Social innovation is often the result of collaboration, but the efforts of one person dedicated to furthering a cause can truly make a difference. That’s what the young entrepreneurs and their chaperones from across the globe gathered to celebrate at the 2026 Limitless World Summit, an annual conference hosted by the University of Delaware’s Horn Entrepreneurship that offers secondary school students the chance to hone their entrepreneurial skills and win funding for their business and social ventures. Epitomizing that potential was the 2026 Emerging Innovator of the Year: Soneesh Kothagundla, an 18-year-old health advocate from Georgia, USA.
Selected from 100 of the top high school students from around the world, Emerging Innovator of the Year recognizes one student who’s become a leader and changemaker within their community, positively impacting others and driving societal advancement. After advancing through preliminary and semifinal rounds, all six finalists were tasked with delivering lightning talks sharing how they intend to continue their impact before a panel of judges at the conference hosted at the Chase Center on the Riverfront in late April. Detailing three separate advocacy projects, Kothagundla’s presentation shared his progress raising awareness about lung cancer screenings, essentially working to save one life at a time.
“Did you know that lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States, but it doesn’t have to be thanks to early detection for lung cancer screening?” said Kothagundla, beginning his talk by playing a brief video clip of himself giving a public service announcement on an airplane. At 40,000 feet in the air, he urged anyone over the age of 50 with a history of smoking to get tested for lung cancer, showing his early attempts to spread the word. That initial PSA — which launched a movement on social media encouraging other teens to give in-flight PSAs — taught him that starting small can lead to big outcomes.
Out of the three projects featured in Kothagundla’s talk, the first was his app Resonair, which assesses an individual’s risk of lung cancer based on a cough analysis and short medical history questionnaire. If it determines someone is eligible for a screening, the app then helps them plan next steps to get properly tested by a doctor.
Through his role as a national director of the American Lung Cancer Screening Initiative (ALCSI), Kothagundla shared two initiatives raising awareness about screenings: updating U.S. legislation and a national advertising campaign. While the legislation hasn’t been passed yet, Kothagundla introduced three bills to Congress that require convenience stores to distribute lung cancer screening information to anyone buying cigarettes in the states of Massachusetts, Hawaii and Illinois. He’s also been increasing awareness through billboard and bus stop ads, which he’s been able to place in 11 states across the U.S. through partnerships with national nonprofits.
“The most important part is that we’ve connected over 200 eligible individuals to screening centers, making a real-world impact,” he said.
Articulating the progress of all three advocacy projects into a short presentation brought about an additional challenge for Kothagundla at the summit. The competition required the finalists to prepare lightning talks limited to five minutes and five PowerPoint slides — a challenge Kothagundla readily took on.
“[Presenting] two years of work in five minutes is a bit difficult, but that’s also what makes it fun,” said Kothagundla, who approached the rest of the competition with a similar optimism. Drawing inspiration from the central message of the summit that united efforts often lead to positive world change, Kothagundla spent much of the conference getting to know his fellow competitors.
“A lot of emerging innovators are here and I’ve been able to connect with them, learn from them and, hopefully, build lifelong relationships with them. They’ll help me make more of an impact, and at the end of the day, it’s not really competitive — it’s more collaborative,” he said.
Through his initiatives, Kothagundla set out to right a wrong within the healthcare industry by increasing awareness about lung cancer screening, which is often overlooked in the clinical routine.
“When somebody with a smoking history goes to the doctor, they often don’t get recommended a lung cancer screening, and I remember at the National Lung Cancer Roundtable conference, I was talking to a patient within the range that was never told about lung cancer screening by his primary care provider,” said Kothagundla.
Citing a statistic published by the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) in 2025, he noted the lung cancer screening uptake rate among high-risk adults was 18%, while the rate for breast cancer and colon cancer — which are more likely to be recommended during annual physicals — was much higher around 60%-70%. He hopes his advocacy efforts continue to help at-risk individuals learn more about testing and raise the uptake rate to 50% by 2030.
After he was named the 2026 Emerging Innovator of the Year and received a $5,000 prize at the award ceremony, Kothagundla dedicated the win to those who’ve been impacted by lung cancer, which includes a close friend who recently passed away.
“It’s her legacy that I carry everywhere when I’m talking about lung cancer,” said Kothagundla, who continues to stay motivated to do this work in her memory.
In addition to beginning his first semester at Harvard in the fall, Kothagundla has big plans for the next stage of his ongoing lung cancer screening awareness projects. He ambitiously hopes to expand the national advertising campaign’s reach by placing an ad in all 50 states, and as he awaits clinical validation for his app, he also plans to expand ALCSI's impact at Congress, progressing from introducing bills at the state level to influencing policy nationwide.
“And I’ll keep doing flight PSAs on any airplane I go on,” said Kothagundla, driven by the mindset that every small step makes a difference.
Applications for the 2027 Emerging Innovator Awards are due on October 1, 2026. Visit www.emerginginnovatorawards.org for more information and to apply.
ABOUT HORN ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Horn Entrepreneurship serves as the creative engine for entrepreneurship education and advancement at the University of Delaware. Currently ranked among the best entrepreneurship programs in the U.S., Horn Entrepreneurship was built and is actively supported by successful entrepreneurs, empowering aspiring innovators as they pursue new ideas for a better world.
