KARTHIK RAMU
UNITED STATES, 18
Project: AmityConnections
Basic Human Needs: Health
In 2015 Karthik’s grandfather experienced a life-threatening heart attack. Karthik quickly realized there was a lack of knowledge about his family’s health and that millions of other families experience the same issue, especially with elders’ health. The only available solutions were outdated medical alert systems that only notified family members after an emergency had occurred. In April 2019 Karthik co-founded AmityConnections, an initiative addressing the inadequacies of care for elders – a population expected to double by 2050. Shortly after they launched AmityConnect – a mobile app that helps family members and caretakers to seamlessly monitor their elders’ health with real-time data from smart medical devices. AmityConnect can track data regardless of a senior’s distance, chronic condition or smart medical device, while offering proactive care via constant health updates and health data storage. During Summer 2020, Karthik and his team partnered with Fitbit to provide smart medical devices to elders and successfully beta-tested AmityConnect with 70+ family members and assisted care centers in Northern Virginia. AmityConnect was selected as a winner of the 2020 T-Mobile Changemaker Challenge, and Karthik’s team was recognized as one of the year’s Top 30 Changemakers. AmityConnections has reached 3,000+ people across the U.S. through social media and local events to spread awareness of seniors’ health and connection. Karthik hopes to expand AmityConnect's functionalities and increase its users across the U.S. in 2021.