EpiHack Arizona develops new digital tool prototype to detect and prevent the spread of disease in Arizona

In May, EpiHack Arizona, organized by the Ending Pandemics Academy, brought together health experts, tech developers, students, and community innovators to collaboratively develop a digital tool that will empower Arizonans to quickly detect and stop the spread of disease.

As headlines across the country tracked the spread of hantavirus on a cruise ship in April, and Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo in May, a different kind of response was taking shape in Tucson, Arizona where a diverse team was focused on building a digital tool that could detect and stop next epidemic before it begins.

The Ending Pandemics Academy at the University of Arizona's Zuckerman College of Public Health hosted EpiHack Arizona from May 18-22, 2026. More than 60 participants, One Health experts (the intersection of human, animal, and environmental health), tech developers, students, and community innovators, came together around a shared mission: to build a tool for the early detection of epidemic and pandemic threats in Arizona and stop disease before it spreads.  The new digital application prototype will operate on multiple digital platforms and uses a community-based reporting approach to flag outbreaks early and prompt rapid response.

The event drew on the deep expertise of the Ending Pandemics Academy co-founders, Dr. Mark Smolinski and Nomita Divi. For more than a decade, Smolinski and Divi have partnered with countries around the world to build innovative, community-centered systems for early outbreak detection – and now that work is being done in Arizona. 

Smolinski and Divi crafted an immersive, collaborative development experience along with Dr. Onicio B. Leal-Neto, a longtime colleague from their work together in Brazil and currently an assistant research professor in the College of Public Health. The week opened with a grounding conversation on participatory surveillance, drawing from the Academy's portfolio of community-based projects deployed around the world. This painted a vivid picture of the real-world stakes involved in outbreak detection and the untapped power of engaged communities.

“EpiHack was unlike anything I've seen," said Danitza Molina, a recent Masters of Public Health graduate from MEZCOPH. "Every person in that room brought something unique to the table, and that's exactly the point. The challenges we're up against are too complex for any one sector to solve alone. This week proved that when we bring the right people together, the solutions follow."

Over the course of the week, EpiHack participants translated diverse insights into prototype concepts, sharpening their ideas through feedback from health experts and community members. Students gained hands-on experience in collaboration, problem-solving, and human-centered design while contributing meaningfully to the prototype development process. The five-day event inspired meaningful multi-disciplinary dialogue, tangible prototype development, and promising solutions with real potential to strengthen Arizona's pandemic preparedness.

“The EpiHack provided a space for students from across the University of Arizona, hailing from Engineering, Computer Sciences, Informatics, Public Health and elsewhere, to interact with health experts in human, animal and environmental health and collaboratively create a tool that will enable safer and healthier communities,” noted Dr. Smolinski. “Several of the recent graduates participating in EpiHack Arizona said this was a truly unique opportunity for them to apply their knowledge and skills to an immediate, real world solution to prevent future outbreaks.”

The event concluded with a community showcase and networking reception, the EpiHack Demo-Day event, on Friday, May 22. The EpiHack technology participants presented several features of their newly created digital prototype to the community and celebrated what is possible when collaboration, purpose and focus come together.

What began in Tucson this May at EpiHack Arizona is just the beginning.

“The EpiHack is not the finish line – it’s the starting point. The Ending Pandemics Academy will transform these innovative prototypes into a community-adapted digital platform that will make a real difference in early outbreak detection across Arizona.” said Nomita Divi, “We will support ongoing tool development, deployment, and evaluation, for lasting health impact while simultaneously engaging students from across the University of Arizona as interns throughout the process.”

The Ending Pandemics Academy will now lead the process of transforming the prototypes into a polished, deployable digital tool ready to serve Arizona's communities. Arizonans aren’t just preparing for the next outbreak, they will soon be ready to stop it before it starts!