KC Digital Drive Health Innovation Team - October 2024

In our first presentation, we will look at an innovative program of ArtsKC. ArtsKC’s programs and services are designed to “advance lives through the arts.” This includes programs for the arts community and those engaged with the arts in the local Kansas City area. Additionally, ArtsKC works with local government and civic leadership to advocate for the arts. The organization has taken on an exciting project in conjunction with the International Arts + Mind Lab (IAM Lab) and Center for Applied Neuroaesthetics, part of John Hopkins' Pederson Brain Science Institute. From this, a coalition was formed to pave the way forward in implementing arts + health and well-being-centered solutions to address priorities and build capacity in our community to continue advocating for the arts.

Attuning us to this innovative program will be Dana Knapp, President and CEO of ArtsKC. Dana began her leadership role at ArtsKC in 2017 committed to revitalizing the mission of ArtsKC as a progressive and impactful organization that is deeply focused on serving the arts and culture ecosystem throughout the region. Educated as a designer, art historian, and administrator, she worked for two decades at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, first as an exhibition designer and next as Project Director for the Bloch Building design and construction. Dana then fulfilled the role of Program Director at Mid-America Arts Alliance, where she focused on supporting the dynamic needs of the arts and culture community throughout the six-state region.

In our second presentation, we will hear about Novus, a Wichita-based start-up with a gamified model that tracks and rewards people in their recovery with substance use disorder. The solution involves personalized challenges, in-app rewards, robust wellness insights, community, daily motivation, and wellness resources. Novus uses an empirically based framework that determines recovery outcomes called "Recovery Capital". Novus combines this scientific research with cutting-edge technology to measure, build, and maintain Recovery Capital anytime, anywhere. In Novus' approach, sobriety is not the key metric, Recover Capital is.

Our presenter will be Ayaan Parikh, recently named CEO. Ayaan has presented to the Health Innovation Team previously with Medic All, his solution for matching the unhoused to necessary medical appointments via telehealth. This solution won recognition from multiple sources - all while Ayaan was still a high-schooler. He is now in his first year at Stanford, but will be dividing his time in such a way as to direct Novus.