The Future of Food and Nutrition AI Challenge
Helping shape the future of nutrition and dietetics through trusted innovation
Challenge statement
How might artificial intelligence help advance evidence-based nutrition guidance, empower nutrition professionals and improve nutrition outcomes for individuals and communities?
Overview
The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (the Academy) and MATTER are launching the Future of Food and Nutrition AI Challenge, a pitch competition to identify and elevate innovative solutions that are shaping the future of nutrition and dietetics.
Selected participants will have the opportunity to showcase their solutions at the 2026 Food & Nutrition Conference & Expo® (FNCE®), the year’s largest meeting of food and nutrition experts, connect with leaders across the nutrition ecosystem and gain visibility among thousands of food and nutrition professionals from across the country.
The pitch competition is designed to engage innovators working at the intersection of artificial intelligence, nutrition and healthcare while creating opportunities for collaboration, professional growth and innovation across the field.
What we're looking for
The Academy is seeking innovative AI-enabled solutions that support the future of nutrition and dietetics.
Potential areas of interest include:
- Evidence-based nutrition guidance
- Credentialed nutrition and dietetics professional support
- Consumer and patient engagement
- Research and education
- Workforce and operational efficiency
- Emerging applications of AI in nutrition and healthcare
The Academy welcomes a broad range of ideas and encourages applicants to apply even if their solution does not fit neatly within one category.
Benefits of participation
Selected participants will receive:
- The opportunity to pitch their solution at the 2026 Food & Nutrition Conference & Expo® (FNCE®), in San Antonio, Texas, on Sunday, October 25 at 5 p.m. Participants will receive 1 complimentary registration to FNCE®.
- Exposure to thousands of food and nutrition professionals, healthcare leaders and industry stakeholders.
- Opportunities to connect with Academy leadership and key decision-makers.
- Participation in coaching and preparation activities prior to the live pitch event.
- Feedback from judges and subject matter experts.
- Increased visibility within the nutrition and healthcare innovation ecosystem.
- The winning pitch will receive additional recognition during the FNCE® 2026 Closing General Session.
Additional recognition opportunities and awards will be announced as details are finalized.
Who should apply
The Academy encourages applications from innovators across the nutrition and healthcare ecosystem. Teams that include Academy members, including registered dietitian nutritionists and nutrition and dietetics technicians, registered, will receive priority consideration.
- Academy members
- Registered dietitian nutritionists
- Nutrition and dietetic technicians, registered
- Startups
- Entrepreneurs
- Students
- Early-career professionals
- Researchers
- Technology developers
- Healthcare innovators
- Multidisciplinary teams
Solutions at any stage of development are welcome.
Whether you are building a new technology, developing a service model or exploring a novel application of AI within nutrition and healthcare, we encourage you to apply.
Key dates
- Applications open: Tuesday, July 21, 2026
- Market-shaping event: Wednesday, August 12, 2026
- Applications close: Friday, September 11, 2026
- Finalist selection and onboarding: October 2026
- Pitch competition at FNCE®: Sunday, October 25, 2026
Apply
Ready to help shape the future of nutrition?
Submit your application to the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Pitch Competition and share your vision for how AI can strengthen nutrition care, support professionals and improve outcomes for individuals and communities.
Applications will be reviewed and accepted on a rolling basis until September 11, 2026 at 11:59pm CT.
PM&R Pitch Tank
Challenge statement
Seeking innovations that improve recovery, function, and access to care across the physical medicine and rehabilitation ecosystem.
Background
Physical medicine and rehabilitation spans one of the broadest, most human-centered fields in healthcare. Physiatrists and their colleagues work at the intersection of function and possibility — helping people recover from stroke and brain injury, regain mobility after amputation, manage chronic pain, and adapt to other life-changing conditions.
Technology is advancing but the pipeline of solutions reaching the people who need them most has room to grow. That's why AAPM&R has partnered with MATTER to launch PM&R Pitch Tank, a new competition designed to surface promising innovations in rehabilitation medicine and connect them with the specialty leaders who can help them succeed.
