Dave McClure is speaking at Johns Hopkins to kick off MedHacks

A hackathon focused on digital health that’s run by Johns Hopkins students is set to gather around the big telescope at the university’s Bloomberg Center for Physics and Astronomy once again next week.
To kick off the 36-hour event on Sept. 23, the assembled students will hear from 500 Startups founder Dave McClure, said organizer Jack Ye. Before he was a big name in Silicon Valley, McClure attended Johns Hopkins. He was recently involved in launching the student-run venture fund A-Level Capital.
McClure is the latest West Coast startup devotee to speak at Hopkins, following Y-Combinator’s tips that opened HopHacks earlier this year.
The hackathon, which is being held during Baltimore Innovation Week, could bring in as many as 600 participants this year, Ye said. That would be up from last year’s 400 attendees. Ye said the organizers have worked to bring in participants from other schools, too. It’s open to both students and professionals.
Apply to attend
Last year’s inaugural edition birthed at least one startup in MoTrack, which uses Leap Motion to provide physical therapy exercises for people with carpal tunnel syndrome.