HHS Expands TOPx Prize Pool to $3.8 Million, Awards $3.7 Million to 40 Teams
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced on November 9 that it has expanded the prize pool of the TOPx HHS Tech Sprint for AI and Invisible Illness from $2 million to $3.8 million, and named 40 Phase 2 winners receiving $3.7 million in total. The winning teams built working prototypes that use super intelligence (SI) and federal open data to address Lyme disease and other complex chronic conditions. The competition received 171 submissions, and 46 teams advanced to Phase 2.
"Americans living with Lyme disease and other complex chronic illnesses deserve answers, and we are making their search a priority," said HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. He said that through the Lyme Disease Moonshot and TOPx, the Trump Administration is challenging scientists and innovators to turn super intelligence and federal data into practical tools for patients and doctors, with a clear goal: shorten the path to diagnosis, improve care, and help patients reclaim their health.
Entries were developed across three challenge areas, Lyme Innovation, Invisible Illness, and Cost of Illness, with tools designed to improve detection and care coordination and to make the human and economic costs of illness more visible. Assistant Secretary for Health Admiral Brian Christine said patients living with Lyme disease and other invisible illnesses deserve to be heard, taken seriously, and given tools that work for them, and that the winning teams show what is possible when patients, data, and technology come together.
The two $1 million Grand Prize winners are LasaClinical: Reducing the Diagnostic Delay in Women's Health, and D2D: AI-powered Companion for Chronic Illness.
The five $250,000 First Prize winners are 360AI: Symptom-to-Claims, The Lyme Disease Moonshot: AI Diagnostic Support for Early Lyme, MyCareGuide, Lyme Companion, and LymeLens: AI-Powered Evidence for Diagnosis and Care.
The six $50,000 Second Prize winners are LymeGuardAI, NeuroSightAI, Symphoney Health, LymeInsight AI, TickTalk, and Tickless. Another 27 Impact Prize winners received $25,000 each, spread across the Lyme Innovation, Invisible Illness, and Cost of Illness areas, with tools ranging from Lyme disease diagnosis using wearable and clinical data to symptom-tracking and care-coordination platforms and models estimating the economic cost of Lyme disease and invisible illnesses.
The TOPx Challenge is led by the HHS LymeX Innovation Accelerator in collaboration with the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and other HHS agencies, powered by the HHS Office of the Chief Technology Officer, the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health, and the Office of the Surgeon General, and developed in collaboration with the Lyme Disease Moonshot. Dr. Stephanie Haridopolos, Director of National Health Communications for the Office of the Surgeon General, said patients and families need practical tools that help them navigate complex conditions and communicate clearly with their care teams.
HHS also announced that public voting for the People's Choice winner is open from November 9 through November 16, 2026, with the winner to receive an additional $50,000. Phase 3 of the TOPx Challenge will begin in January 2027, with five teams advancing to continue developing their prototypes and each receiving $50,000 to support further development, testing, and implementation.
(Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services)
Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：美国卫生与公众服务部总部 Humphrey 大楼（GSM 固定图库）。 / Photo: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services headquarters, the Humphrey Building (GSM asset library).
