2026 ISfTeH Student Contest & Award: Celebrating Student Innovation in Telemedicine and Digital Health

The International Society for Telemedicine & eHealth (ISfTeH) proudly held the 2026 Student Contest & Award, an annual initiative that brings together ISfTeH student members from around the world to present innovative research, projects, and real-world digital health solutions.

Across two sessions, students from Brazil, Georgia, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and the United States presented work addressing some of today’s most important challenges in telemedicine and digital health — including cancer research, chronic disease management, health equity, AI, mHealth, IoMT, blockchain, medical education, and privacy-preserving clinical AI.

The presentations were assessed by a jury of ISfTeH Board Members and we gratefully acknowledge the participation and support of Dr. Michele Griffith, Dr. Nelly Abulata, Prof. Jefferson Fernandes, Ms. Cherisse Mark, and Mr. Lloyd Williams.

Session 1 presentations

Digital Immunoprofiling of B-Cell Driven Mechanisms of Ovarian Cancer Relapse — Alejandra Rodriguez, Clemson University, USA

Experience Report: Implementing Innovation through the Creation of a Telemedicine League — Diogo Pereira Vidal de Oliveira, UNIFESO, Brazil

TeleFarmas: Pharmaceutical Teleconsultations for Patients with Asthma and/or COPD — Eduarda Agostini Dolfini, Federal University of Health Sciences of Porto Alegre, Brazil

Bridging The Forest: Low Adherence and High Failure Rates of Teleconsultation Among Older Adults in The Brazilian Amazon — Lucas Wiesbauer Pasetti, Federal University of Health Sciences of Porto Alegre, Brazil

Telemedicine in Health Management Beyond COVID-19: Health Care Provider Perceptions, Barriers to Adoption and Strategies for Sustainable Growth — Arisha Muqaddas, Khyber Medical College, Pakistan

Artificial Intelligence Models for Cardiovascular Risk Prediction in Adults: An Overview of Systematic Reviews — Marcelle Soares Viana, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Brazil

A mHealth Solution to Support Adolescent Sexual Education — Maria Eduarda Machado Silva, Federal University of Health Sciences of Porto Alegre, Brazil

Telemedicine in Georgian Penitentiary Healthcare: Integrating National Utilization Data with Incarcerated Individuals — Mariami Ambroladze, Faculty of Medicine, Tbilisi State University, Georgia

HERALD: A FHIR-Native Federated Architecture for Privacy-Preserving Fine-Tuning of Clinical Language Models — Fernando Barcelos Rosito, Federal University of Health Sciences of Porto Alegre, Brazil

▶️ Watch Session 1 on YouTube: https://youtu.be/RdV6l4fBXUI

Session 2 presentations

Effectiveness of Telemedicine-Based Interventions in Primary Health Care: Systematic Review — Gustavo Oliveira, Brazil

Neurotalks: Scalable Podcast-Based Digital Health Education Model for Neurological Literacy and Community-Driven Knowledge Translation — Matias Neto, Brazil

moviMENTE-se: Movement, Memory, and Community — Hybrid Digital Health Model for Dementia Prevention and Caregiver Support — Laura Motta, Brazil

Digital Health and Dengue Epidemiological Surveillance: Intelligent Early Warning System Based on Multifactorial Data Integration — Natália Dullius, Brazil

From a Brazilian Federal University Hackathon to Research: Digitizing Legacy Analog ECG Devices and Comparing Deep Learning Architectures for ECG Analysis and Clinical Triage — Natally da Costa, Brazil

mHealth Solution for Remote Monitoring of Physiological Variables Related to Stroke Occurrence in Elderly Individuals Using IoMT, Wearables & Multi-Connectivity — Pamela Piovisan, Brazil

INSUL: Closing the Gap Between Home and Clinic for Children with Diabetes Through AI-Supported Connected Care Platform — Saja Alamer, Saudi Arabia

AuditCare: Permissioned Blockchain-Based Solution for Emergency Telehealth Auditing — Victor Alves, Brazil

Integrating Synchronous Teleinterconsultation into Primary Health Care: Experience Report on Digital Health and Medical Education in Brazil — Virginia Costa Figueira, Brazil

▶️ Watch Session 2 on YouTube: https://youtu.be/1dS7r1_mywA

Awards

The Gold, Silver, and Bronze medal awardees of the 2026 ISfTeH Student Contest & Award will be announced at the Student Contest & Award Ceremony on November 12. The awards are sponsored by A Doctor in the House 21st MD.