Congratulations to our 2025 Rising Investigator Digital Health Innovation Grant Awardees!

The Digital Health Co/Lab is excited to announce the recipients of the 2025 Rising Investigator Digital Health Innovation Award. This year’s RFA received a strong pool of applications, and after a rigorous, multidisciplinary review process, we found it impossible to select just one. We are proud to honor two outstanding proposals that exemplify innovation and real-world impact in digital health:

Omar A. Karadaghy, M.D., MSCI

Continuous Biometric Monitoring in Postoperative Recovery: Exploring Wearable Devices for Early Detection of Complications in Head and Neck Surgery

Margaret L. Sieger, Ph.D.

U-TRAC: Using Technology to Refine & Advance Courtrooms

We are grateful for the time, energy and expertise our reviewers devoted to ensuring a thorough and thoughtful review process.

• Scott Burgett
  Senior Director, Garmin Health Engineering
• Lisa Friis, Ph.D.
  Department Chair, School of Mechanical Engineering, University of Kansas
• Julius Leary, EdD, MBA
  Executive Director, Frontiers CTSI
• Daniel Parente, M.D., Ph.D.
  Assistant Professor, Family Medicine
• Ryan Rains
  Director of Entrepreneurship Co-Curricular Programs, School of Business, University of Kansas
• Chris Rehkamp
  Director of Business Services, KU Innovation Park
• Renee Rogers, Ph.D., FACSM
  Senior Scientist, KU Weight Management
• Tony Sung, M.D.
  Scientific Director, Digital Health Co/Lab, Professor, Hematologic Malignancies and Cellular Therapeutics

We look forward to supporting Drs. Karadaghy and Sieger as they advance their research.

Stay tuned for updates on their progress and future funding opportunities!