AMSA names ŌURA presenting sponsor for Innovation Fest 2026

The American Medical Student Association and ŌURA are teaming up for Innovation Fest 2026, with Oura as presenting sponsor and the company’s women’s health clinical director set to judge. The student-led event takes place Dec. 10-12 in North Bethesda, Maryland, as AMSA looks to give future physicians a bigger role in shaping digital health.

Why it matters: - Innovation Fest is designed to give medical students a direct role in shaping health technology, which AMSA says is increasingly influencing how care is delivered. - The collaboration puts a major consumer health tech brand in front of future physicians at a moment when digital health tools are moving deeper into everyday care. - AMSA says the event is meant to help ensure new innovations address, rather than widen, existing inequities in care.

What happened: - AMSA and ŌURA announced that Oura will be the Presenting Sponsor of Innovation Fest 2026. - Oura’s clinical director of women’s health, Dr. Chris Curry, will serve as a judge at the event. - Innovation Fest 2026 will take place Dec. 10-12, 2026, at the Bethesda North Marriott in North Bethesda, Maryland, in the Washington, D.C. metro area. - The event is part of AMSA’s Future Physicians for Change convention. - The call for submissions is open at AMSA’s Innovation Fest page.

The details: - AMSA describes Innovation Fest as its second annual gathering of medical students, health tech innovators and industry leaders. - AMSA says the event is student-led, with the Innovation Committee driving every element. - Committee members include Avery Keesee of the University of Illinois College of Medicine, Rockford; Jyoti Pun Mehta of SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University; and Naomi Rajput of Northeastern University, founder of Eden AI and the inaugural winner of Innovation Fest 2025. - Dr. Shuhan He, faculty advisor at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, serves as faculty lead for Innovation Fest 2026. - Oura is a health intelligence platform and maker of the Oura Ring, which the company describes as the world’s leading smart ring. - Oura says the platform supports millions of members worldwide across sleep, activity, stress, Readiness, women’s health, metabolic health and heart health. - Oura says the ring tracks 50+ health metrics continuously and uses the finger’s physiological advantages for photoplethysmography measurement. - Oura says the core metrics are scientifically validated against gold standards. - Oura says the company was founded in Finland in 2013 and is headquartered in Oulu, Finland.

Between the lines: - AMSA’s leadership is signaling that it wants sponsor relationships that go beyond funding and into direct collaboration. - The presence of an AMSA alumnus from Oura suggests the partnership is built partly on shared history, not just branding. - The emphasis on student leadership reflects a broader push to let future physicians influence tools that may shape how medicine is practiced. - Oura’s participation gives the company a direct line to early-career clinicians who will likely help define future adoption of digital health products.

What's next: - Medical students and health tech innovators can still submit applications for Innovation Fest 2026. - AMSA is expected to use the event to surface student-built ideas and connect them with industry and clinical decision-makers. - Oura’s role as presenting sponsor and judge suggests the company will have a visible presence when the event convenes in December.

The bottom line: - AMSA is trying to make Innovation Fest a launchpad for student-led health tech ideas, and ŌURA is betting that early engagement with future physicians is worth the investment.