NYF Health Awards opens 2026 entries with new jury chairs and categories

The 2026 New York Festivals Health Awards is now open for entries, with Rich Levy and Jason Graff set to chair the Executive Juries in New York City this November. The competition is also expanding with three new category groups aimed at rewarding strategy, lived experience and emerging health technology.

Why it matters: - The NYF Health Awards spotlights healthcare, wellness and pharmaceutical advertising that combines creativity with measurable impact. - New categories and new jury leadership signal a push to reward work that is more strategic, more human-centered and more technology-driven.

What happened: - The 2026 New York Festivals Health Awards opened for entries on July 16, 2026. - Rich Levy, chief creative officer at Klick Health, will chair the Health & Wellness Executive Jury. - Jason Graff, global chief creative officer at VML Health, will chair the Pharma Executive Jury. - The Executive Jury sessions will take place in November 2026 in New York City. - The early bird deadline to enter is Aug. 19. - More information on the competition is available here.

The details: - Jennifer Vizina, executive director of NYF Health Awards, said the 2026 theme is “Rewarding Those Who See Health Differently.” - The Executive Juries will evaluate the shortlist curated by the online Shortlist Jury. - The jury panels will choose the year’s most exceptional work across health and wellness communications. - NYF Health introduced three new category groups for 2026: Strategy & Effectiveness, Human Lens: The Lived Experience, and HI: Healthy Intelligence. - Strategy & Effectiveness will recognize creative problem-solving powered by strategy, insight and data. - Human Lens: The Lived Experience will honor work rooted in authentic patient, caregiver and community experiences. - HI: Healthy Intelligence will focus on AI and emerging technologies in healthcare, wellbeing and medicine.

Between the lines: - The new categories point to where the industry is moving: toward measurable performance, authenticity and technology-enabled care. - Levy and Graff bring highly decorated healthcare creative credentials, which suggests NYF Health wants the 2026 judging to reflect current agency leadership and award-winning standards. - The competition’s framing makes clear that health advertising is being judged less as a niche discipline and more as a creative category with broader cultural and business relevance.

What's next: - Entrants have until Aug. 19 to submit work for early bird consideration. - The Shortlist Jury will first narrow the field before the Executive Juries make final selections. - The November jury sessions in New York City will determine this year’s top winners.

The bottom line: - NYF Health is expanding both who judges the work and how the work is categorized, betting that the future of health communications will be defined by strategy, lived experience and intelligent innovation.