What we're looking for
PM&R Pitch Tank is open to innovators working on early-stage or growth-stage products, services, or technology-enabled solutions anywhere across the physical medicine and rehabilitation ecosystem.
Solutions might address areas including, but not limited to:
- Adaptive Equipment
- AI-enabled tools for functional assessment and recovery
- Brain injury and brain-computer interface technologies
- Pain management and musculoskeletal care
- Prosthetics, orthotics, and assistive devices
- Rehabilitation access in underserved and under-resourced communities
- Remote monitoring and telerehabilitation
- Spinal cord injury and exoskeletons for mobility restoration
- Stroke recovery and neurological rehabilitation
If your work has the potential to improve function and transform lives in the PM&R space, we want to hear from you.
Who should apply?
PM&R Pitch Tank is open to a wide range of innovators, including:
- Startups and early-stage companies with solutions connected to physical medicine and rehabilitation
- Researchers and clinicians with innovations past the concept stage
- Entrepreneurs developing health tech, med tech or device-based solutions in the PM&R space
We welcome anyone meaningfully connected to the field, regardless of professional background or geographic location. Please note that travel expenses are not covered as part of this program.
Benefits of participation
Three finalists will be selected to present at AAPM&R’s Annual Assembly on November 12 in Orlando. As a finalist, you will receive:
- A 15-minute live pitch opportunity in front of a curated audience of PM&R specialists and rehabilitation leaders
- Pitch preparation and practice sessions with MATTER
- The winner will be provided a $5,000 award.
- Opportunity to continue engaging with MATTER after the competition to support ongoing growth and visibility.
- Feature in a future issue of Physiatry to highlight the winner and their innovation.
Selection criteria
Submissions will be evaluated using the following criteria:
- Relevance: Clear connection to the field of physical medicine and rehabilitation and in alignment with the challenge statement
- Stage of development: Evidence that the solution is beyond the idea stage, with a working prototype, pilot data, early traction, or other demonstrated progress
- Innovation and differentiation: A distinct approach to a meaningful, unmet need in PM&R
- Team strength: Relevant expertise and the capacity to execute and grow the solution
- Potential for impact: Clear potential to improve function, other clinical outcomes, or access for the people PM&R serves
- Scalability: Can this solution realistically be implemented across multiple PM&R practice settings?
- Clinical workflow integration: Does it fit naturally into existing care delivery or require major changes?
- Potential for reimbursement or financial sustainability: Even great ideas struggle if there is no viable path to adoption.
Timeline
- August 11, 2026: Applications open
- October 2, 2026: Applications close
- Week of October 19, 2026: Finalists selected and notified
- November 12, 2026: Finalists present at AAPM&R’s Annual Assembly Welcome Reception (5:15-6:15 pm ET) at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida.
Loyola University Chicago’s Parkinson School of Health Sciences and Public Health, in collaboration with MATTER, invites community-based organizations, researchers, health innovators, and ecosystem leaders to apply for the AI + Health Equity hands-on workshop designed to build foundational knowledge of AI and explore how AI tools can support equity-centered health innovation for select community-based organizations, researchers, and healthcare stakeholders.
Please visit the Loyola University Chicago Health Equity Quest page for full program details and key dates.
Applications will be accepted through September 10, 2026 at 11:59 pm CT.
Seeking: Innovative digital health solutions aligned with BARDA’s mission to enhance pandemic preparedness and fortify health security.
This program is seeking to accelerate digital health tools that enhance preparedness and response to public health emergencies due to:
- Chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) threats
- Pandemic Influenza
- Emerging Infectious Diseases
Have a solution that doesn't quite fit?
If you are working on a solution for medical countermeasures, but don't see the right fit, we still value your solution and want to hear from you. Please fill out a preliminary application and we can assess your fit on an ad hoc basis.