Health 2.0 NYC Chapter announces WellApps, a company that develops mobile symptom tracking apps for patients with chronic illnesses, as the winner of its first competition for Healthcare/IT companies.

NEW YORK,Jan. 26, 2011/PRNewswire-iReach/ 

The Health 2.0 NYC Chapter announces WellApps as the winner of its "Connect, Create, Cure" Shark Tank event, which allows startup and early stage healthcare companies to pitch their businesses to seasoned angel investors and venture capitalists.  All applicants were narrowed down to five finalists, each of whom gave a five minute presentation and fielded five minutes of questions from an accomplished panel.  Panelists (Esther Dyson of EdVenture, Stephen Krupa, Managing Member of Psilos, Owen Davis, Managing Director NYC Seed, Michael Monson, SVP Performance & Innovation, Visiting Nurse Services of New York and Maureen Farrell, Staff Writer at Forbes.com) evaluated each demonstrator's presentation and overall value proposition to select the winner.

The winning company was co-founded by Brett Shamosh, a digital media executive who built a mobile application to track the symptoms of his Ulcerative Colitis and started WellApps (http://wellapps.com).  WellApps received a prize package valued at $5,000, which included a cash prize, entry to the Health 2.0 Spring Fling on March 21-2 in San Diego, as well as a number of local business offerings.  Said Mr. Shamosh, "The Health 2.0 NYC matchmaking event was a great opportunity for healthcare/IT innovators to expose their solutions to sources of funding.  We were thrilled to take the top prize."

Other presenters at the event included Earndit, Health Expense, Natural Language Processing International and MedicExchange. The event was the brainchild of Alex Fair, Founder of FairCareMD and Co-Founder of the Health 2.0 NY Chapter.  He said, "New York is not only the financial capital of the world, but also brimming with healthcare startups that are making a difference and changing healthcare as we know it. Nonetheless, it is often difficult for Founders and the Investors to connect. I think we succeeded in bridging that gap for a few great companies with this event."  Eugene Borukhovich, Founder of the Health 2.0 NYC Chapter, added "This group was chartered over two years ago with the purpose of inspiring NYC's healthcare community to Connect, Create and Cure together. We are happy that NYC has such an engaging healthcare startup atmosphere and we look forward to many more events like this."

About Health 2.0 & Health 2.0 NYC Chapter

The Health 2.0 Conference is the leading showcase of cutting-edge technologies in health care, including Online Communities, Search and lightweight Tools for consumers to manage their health and connect to providers online. For more information about the nation organization please see www.health2con.com  . Health 2.0 NYC Chapter evangelizes and promotes the Health 2.0 movement in the New York Metro area. For more information or to watch videos of the finalists, please see http://health20nyc.com.

About WellApps, LLC

WellApps develops and distributes mobile symptom tracking applications for patients with chronic illnesses. The data collected is compiled into easy-to-read reports for physicians, resulting in optimal patient treatment and reduced periods of active disease. Patients can also access interactive charts to see correlations between symptoms and understand how compliance to medication affects their well being.  http://wellapps.com

Sponsors for the Event

This event was made possible by the generous support of PRNewswire, the Visiting Nurse Service of New York, and FairCareMD.com. 

Media Contact: Alex Fair Health 2.0 NYC, (917) 832-1705 x502, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

PR Newswire Hosts Health 2.0 Meetups

Event to feature presentations by leading innovators in the convergence of social media and healthcare technology development

NEW YORK, July 15 /PRNewswire/ — PR Newswire, the global leader in innovative communications and marketing services, today announced its continued support for the New York based social media and networking communities by hosting the July 16 meeting of the New York Healthcare Technology Organization (NYHTO) Health 2.0 Meetup.

The Health 2.0 NYC Chapter Meetup will feature a networking reception and presentations by two companies in the Health 2.0 space. Dan Tedesco of HandHold Adaptive, LLC will demonstrate iPrompts - a portable, customizable, visual prompting tool for those with special needs, and Ed Shin of Healogica will present Healogica's easy-to-use clinical trials website, which enables users to search, discover, and apply for clinical trials. This is the fourth meeting of the NYHTO that PR Newswire has hosted.

The event will take place from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., ET at PR Newswire's New York headquarters, 350 Hudson Street, New York, NY. To learn more about NYHTO or to RSVP for the event, please visit http://nyhto.org/

"Health 2.0 NYC Meetup has grown significantly and has recently featured presentations by leading organizations, including Hello Health and MyHealthExperience.com," said Eugene Borukhovich, founder, NYHTO. "The meetings to date have been very successful, as we always have a great mix of participants who are fully engaged and contributing to the conversation. PR Newswire's support has been invaluable as we continue to grow the size and scope of our organization and we look forward to working with them as we continue to explore how technology can improve healthcare."

NYHTO and its members have access to PR Newswire's industry-leading communications tools including its expert network, online media and blogger targeting database, and monitoring and measurement services. Additionally, PR Newswire provides specialized communications packages for the organizations' partners and affiliated sponsors.

"The evolution of social media best practices has been heightened by working groups such as Health 2.0 and Social Media Club," said Rachel Meranus, vice president of public relations, PR Newswire. "PR Newswire is proud to foster these grassroots efforts to shape the future of social media communications."

PR Newswire has also been host to other social media and networking events in New York City. In June, The Social Media Club's New York City Chapter held its latest meeting at PR Newswire, discussing the return on investment from engaging with social media. Click here to read more about NYC's Social Media Club: http://socialmediaclubny.com/

In June, PR Newswire hosted a new program for Women's Wellness. The free workshop, entitled Building Women's Health and Wellness Brands through Social Media and On-line Communities, featured a panel discussion including women's health and social media experts. Click here to read more about the women's wellness event: http://womenswellness.eventbrite.com/

About PR Newswire

PR Newswire is the global leader in innovative communications and marketing services, enabling organizations to connect and engage with their target audiences worldwide.

Through its multi-channel distribution network, audience intelligence, targeting, and measurement services, PR Newswire helps corporations and organizations conduct rich, timely and dynamic dialogues with the media, consumers, policymakers, investors and the general public, in support of building brands, generating awareness, impacting public policy, driving sales, and raising capital.

Pioneering the commercial news distribution industry 55 years ago, PR Newswire connects customers with audiences in more than 170 countries and in over 40 languages through an unparalleled network of offices in 16 countries across North and South America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, and via unique affiliations with the leading news agencies across the globe. PR Newswire is a subsidiary of United Business Media Limited (UBM.L), a leading global business media company that serves professional commercial communities around the world. For more information, go to www.unitedbusinessmedia.com.