Press Release
BioMed-a-thon Is Back On
As the VMBS gears up for the third annual competition for student innovation in January, participants look back on the successes of the 2025 event.
A member of Team ViroSpec works on her design for a handheld ion mobility spectrometry device for diagnosing illnesses.
At the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences (VMBS), competitors prepare to set off as the air horn looms. However, rather than donning athletic gear, these undergraduate and graduate students are getting ready to navigate complex scientific data and business considerations.
In a triumph of innovative growth, students in the Biomedical Sciences Association (BSA) have created a new, annual Aggie tradition — BioMed-a-thon, a 48-hour intensive research competition that incorporates skills from healthcare, engineering, law, biotechnology, and business as students develop and promote new medical innovations.
Their initial, January 2024 competition crafted an opportunity to push the boundaries of students’ creativity as they spent 48 hours conducting research and developing solutions to health-related problems within the theme of “Wearable Health Technology.”
As students prepare to reconvene for the 2026 BioMed-a-thon, eager to create new innovations to solve some of the most pressing challenges in medicine, participants look back at last year’s event to give would-be attendees an idea of what to expect for the third annual event, scheduled for Jan. 16-18.
“It’s been amazing to see this passion project grow into a highly popular and successful annual tradition that brings students together from all majors and interests and allows them to share the very best of what they each have to offer,” said Connor White, BioMed-a-thon’s co-founder and a current Doctor of Veterinary Medicine student.
A Race To Create
Teams were given 48 hours to develop, research, and present their device.
The 2025 BioMed-a-thon, sponsored by Kaplan Test Prep, challenged students to join forces and formulate a new device with the theme of “Clinical Equipment” that would address a medical need while remaining feasible and scientifically accurate.
Dr. Dana Kneese, a VMBS clinical assistant professor, and Dr. Alvin Bisarya, Kaplan’s vice president of healthcare innovations, served as mentors during the event.
“I was thoroughly impressed by the students’ creativity and ingenuity in developing novel medical devices,” Kneese said. “It was truly inspiring to witness their innovation and collaboration with peers.”
With the clock ticking, more than 70 students poured their energy into research, design refinement, and presentation creation. By presentation day, the results could not have been more impressive; in just 48 hours, students had developed revolutionary medical solutions, navigated legal obstacles, calculated profitability, and created a plan to pitch their device’s value.
These presentations were judged by a panel that included White, Kaplan student brand ambassador manager Morgan Carter, Texas A&M School of Public Health academic adviser Katherine Crabill, STgenetics marketing manager Jim Hiney, and VMBS research assistant professor and BSA adviser Dr. Jill Hiney.
They considered criteria such as originality, technical merit, feasibility, team collaboration, and presentation.
First place went to the Catheter Infection Detection Device (CIDD) team, including Anishka Ande, Natasha Cardozo, Kumud Chimmiri, Divya Phalak, Neha Venny, and Shrika Vurimi. Their revolutionary device attaches to catheters in order to monitor urine content and rapidly detect catheter-associated urinary tract infections.
“Participating in BioMed-a-thon was an amazing experience,” Ande said. “It allowed my group to collaborate and deliberate possible solutions for an issue in the healthcare industry that affects an overlooked population. Winning taught us to always trust our instincts and that giving our all to a passion project in a detailed, eclectic manner would pave us a road to success.”
Second place went to Team ViroSpec, which created a noninvasive, cost-effective handheld device that allows healthcare providers to quickly test and diagnose illnesses using ion mobility spectrometry. In third place, Team Echobone developed a wearable device that measures bone density in real time with ultrasonic technology and successfully evaluates and reduces bone fracture risk in patients.
BioMed-a-thon 2025 participants
The Future Of BioMed-a-thon
Whether it was an award, an impressive device, or simply effective teamwork, everyone involved in the BioMed-a-thon has been able to take something away from the event. Some teams, including CIDD, are even planning to turn their projects into life-saving realities.
“The experience really changed my approach to medically oriented research, allowing me to see the value in developing skills that will aid my future career,” said Jadiel Dávila Velázquez, a biology major and member of team VirtualOptix.
The 2025 BioMed-a-thon would not have been possible without its supportive BSA leadership team, including human medicine vice president Daniel Campos, executive program coordinator Grace Weir, and special projects coordinator Catherine Wenske. The event was also supported by committee members Mikaela Crowley, Emma Ellis, Brooke Forbes, Annabelle Garcia, Sarah Hurt, Sydney Taylor, Garrett White, and Jeffrey Zhang.
Students from all majors and classifications are invited to join the January 2026 competition. Sign ups are due Jan. 3 and can be found on the BSA site. Preparations are already underway and students, judges, and sponsors are all eagerly awaiting the immense creativity that is soon to be showcased at the Wayne Roberts Building.
“Since we started BioMed-a-thon in 2024, it’s been incredible to see the creativity and ingenuity these talented students bring to the table,” White said. “The competition has a habit of getting bigger and more thought-provoking every year, so I’m excited to see what this year’s leadership team has in store.”
