Hack@BRown
From left to right: Jonah Leshin (judge), Relieve Rx Team Members: Ahmer Ali, Talha Gondal, Waqas Arain, William Wang, and Kim (Jean) Kim (judge) (photo provided by Brown University)
Brown University hosted its annual hackathon, Hack@Brown, on February 1-2. The competition, which was open to all college students, attracted over 400 hackers. For the first time, the Patient Safety Technology Challenge was a sponsor at Hack@Brown, bringing the crucial topic of patient safety to the forefront and encouraging the next generation of innovators to tackle healthcare’s most pressing problems. Participants had an opportunity to learn about patient safety in a workshop facilitated by Kim (Jean) Kim, who also judged the competition. With experienced mentors like Nick Adams, CEO of Care Thread, and judges such as Jonah Leshin, Head of Data Science at Datavant and a Brown University alumnus, teams had the support and expertise needed to transform their ideas into real-world consumer-focused patient safety innovations.
RelieveRx won the prize for the Consumer-Driven Patient Safety Technology Track, with each team member winning a $250 Visa gift card. RelieveRx team members include William Wang, Waqas Arain, Talha Gondal, and Ahmer Ali. RelieveRx is an innovative AI-driven platform designed to reduce opioid overprescription by offering personalized pain management suggestions based on a patient’s self-reported pain levels, medical history, and hospital records. By moving beyond the traditional pain scale, RelieveRx empowers patients to make safer, more informed decisions about their treatment options. The platform’s suggestions incorporate pain management alternatives to prescription drugs, as well as individual and community-level resources for patients.
The team used the Patient Safety Technology Challenge consumer focus to guide the development of its innovation. By focusing on the consumer—patients and their support networks—RelieveRx addresses a critical gap in healthcare: patients often lack the information they need to make informed choices. This consumer-first approach is key to improving patient outcomes and reducing preventable harm.
As the team’s innovation began to take shape, their personal experiences and insights played a pivotal role in refining the platform’s direction. RelieveRx team member, Talha Gondal’s passion for improving patient safety comes from a deeply personal experience. After suffering nerve damage from a medical error, he was discharged with no clear instructions on how to manage his post-operative pain. This lack of guidance, common in many healthcare settings, led him to rethink his path in medicine. “I realized focusing on tech, innovation, business, and policy had the possibility of helping more people than just one doctor could,” Gondal says, as he shifted his focus to creating scalable solutions that could prevent others from experiencing what he went through. “From then I knew there needed to be more attention given to patients, both during hospital care, and after discharge,” he said.
His fellow teammate, Waqas Arain, said “We realized that talking through your pain and addressing opioid overprescription were key aspects of a consumer-focused software solution that could help patients and improve the system. We were inspired by understanding the scale of the problem and the impact that any solution could have.”
As they continue to refine their platform, the team’s goal is clear: to revolutionize the way pain management is approached, ensuring that patients are equipped with the knowledge and tools they need to take control of their health. As for what’s next, the team has plans to scale ReliveRx, but first Gondal says they are “trying to learn as much as possible about the American medical apparatus so we can navigate through the relevant policy and compliance structures, understand who the relevant actors are, and ultimately serve patients as best as we possibly can.” With the support of their mentor, Jean Kim, and a growing network of advocates, RelieveRx is poised to make a lasting impact on patient safety.
