Wolfson Students Win Top Prizes at StEP Ignite 2025

Wolfson College students led the way at this year’s StEP Ignite 2025 pitch competition, highlighting the spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship which is so central to the College community.

The team behind Medhesion, awarded first prize, is developing a pioneering biological therapy to prevent surgical adhesions, bands of scar tissue that can form after surgery. Such complications affect millions of patients globally every year, resulting in hospital readmissions and increased waiting times, as well as considerable costs to health services. The group was led by Wolfson student Sinibaldo Romero Arocha and included fellow Wolfie Michail Mavrogiannis. The team impressed the judges with their technical clarity, strong evidence base, and compelling commercial proposition and were awarded the coveted £10,000 prize.

Impressed by the exceptional quality of this year’s Demo Day pitches, the judges made an unprecedented last-minute decision to award not only a winner but also two runner-up teams, each receiving £5,000 in support of their ventures.

One of the joint runner-up winners was Entangled, a team focused on advancing quantum computing, which included Wolfson student Ari Hernawan and recent graduate Anjali Waghmare, once again reflecting Wolfson’s strength in interdisciplinary science and emerging technologies. Their innovation aims to combine physics and engineering to unlock further capabilities of quantum technology, giving it the potential to revolutionise complex fields including drug discovery, cybersecurity, and space exploration.

The success of Medhesion and Entangled highlights Wolfson’s continued leadership in student entrepreneurship, innovation, and real-world impact.

For more about the competition and the winning teams, visit Oxford University Innovation. Learn more about the StEP Ignite programme here.