LIFE HACKS: Creating Solutions for
Daily SMA Challenges.

Join us in creating innovative solutions to help people

living with Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) and their caregivers.

November 22 and 23,
2025

Organised by Roche Slovenia in partnership with Transformation Lighthouse: Open to teams worldwide.

Different causes and risk factors in Spinal Muscular Atrophy

Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) represents a group of genetic (inherited) neuromuscular disorders that cause certain muscles to become weak and waste away (atrophy).

SMA involves the loss of a specific type of nerve cell in your spinal cord called lower motor neurons, or anterior horn cells. These cells control muscle movement. Without these motor neurons, muscles don’t receive the nerve signals that make them move.

Diverse symptoms and progression in SMA

In the most common form of SMA chromosome 5-related SMA is typically classified into types 1 through 4. The age at which SMA symptoms begin roughly correlates with the degree to which motor function is affected:

The earlier the age of onset, the greater the impact on motor function. Children who display symptoms at birth or in infancy typically have the lowest level of functioning (type 1). Later-onset SMA with a less severe course (types 2 and 3, and in teens or adults, type 4) generally correlates with increasingly higher levels of motor function.

Be part of the solution for people with SMA

Are you wondering how you can make a difference for people living with SMA? The idea behind this LIFE HACKS: Creating Solutions for Daily SMA Challenges is to bring together clinicians, caregivers, designers and technologists to co-create practical solutions that improve people’s daily life, independence and relief to care workers.

Register for LIFE HACKS: Creating Solutions for <Daily SMA Challenges and help build tools that can change lives in your community and beyond.

Support for people living with SMA

We are looking for creative solutions, medical devices, and digital tools that support people with SMA in daily life and clinical monitoring. Examples include:

Remote monitoring tools for respiratory function and motor performance.
Assistive devices that improve mobility, transfer, and independence.
Home-friendly aids that simplify daily tasks and reduce caregiver burden.
Rehabilitation apps and tele-therapy tools that encourage safe, effective exercises.

Support for parents and caregivers of patients with SMA

We welcome solutions that ease the caregiving experience, connect families, and provide practical resources. For example:

Platforms for caregiver coordination, scheduling and task-sharing.
Peer networks and educational hubs for families and caregivers.
Condition-specific guidance tools for feeding, respiratory care and safe transfers.
Apps to track symptom changes, therapies and emergency protocols.

A municipality that supports people with SMA

Imagine a community designed for mobility, independence and inclusion. We’re seeking ideas to make public spaces and services more accessible for people with reduced mobility:

Mapping accessible routes and entry points across a town or city.
Real-time availability of accessible parking and transport-friendly services.
Community awareness campaigns to improve inclusion and practical support.
Smart infrastructure that helps with safe transfers and first-responder access.

What solutions do we expect?

Excellent and innovative, of course! We are seeking creative solutions for people with SMA and their caretakers that will bring added value, be easy to use, and widely accessible. Your solutions can help patients and their caretakers better manage the disease and enable them to lead better and higher quality lives.

Your idea could be a concept, technical design, business plan, action plan, or market research. It could be an application, a physical product, or detailed research supported by data to substantiate your claims and demonstrate the value of your work. Anything that can improve understanding, responsiveness, and support for people with SMA and their caretakers is welcome.

What is your reward for your work?

The feeling of working together for a common good in this hackathon is certainly an exceptional reward. However, in addition to the satisfaction and the opportunity for further development of your solution with one of the project sponsors, you will also compete for attractive cash prizes:

3.000€ neto

2.400€ neto

1.500€ neto

Join us at the LIFE HACKS: Creating Solutions for Daily SMA Challenges
and be part of the solution that can change many lives – even in your community!

Apply now and co-create the future!

WHEN?

November 22nd and 23rd, 2025

WHERE?

IN PERSON!
At Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Technology in Ljubljana, Slovenia
If you absolutely cannot attend in person and still want to participate, please indicate this in your application.
Perhaps we can arrange a hybrid option.

WHO?

Innovators, creatives, those who have already been affected by challenges, technology enthusiasts, sociologists, and all individuals who believe in dignified and active aging. We are changing our future and we want you to be part of this team too.

LIFE HACKS: Creating Solutions for Daily SMA Challenges.