The logo can use a new color palette or draw from existing colors used by LPCE, Harvard Chan School, and Harvard University.

    • Please abide by the official Harvard trademark rules as outlined here and here.
       

  • May I submit multiple entries?

    • Of course! Please submit separate applications for each logo.
       

  • What is the final format of the submission?

    • The logo must be submitted in PNG file format in its highest resolution.

    • Only one version of the logo is required for submission. Once the winner is selected, we may create alternative versions of the logo for specific uses (Eg. black and white).
       

  • When are logos due?

    • All logos are due by Thursday 04/14/2022 at 11:59PM ET. No late submissions will be considered.
       

  • I'm ready! Where do I apply?!​

    • Please submit your logo here. ​
       

  • What will happen once my logo wins?

    • First of all, congratulations! 

    • We will reward you $1,000 and showcase your design to our wider innovation community. We will include an “About the Artist” section on our website featuring you and celebrating the creative process that led to the winning design.

    • The logo will become the sole property of HealthLab.

       

Logo Contest

HealthLab will formally launch in September of 2022. But we’re getting the fun started now with a logo contest!

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All members of the Harvard community—students, postdocs, fellows, faculty, and staff— are invited to submit a design for a HealthLab logo. A panel of professional designers and creative directors will judge the competition. The winner will receive $1,000 and two honorable mentions will receive $500 each.

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For full rules and the application form, click here. 

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Please know the prize money is taxable. Harvard shall not be responsible for any applicable taxes or for increasing the prize money to cover any applicable tax required to be withheld.

Click here to view the grading rubric! 

​Meet the Logo Competition Judges

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Adrian Gill

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Adrian specializes in building creative brands. Having spent over 10 years at Puma, and running his agency, Ad Hoc Industries, he has extensive know-how on building strong brand connection with consumers, and integrating ambitious business goals with bold design  objectives. He currently serves as Brand Experience and Creative Director at the Harvard Innovation Labs and as a board advisor to several startups focusing on creating consumer and brand equity. He stays close to creative ventures wherever possible, and was Executive Producer for a short film that was an official selection at the Sundance Film Festival. As the former Vice President of the Global Footwear Division at PUMA, a $1.8B business, Adrian was responsible for all footwear product creation, including strategic decisions on consumer trend and marketing strategy. He led the global design team which included collaborations with fashion designers Alexander McQueen, Sergio Rossi, Yashuhiro Mihara and Hussein Chalayan. Prior to PUMA, Adrian was a Senior Management Consultant at AT Kearney Inc. in the Consumer Goods Practice and with PriceWaterhouseCoopers in the High Tech Practice. Adrian holds an MBA from Harvard University.

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Aaron Haesaert

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Aaron Haesaert is the Director of Branding & Creative Services at Mount Holyoke College. He has two decades of branding and design experience, creating award-winning work for clients ranging from start-ups to Fortune 500 companies in the areas of education, food and beverages, music, lifestyle, financial services, consumer electronics, pet food, travel and health and wellness.

 

Prior to Mount Holyoke, Haesaert served as creative director at Corey McPherson Nash, and design director at Pure Branding and Catapult Thinking, three industry-leading brand consultancies. His work has been recognized by the “Book AR100,” Communication Arts, Graphis, Print magazine, Rebrand 100, the AIGA Best of New England (BoNE) Show and “The Big Book of Logos.” Aaron holds a BFA in Graphic Design and Fine Art from The Art Institute of Boston.

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Floor van de Velde

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South African artist Floor van de Velde is an interdisciplinary artist who combines sculpture, sound, photography, and light in a variety of formats, from discrete interventions to room-size installations.

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Floor received a Master of Science in Art, Culture and Technology from MIT in 2014, and currently teaches at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts. She is also a Co-Provocateur of San Francisco-based art collective Nighthouse Studio.

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Dean Michelle A. Williams

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Michelle A. Williams, SM ’88, ScD ’91, is Dean of the Faculty, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and Angelopoulos Professor in Public Health and International Development, a joint faculty appointment at the Harvard Chan School and Harvard Kennedy School. She is an internationally renowned epidemiologist and public health scientist, an award-winning educator, and a widely recognized academic leader. Prior to becoming Dean in 2016, she was Professor and Chair of the Department of Epidemiology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Program Leader of the Population Health and Health Disparities Research Programs at Harvard’s Clinical and Translational Sciences Center (Harvard Catalyst).

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Dean Williams received her undergraduate degree in biology and genetics from Princeton University in 1984. She has a master’s in civil engineering from Tufts University, and master’s and doctoral degrees in epidemiology from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
 

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​HealthLab FAQs

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  • When does HealthLab open?

    • HealthLab will kick off in September 2022
       

  • Who is eligible?

    • The HealthLab accelerator program is open to teams of current students and postdocs from across the University (no faculty or staff). Teams may include individuals from outside the University as well, but priority will be given to multi-disciplinary teams that draw heavily on the expertise of students enrolled in Harvard College or Harvard graduate schools.

    •  Applicants must be early-stage ventures without employees and with less than $10,000 in funding.
       

  • What ventures may apply?​

    • We’ll gladly look at any idea or venture that offers a sustainable and empathetic solution to a intractable societal problem​

    • Need inspiration? If your venture addresses any of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, you’ll be eligible.
       

  • ​​What is an intractable global problem?​

    • Intractable global problems include hunger, oppression, pollution, conflict, climate change, inequities in education, human rights violations…. just to name a few.
       

  • How do you apply to HealthLab?

    • To apply to HealthLab's cohort, you will need to present the following components:​

      • A global health problem

      • A sustainable and empathetic solution

      • Your venture’s unique differentiating value A positive theory of change

      • A targeted and diverse team 

      • A rough budget 

    • We will post more detailed guidelines and an application form on our website this summer.
       

  • Can I apply solo, or do I need a team?

    • You will need at least two members on your founding team. The team leader must be an enrolled, degree-seeking Harvard student. Our judging rubric for admission to the cohort awards more points for blended teams across schools and concentrations, consisting of undergraduate and graduate members with diverse backgrounds and multi-disciplinary areas of expertise.​
       

  • ​Will there be mentoring and networking opportunities?

    • Yes. Each team will be assigned a generalist mentor to guide them through the year. In addition, each team will get mentoring from experts based on the need of the team and the venture.​

    • We will also host several networking events for our cohort, the LPCE community, the larger Harvard community, and social entrepreneurs outside Harvard's walls.
       

  • How much commitment will HealthLab require?

    • Advancing in HealthLab after acceptance into the cohort will require four hours monthly at the very least. The expectation is that the members of the cohort are motivated to be there, self-selecting, and eager to take advantage of the opportunities HealthLab offers.​
       

  • What else can I expect if my team makes the cut and joins the cohort??

    • Good question. Thank you for asking. If you are accepted into our cohort, your team will receive additional opportunities to engage with other creative entrepreneurial communities on campus and beyond.

    • You will have the opportunity to present at follow-up events.​

    • You will be asked to prepare a final report and apply to our HealthLab Pitch Competition in April for the chance to win one of three grand prizes of $20,000 each to continue to take your idea forward.

    • You will have the opportunity to engage with our HealthLab summer outreach program, which aims to bring creative entrepreneurial and public health strategies to under-resourced high schools locally and globally.
       

  • Are funds I receive from HealthLab taxable?

    • Yes, please know all funds from HealthLab are taxable. Harvard shall not be responsible for any applicable taxes or for increasing the funds to cover any applicable tax required to be withheld.