The biomedical entrepreneurial senior engineering design team called CerviCare won multiple awards at the college level before entering the statewide Florida Blue Healthcare Innovation Challenge. (L-R): Fernando Carrillo, Kiram Harrison, Stephen Arce Ph.D., Annie Lazo and Ethan Lewandowski at the 2024 Senior Design Day at FAMU-FSU College of Engineering in Tallahassee, Florida on April 4, 2024. (Scott Holstein/FAMU-FSU College of Engineering)
An entrepreneurial team of FAMU-FSU College of Engineering students placed second in the Florida Blue Healthcare Innovation Challenge on April 26th, 2024 in Tampa.
Named CerviCare, the team of senior engineering students won $5,000 from the healthcare giant for the innovative CerviTech endoscope they designed for cervical cancer screening. If successful, the device may lower the manufacturing cost of screening devices and increase the affordability and accessibility of exams for patients nationwide.
Kiram Harrison, a biomedical engineering student involved in the project, said, “I'm forever thankful for this team and the opportunity to bring light to cervical cancer and create a potential innovation to the healthcare field!”
The CerviCare group was fresh off winning the best overall project at the 2024 Senior Design competition held at the college earlier in the month. The team comprises biomedical engineering students Kiram Harrison, Ann Lazo, Fernando Carrillo, Ethan Lewandowski and faculty advisor Stephen Arce.
“I’m so grateful for the hard work and dedication from my team and a huge thank you to our advisor, Dr. Arce, and our sponsor, the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering, for their invaluable support throughout this process,” Lewandowski said. “It's been an incredible journey, and this recognition truly highlights our collective effort. I am looking forward to more successes ahead.”
The student researchers found accessibility problems when it comes to modern cervical cancer screening. In addition to solving this challenge, their project work covered issues with healthcare disparities, patient pain and discomfort, accuracy of testing and stigma surrounding women’s reproductive healthcare.
The endoscope they designed is meant to decrease the invasiveness of the cervical cancer screening procedure. The CerviCare device has unique features that make sampling more manageable and comfortable for the patient.
“The project initially was to address some aspect of women’s health,” Arce said. “Annie was the one who wanted to do it, so I created a team around the idea of who could contribute different skills and perspectives. They landed on the idea to improve pap smear testing early in the Fall term and ran with the concept.”
The Florida Blue Health Innovation Challenge competition rewards successful student entrepreneurs and seeks innovations and disruptive technologies students develop to tackle healthcare challenges in Florida. The concepts addressed topics that Florida Blue considers to be active and ongoing problems in the healthcare system.
The competition was open to undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in a college or university in Florida.
“This team and their work represent everything we value at the college: innovation, collaboration, excellence, creativity and inclusion,” Arce said. “Thank you to everyone who helped support the project throughout the year. Well, done, team!”
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