Lung Guardian: Turning a child’s toy into a lifesaving companion

Lung Guardian approaches health innovation through a deeply human lens. The team has built a smart keychain device shaped like Labubu – a popular character created by artist Kasing Lung - that monitors air quality and provides real-time respiratory risk alerts. 

Powered by IoT sensors and AI analytics, the keychain syncs with a mobile app to help users track exposure to particulate matter (PM 2.5), offering tailored prompts when air quality deteriorates. 

“We wanted something children would actually carry - a friendly guardian that protects their lungs,” said co-founder Chitsanupong Ratarat (Will). “Parents are our first users, but the vision is to make air-health awareness part of everyday life.” 

Using the grant received for the fellowship, the team is refining its prototype for user testing and exploring collaborations for pilot studies with hospitals and family-health organisations. With interest from angel investors and multinational organisations, future phases of Lung Guardian will include AI-driven predictive modelling to forecast asthma attacks and integration with telehealth or occupational-health platforms. Beyond function, Lung Guardian is also exploring emotional design — developing multiple Labubu characters to encourage children’s attachment and sustained use. 

MyHeartAir: The future of cardiovascular coaching

Cardiovascular disease remains Asia-Pacific’s leading cause of death - accounting for nearly one-third of all mortality. Enter MyHeartAir, a Malaysian digital-health startup founded by cardiologists, bioinformaticians and entrepreneurs.  

The platform uses AI-powered predictive analytics to link air quality, physiological data and behaviour patterns, providing personalised coaching for users at risk of heart disease or recovering from cardiac events. 

“Conventional heart-risk algorithms are based on Western populations,” explained lead cardiologist Dr Sazzli Kassim “We built a model calibrated for Asian data - and then layered on air-pollution exposure, which most systems ignore.” 

MyHeartAir has since been incorporated in Malaysia, with angel investment secured and a pilot in partnership with the Ministry of Health planned for early 2026. The startup is also working with insurers and telemedicine providers on subscription-based access, making preventive heart care both accessible and scalable. Its scientific rigour is already recognised: the team’s AI work has been featured in The Lancet, Scientific Reports, and was honoured at the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) 2025 in Geneva. 

From mentorship to market: Building ASEAN’s innovation ecosystem 

Throughout the 22-week incubation, each team worked closely with three mentors — clinician-scientists, entrepreneurs and investors — to refine both their science and their story. They also pitched to venture-capital networks and ecosystem partners such as SGInnovate, Microsoft, UNDP, Endeavor Catalyst and Blu Maiden Capital, gaining real-world feedback on business viability and impact scaling. 

“We learnt that innovation is not just about technology — it’s about clarity,” said one participant. “The mentorship helped us translate complex science into language that funders and users understand.” 

As profiled by GovInsider in its recent feature, “The case for academic incubators to drive ASEAN’s healthcare breakthroughs”, the Hackathon-to-Fellowship model is emerging as a blueprint for academic innovation in the region — bridging research, entrepreneurship and public good. “Our academic incubator turns questions into prototypes and prototypes into possibilities.” said Dr Daniel Mahadzir, Innovation Research Fellow at the SingHealth Duke-NUS Global Health Institute, who is the primary architect behind the fellowship. 

Looking ahead 

From rodent surveillance in flood-prone fields to portable devices safeguarding lungs and hearts in smog-filled cities, these innovators share a single mission: to make data-driven health solutions accessible where they’re needed most. 

“This is what regional innovation should look like — locally rooted, globally relevant,” said Prof London Lucien Ooi, SDGHI Director. “By investing in young scientists and clinicians across ASEAN, we’re not just building products, we are building resilience.” 

As the teams prepare for their next milestones: pilot deployments, regulatory consultations and funding rounds,their journey reflects a powerful truth: that the most impactful health technologies often begin not in boardrooms, but in small teams driven by purpose, empathy and a shared vision for a healthier planet.