SunScreened wins Rep. Kathy Castor’s 2025 Congressional App Challenge in Florida’s 14th District

When asked what inspired the creation of SunScreened, the students said, “The Florida sun is unforgettable. It presses down on you in strong heat waves. On the soccer field, the grass sticks to your legs, the sweat trickles down, and the sunlight burns itself into your memory. We loved that feeling: the energy, the adrenaline, and the brightness that defined every Floridian’s afternoon. We got used to the heat and humidity, but never thought much about the sun itself. Everyone loves to tan since sunburns are a symbolic badge of summer, and something to laugh about, but what we didn’t realize was that while we were chasing the glow, the sun was taking a quiet toll on our skin. 

“It wasn’t until later that we recognized the big issue at hand. We started noticing things: redness that didn’t fade as quickly, peeling shoulders, and freckles that hadn’t been there before. Friends started to complain about skin irritation and suddenly the sun didn’t feel so harmless. We began searching for tools to help us stay safe, but nothing existed. There were apps of course that track heart rate, calories, sleep, and hydration, yet none of them include the one factor that affects nearly everyone every day in Florida: UV exposure. People track their health, accounting for every factor except for the part of the body most exposed to danger: their skin. 

“That’s when the realization sparked Sunscreened. Skin cancer is the most common cancer in the U.S and in Florida. We wanted to create something that would transform awareness into action. An app that helps people understand their relationship with the sun. Sunscreened employs real-time UV tracking, personalized SPF recommendations, burn-time calculations, and AI-powered skin analysis. 

“Now, before a run or a soccer game, we open up Sunscreened and know the UV index, the safest exposure time, and even when to reapply sunscreen. It provides us with a sense of control over the health of our skin. Our vision is simple: change how people think about self-care under the Florida sun, from something reactive to something proactive and empowering so everything can live healthier under the light we all share.”