The challenge is designed to support novel solutions and facilitate partnerships, with shortlisted innovators invited to pitch their solutions at the Abu Dhabi Future Health Summit.

Three winning teams will share USD 300,000 in prize funding alongside tailored mentorship, access to Future Health’s international networks, and global visibility for selected innovators.
 
Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates: ‘Future Health – A Global Initiative by Abu Dhabi’ has announced the launch of the ‘Future Health Challenge: Building Anticipatory Health Systems through Population Sensing’, in collaboration with MIT Solve. The challenge welcomes entries from around the world that identify solutions which accelerate the shift from reactive healthcare delivery to anticipatory models of care, strengthen resilience, and improve health outcomes at scale. Designed to support the development of novel solutions, the challenge aligns with Future Health’s purpose to accelerate collaboration, promote research and innovation, and invest in impactful solutions that improve health, making sure people and communities are at the heart of sustainable progress.
 
The launch of the challenge reflects the growing need for a coherent, anticipatory health system built on foresight, not hindsight. While average global life expectancy more than doubled between 1800 and 2017, people are still spending around 50% of their lives in poor or moderate health. Additionally, chronic diseases are expected to contribute USD 47 trillion in global costs by 2030, and nearly half of the world’s population still lacks full access to essential health services and early detection technology.
 
Advances in health sensing are helping people, communities, and health systems understand current health conditions, detect risks earlier, and anticipate how health patterns may evolve over time. Sensing for health spans a wide spectrum of approaches, from community-based and social mechanisms to advanced digital and AI-enabled technologies. Differences in access, capability, and technology among individuals, clinicians, and health systems shape how effectively prediction can be achieved in communities around the world.
 
Led by Future Health with MIT Solve as implementation partner, the challenge will identify and support innovative sensing solutions across both low-resource and mature environments. By strengthening how health signals are detected, interpreted, and acted upon, the challenge aims to support more resilient, equitable, and effective health systems for individuals and communities worldwide.
 
His Excellency Mansoor Ibrahim Al Mansoori, Chairman of the Department of Health – Abu Dhabi, said: “The Future Health Challenge is about fuelling a global shift from reactive care to true prevention. Working with MIT Solve, we are backing innovators who, through sensing, are turning insight into predictive and preventive impact at scale. We want to help societies recognise risk sooner, prevent disease, build more intelligent hospitals, and help people make informed choices that improve their health.”
 
Delivered as a rapid-cycle innovation challenge, selected innovators will be invited to the Abu Dhabi Future Health Summit from 7 – 9 April 2026, where semi-finalists will pitch their solutions live to a jury of experts and the Future Health Summit audience. Finalists will advance to a subsequent pitch event to determine the overall winner. The winner will receive the USD 200,000 grand prize, with two runner-up prizes of USD 50,000 each. In addition, 5 - 10 ‘honourable mention’ team leads will be invited to attend the Future Health Summit and granted a dedicated space in its Innovation Zone.
 
Beyond a financial award, selected innovators will benefit from global visibility, mentorship, and access to the Abu Dhabi ecosystem and Future Health international networks. The challenge is designed to accelerate pathways to real-world implementation while generating insights to inform policy, investment, and future health system design. 
 
Hala Hanna, Executive Director of MIT Solve, said: “Anticipating health risks requires connecting innovation, evidence, and action at a global scale. Through this partnership with Future Health, we are proud to support innovators in developing sensing solutions that can strengthen prediction, prevention, and equity across health systems, and help translate promising ideas into measurable impact.”
 
Future Health – A Global Initiative by Abu Dhabi is a platform for global collaboration and transformative health innovation. Bringing together researchers, policy makers, healthcare specialists, investors, and entrepreneurs from across disciplines and geographies, Future Health seeks to empower better health worldwide - defining what good health can look like for generations to come.
 
MIT Solve brings nearly a decade of experience running global open innovation challenges across health, climate, learning, and economic prosperity. To date, Solve has launched close to 100 challenges, mobilised over USD 80 million for innovators worldwide, and supported solutions reaching more than 370 million lives, with strong representation from innovators in the Global South. Notably, 94 percent of Solve-supported teams selected between 2020 and 2024 remain operational today.
 
Future Health continues to advance a year-round programme across longevity and precision medicine, digital health and AI, health system resilience and sustainability, and investment in life sciences, positioning Abu Dhabi as a trusted global convenor for global health collaboration.
 
About ‘Future Health – A Global Initiative by Abu Dhabi’:
‘Future Health – A Global Initiative by Abu Dhabi’, is a major government-led initiative by the Department of Health – Abu Dhabi, held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Executive Council. It serves as a platform for global collaboration and transformative health innovation, and is anchored around four impact areas: longevity and precision medicine, health systems and sustainability, digital health and AI, investment in life sciences. Bringing together researchers, policy makers, healthcare specialists, investors, and entrepreneurs from across disciplines and geographies, it seeks to redefine what good health can look like for future generations to come, no matter where in the world you are.
 
Future Health proudly collaborates with key partners, including M42, PureHealth, the Institute for Healthier Living Abu Dhabi, and Mubadala BIO as Founding Partners, Mediclinic as Strategic Partner, and Burjeel as Associate Partner.
 
For more information on ‘Future Health – A Global Initiative by Abu Dhabi’, visit www.futurehealthinitiative.ae and follow or subscribe on Instagram, LinkedIn, X,  YouTube, and Facebook.
 
About the Department of Health – Abu Dhabi (DoH): The DoH is the regulatory body of the healthcare sector at the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and ensures excellence in healthcare by monitoring the health status of the population. DoH defines the strategy for the health system, monitors and analyses the health status of the population and performance of the system. In addition, DoH shapes the regulatory framework for the health system, inspects against regulations, enforces standards, and encourages adoption of world-class best practices and performance targets byall healthcare service providers in the Emirate. DoH also drives programmes to increase awareness and adoption of healthy living standards among the residents of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi in addition to regulating scope of services, premiums and reimbursement rates of the health system.
 
For further information on DOH, visit https://www.doh.gov.ae/ and follow on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube. 
 
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