Program

AI for Nursing Care & End-of-Life Communication

Project 1: AI-based Clinical Decision Support System (CDSS) for Nursing Home Nurses
Come meet Pepper Robot and explore the Nursing Care CDSS, specifically tailored for nurses in nursing homes. Participants are able to use the CDSS in two modes: laptop mode and robot mode. 

Project 2: Using Simulated Patient Chatbot to Build Nursing Student End-of-Life Communication Skills 
Learn how GW School of Nursing scholars are using AI chatbot simulation to provide a consistent, psychologically safe environment for practicing therapeutic, End of Life communication. Participants can experience how an AI chatbot simulation can support communication skill development for clinical practice.

About the Participant(s)

Project 1:
Name: Juh Hyun Shin
Title: Associate Professor
School: School of Nursing
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Project 1:
Name: Chung Hyuk Park
Title: Associate Professor
School: School of Engineering & Applied Science
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Project 2:
Name: Christine Thomas
Title: Clinical Associate Professor and Director of Simulation and Experiential Learning
School: School of Nursing
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Project 2:
Name: Vivian Bowman
Title: Dedicated Simulation Educator
School: School of Nursing

AI for Security and Security for AI

GraphLab stands at the intersection of graph-centric AI and the future of cybersecurity. Its work pioneers the next generation of algorithms and systems designed to outpace sophisticated cyber threats. For InnovationFest 2026, we are proud to showcase our dual-track approach: AI for Security, leveraging graph intelligence to thwart AI-powered attacks, and Security for AI, engineering the safeguards necessary to identify and mitigate vulnerabilities within Large Language Models (LLMs).

About the Participant(s)

Name: Howie Huang
Title: Professor
School: School of Engineering & Applied Science
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Name: Isaiah King
School: School of Engineering & Applied Science
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Name: Rimon McLamed
School: School of Engineering & Applied Science
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Name: Yunsen Lei
School: School of Engineering & Applied Science

AI in Medicine

GW Biomedical Informatics Center will showcase multiple AI in Medicine projects. Projects include ArtAI, fitness as a biomarker for Alzheimer's disease and related dementias, medication wide association studies for drug repurposing, community digital twins for violence and overdose prevention, AI disease phenotyping and outcome prediction, precision nutrition, machine learning of geno pheno data, integrative health research, and courses. Projects are funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Department of Defense (DoD), Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), Centers for Disease Control (CDC), and the Commonwealth of Virginia.

About the Participant(s)

Name: Linda Zanin
Title: Director of Strategic Partnerships
School: School of Medicine & Health Sciences
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Name: Senait Tekle
Title: Postdoctoral Research Fellow
School: School of Medicine & Health Sciences
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Name: Stephen Chua
Title: Data Analyst
School: School of Medicine & Health Sciences
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Name: Qing Zeng
Title: Director and Professor
School: School of Medicine & Health Sciences

American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

AAAS is one of the world's largest multidisciplinary scientific society and a leading publisher of cutting-edge research through its Science family of journals. Their mission is to advance science, engineering, and innovation throughout the world for the benefit of all.

Assistive Robotics and Tele-Medicine (ART-Med) Lab

Meet empathetic robotic dog Arty and a conversational Pepper robot for a demonstration of natural human-robot interaction paradigms. The Assistive Robotics and Tele-Medicine (ART-Med) lab explores how people and robots can work together in ways that improve everyday life, especially for neurodivergent individuals or persons with disabilities.

About the Participant(s)

Name: Chung Hyuk Park
Title: Associate Professor
School: School of Engineering & Applied Science

Climate and Health Institute

The GW Climate and Health Institute (CHI) highlights two initiatives linking climate and health. The National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded REACH Center connects climate and health data with community solutions through a partnership among GW, Howard, George Mason, and the Environmental Defense Fund. FLIP the Script reframes climate action by emphasizing its Free, Local, Immediate, and Persuasive benefits. Together, these efforts show how research and communication can advance climate solutions that improve health today.

About the Participant(s)

Name: Catherine O'Donnell
Title: Program Manager
School: Milken Institute School of Public Health
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Name: Jordan Fischbach
Title: Research Associate
School: Milken Institute School of Public Health
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Name: Susan Anenberg
Title: Professor and Chair, Department of Environmental and Occupational Health; Director, GW CHI and REACH Center
School: Milken Institute School of Public Health

Global Food Institute

Discover the GW Global Food Institute (GFI) at Innovation Fest! The GFI booth will showcase the Institute's dynamic research, teaching, and public engagement across food systems, policy, and creativity. Explore highlights from our Food Leadership Minor, innovative courses like Food, Flow, and Photography, and new research on strengthening school meal systems in Haiti through food systems analysis and anticipatory data. Plus, see additional projects shaping the future of food.

