RIDGEFIELD PARK, NJ – May 07, 2019 – Samsung Electronics Americas, Inc. today announced Simulacron and Match Perch as winners of its Breakthroughs that Matter award presented yesterday at the MIT Hacking Medicine Grand Hack 2019 in Cambridge, MA. Awards were presented to the two teams for their effective use of Samsung technology in the creation of prototype digital health applications aimed at solving the United States Veterans Health Administration’s (VHA) toughest challenges.

Match Perch, the winning concept in the Mental Health track, won for developing a mobile application that establishes a third-party-administered wellness program for Veterans suffering from depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and removes stigmas around treatment by preventing disclosure to the VA of whether a veteran was volunteering help or receiving help between peers.
Simulacron won in the Cancer track for its prototype of a structured electronic health record simulator for that uses the Samsung Knox security platform to secure proprietary datasets.

“Being selected as a winner of the Breakthroughs that Matter Award honors the strength and commitment of our team, and all the teams competing this weekend, to positively impact the lives of Veterans,” said Prescott Paulin, a United States Marine Corps veteran and member of Match Perch. “Committed industry leaders like Samsung are inspiring the next generation of developers and entrepreneurs to improve healthcare for those who have sacrificed to protect our freedoms.”

The Samsung Breakthroughs that Matter awards were created to highlight the potential for partnerships between the VHA, industry, and academia in the cultivation of innovative entrepreneurs who embrace Samsung hardware and software to assist the VHA with improving Veterans’ quality of care and access to useful and innovative healthcare solutions for Veterans.

“We are very excited by the potential for digital health applications like those developed by the winning teams at the Grand Hack,” said Suzanne Shirley, National Fellow with the Veterans Health Administration. “By working closely with leading industry and academic partners like Samsung and MIT, VHA is gaining exposure to an innovation ecosystem with the power to positively transform the entire care continuum for Veterans.”
Each member of Match Perch and Simulacron will receive a Samsung Galaxy Note 9 and a Knox Security Platform license, as well as access to Samsung Developer Program mentors who will assist in progressing the development of these winning applications.

“With these awards, and through our participation in the MIT Hacking Medicine hackathons, Samsung is filling a critical gap between industry, academia and the VHA,” said Taher Behbehani, Senior Vice President and General Manager of the Mobile B2B Division, Samsung Electronics America. “Samsung will embrace these innovative entrepreneurs and provide them with the resources they need to fulfill their sense of mission that drove them to create transformative applications for our nation’s Veterans.”