ABSTRACT
What are the new findings? ►► The COVID-19 pandemic prevented physical innovation formats and virtual innovation strategies such as the virtual hackathon proposed in this article may address this challenge. ►► Virtual interdisciplinary collaboration between students and early career professionals can ead to rapid innovations to address urgent unmet clinical needs in times of global emergencies. How might it impact on healthcare in the future? ►► Innovation pathways should be augmented with virtual innovation strategies to break down barriers to engagement in healthcare innovation, improve global interdisciplinary collaboration and enhance rapid innovation adoption moving into the future. ►► Particular healthcare technologies likely to be positively impacted by this include those in digital health, global health and medical device sectors. © 2021 Georg Thieme Verlag. All rights reserved.