About the Participant(s)

Name: Caitlin Grady
Title: Director of Research
Organization: Global Food Institute
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Name: Rebecca Shaw-Rossignol
Organization: Global Food Institute/Office of Communications
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Name: Stacy Dean
Title: Executive Director
Organization: Global Food Institute
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Name: Sydney Pryor
Title: Research Scientist
Organization: Global Food Institute

GW Campus Store

The official campus store of the George Washington University. Purchase books written by GW authors and pick up Buff & Blue gear at this pop-up market.

GW Innovation Center

Funded by GW Engineering and open to all students, the GW Innovation Center (Tompkins M06) is GW's makerspace where problem-solvers have room to explore challenges creatively. Our exhibit features two "Made in M06" projects: a student-built, solar powered digital portrait machine and TRACE UAV, by MAE student Jared Kusner, designed to monitor airborne pollutants over watershed areas and critical habitats. These projects showcase the potential of an open, accessible makerspace to support student creativity and innovation.

About the Participant(s)

Name: Erica C. Wortham
Title: Director, Co-Curricular Engagement and Interdisciplinary Programs; Director, GW Innovation Center
School: School of Engineering & Applied Science
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Name: Jared Kusner
Title: Project Lead, TRACE UAV & MAE Student
School: School of Engineering & Applied Science
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Name: Natalie Carr
Title: M06 Staff & Computer Engineering Student, SEAS
School: School of Engineering & Applied Science
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Name: Ava Stewart
Title: M06 Staff & Interaction Design Student, Corcoran
School: Columbian College of Arts & Sciences

Innovations in Mental Health: Using Play to Drive Discovery

Play, often designated as frivolous, is actually a driving force of learning, social engagement, wellness, and mental health. Play is also not only for children—everyone thrives when engaging in play. Come speak with Drs. Mary DeRaedt and Maggie Parker to learn about the neurobiological and mental health benefits of play.

About the Participant(s)

Name: Maggie Parker
Title: Associate Professor, Chair Department of Counseling and Human Development
School: Graduate School of Education & Human Development
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Name: Mary DeRaedt
Title: Director, School Counseling Program, Department of Counseling and Human Development
School: Graduate School of Education & Human Development

Innovative Training in Affirming & Supportive Care

Project 1: Teaching Affirming Care with Video-based Standardized Patient Simulation
This showcase will demonstrate a video-based standardized patient simulation focused on affirming care for transgender and gender diverse people.

Project 2: Transforming Kidney Supportive Care through Interdisciplinary Research and Workforce Training
This showcase highlights critical questions providers must consider in the care of their kidney patients. Handouts provide key skills and best practices that help guide providers in conducting shared decision making and advanced care planning.

About the Participant(s)

Project 1: 
Name: Laurie Posey
Title: Associate Professor
School: School of Nursing
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Project 2:
Name: Joshua Mannix
Title: Research Scientist
School: School of Nursing
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Project 2:
Name: Dale Lupu
Title: Research Professor
School: School of Nursing

Institute for Innovation in Health Computing

The objective of the institute is to bring together researchers and educators from a diverse set of disciplines to apply innovative digital solutions to a wide set of problems in healthcare. We will have two demonstrations from recent NIH R01 funded projects: 1) Neonatal Endotracheal Intubation, demonstrating a training system using AI and VR. 2) Optical body surface scan technology for body composition using a 3D digitizer to create virtual avatars for use in an AI based system.

About the Participant(s)

Name: James Hahn
Title: Professor
School: School of Engineering & Applied Science
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Name: Yijiang Zheng
Title: Research Assistant
School: School of Engineering & Applied Science
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Name: Ruting Cheng
Title: Research Assistant
School: School of Engineering & Applied Science
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Name: Boyuan Feng
Title: Research Assistant
School: School of Engineering & Applied Science
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Name: Chuhui Qiu
Title: Teaching Assistant
School: School of Engineering & Applied Science
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Name: Alexander Aiersilan
Title: Teaching Assistant
School: School of Engineering & Applied Science

Interdisciplinary Biophysics: How Worms and Machines Think

Explore interdisciplinary research projects. The first measures learned response of c elegans to thermal stimulation, and the second uses machine learning to identify tool marks made by early hominoids in wood that has been subsequently fossilized. These research projects are collaborations with the Biology and Anthropology Departments, respectively. Participants will be able to observe and trigger thermal stimulation in one case and test their abilities to identify tool-modified wood against the trained AI network.

