By Bill Bradley, contributing editor
The deadline for entries to the second Head Health Challenge has been extended until Feb. 11, it was announced Tuesday.
Head Health Challenge II was launched in September by the NFL together with GE and Under Armour. It is an open innovation challenge to award up to $10 million for new innovations and materials that can protect the brain from traumatic injury and for new tools for tracking head impacts in real time.
The challenge is part of the Head Health Initiative, a $60 million collaboration to help speed diagnosis and improve treatment for mild traumatic brain injury.
The first challenge launched in March and ended in July with more than 400 submissions from more than 25 countries. Universities, entrepreneurs, small businesses, inventors and others entered the challenge in an effort to demonstrate how their ideas would significantly advance the diagnosis of brain injury. The initiative will award up to $10 million.
Entries are being accepted now at www.headhealthchallenge.com. There will be no further extensions. In September 2014, up to 10 winners will be selected for the chance to receive as much as $500,000 each. Up to five of the potential 10 finalists will be eligible to receive as much as $1 million after the second phase of judging concludes.