Daren Zhang: Success story from The Hatchery Summer Incubator
Meet Daren Zhang, a recent graduate from the Emory College of Arts & Sciences and founder of florence, a game-based platform for pediatric oncology patients to combat social isolation and maintain neurological development.
"On our team, we have pediatric cancer survivors and cancer patient caregivers who have a passion for helping those afflicted by cancer. These direct experiences are a valuable asset in helping us continually re-define our problem and re-think our solution.”
florence aims to bridge the communication gap between pediatric cancer patients and their caregivers. To achieve this, various streams of data (primarily self-assessments and physical indicators) are used to train a random forest machine learning algorithm. This then allows the app to provide tailored action and support steps for users.
During the summer, the florence team established partnerships with Children’s Hospital of Atlanta, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital and the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society to gather feedback and co-design their platform.