About the Participant(s)

Name: Mark Reeves
Title: Professor
School: Columbian College of Arts & Sciences
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Name: Chen Zeng
Title: Professor
School: Columbian College of Arts & Sciences
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Name: Damien O'Halloran
Title: Professor
School: Columbian College of Arts & Sciences
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Name: David Braun
Title: Professor
School: Columbian College of Arts & Sciences
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Name: Logan Dempsey
School: Columbian College of Arts & Sciences
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Name: Nick Rothwein
School: Columbian College of Arts & Sciences
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Name: Serena Kahn
School: Columbian College of Arts & Sciences

Open-World Agentic Drone for Human-AI Teaming

This program introduces an LLM-driven agentic drone planning system designed for open-world environments. The system processes arbitrary natural-language instructions, decomposing them into sequential steps, and finally planning the path for physical deployment. Additionally, it features an active uncertainty resolution mechanism; upon encountering ambiguities, the agent initiates targeted, bidirectional dialogue to acquire necessary information with minimal interaction cost.

About the Participant(s)

Name: Tian Lan
Title: Professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
School: School of Engineering & Applied Science
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Name: Zeyu Fang
School: School of Engineering & Applied Science

Sustainability Research Institute

Sustainability Research Institute (SRI) is a cornerstone of the GW Alliance for a Sustainable Future, amplifying and conducting interdisciplinary research, collaboration, and innovation. SRI's mission is to catalyze transformative sustainability research, foster new partnerships, and secure funding for groundbreaking initiatives that address the world’s most pressing environmental and societal challenges.

About the Participant(s)

Name: Robert W. Orttung
Title: Professor of Sustainability and International Affairs
School: GW Alliance for a Sustainable Future

Teach Anything: Open-Access AI

Teach Anything is a multimodal, multilingual platform that enables professors to use open-source LLMs to build custom open-access AI applications that are permanently free. Students do not have to login to use these applications. This free platform has been featured in the New York Times. Learn more about the tool at https://www.teachanything.ai

About the Participant(s)

Name: Alexa Alice Joubin
Title: Director, Digital Humanities Institute
School: Columbian College of Arts & Sciences
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Name: Basile Joubin
Title: Technical Support
Organization: American University

The Art and Science of Managing Stress

In 2019, the World Health Organization concluded that the arts positively impact health for prevention and treatment. GW Art therapy leverages these attributes while integrating research from mental health. In relation to stress, people working with art therapists have: enhanced coping strategies and meaning-making (Tripp et. al, 2019), creative ways to endure challenges (Potash, et. al, 2025), and lowered professional burnout (Srolovitz et. al, 2022).

About the Participant(s)

Name: Jordan Potash
Title: Associate Professor, Art Therapy
School: Columbian College of Arts & Sciences
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Name: Rebecca Steynberg
Title: MA Student, Art Therapy
School: Columbian College of Arts & Sciences
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Name: Fiorella Boschetti Tamayo
Title: MA Student, Art Therapy
School: Columbian College of Arts & Sciences

The Opportunity Dashboard

The Opportunity Dashboard is an adaptive digital intelligence (ADI) tool that helps policymakers, investors and community leaders model the impact of community investments before they are made. Through interactive scenarios, users can explore how targeted funding across sectors like housing, health and employment can influence outcomes and close wealth gaps. The tool demonstrates how data and ADI can support smarter policy and investment decisions for more just and resilient communities.

About the Participant(s)

Name: Amber Holland
Title: Senior Communications Associate
School: GW Institute for Socioeconomic Opportunity
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Name: Fatima Wasaeem
Title: Senior Research Associate
School: GW Institute for Socioeconomic Opportunity
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Name: Purva Trivedi
Title: Policy Analyst
School: GW Institute for Socioeconomic Opportunity
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Name: Jagannath Narayanaswamy
Title: Student Research Associate
School: Milken Institute School of Public Health

Training on Non-Medical Risk Factor Research

Advancing Non-Medical Risk Factor Research through A Community-Based Lens: An NIH/NINR R25 Short Course 

This short course provides interdisciplinary training to advance research on non-medical risk factors and equips investigators from nursing and other aligned health professions to improve health outcomes and reduce persistent disparities.

About the Participant(s)

Name: Sherrie Wallington
Title: Professor and Associate Center Director of Outreach and Community Engagement at the GW Cancer Center
School: School of Nursing
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Name: Christine Pintz
Title: Professor and Interim Associate Dean of Research
School: School of Nursing

VR Healthcare Agent

Explore an AI-driven system that automatically generates interactive virtual reality (VR) training environments for medical education. The system uses an intelligent agent to dynamically construct simulated clinical scenarios within an immersive VR space. When medical students enter the environment, they encounter a predefined training context, and the AI agent generates relevant virtual objects, patient cases, and interactive elements in real time.

About the Participant(s)

Name: Tian Lan
Title: Professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
School: School of Engineering & Applied Science
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Name: Rongqian Chen
School: School of Engineering & Applied Science
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Name: Allison Andreyev
School: Wootton High School