Paul Yock is the Weiland Professor and Founding Co-Chair of the Stanford Department of Bioengineering, with a joint appointment in Cardiovascular Medicine and courtesy appointments in Mechanical Engineering and Operations, Information, and Technology in the Graduate School of Business. He founded and directs the Program in Biodesign, a unit of Stanford's Bio-X initiative that focuses on invention and technology transfer related to biomedical engineering. He is internationally known for his work in inventing, developing, and testing new devices, including the Rapid Exchange™ angioplasty/stent system, which is now the primary system in use worldwide, and the Doppler-guided access system known as the Smart Needle™ and PD-Access™. Dr Yock has cofounded several medical technology companies, including Cardiovascular Imaging Systems, acquired by Boston Scientific.
Stefanos Zenios is the Charles A. Holloway Professor at the Graduate School of Business, Stanford University and the director of its Center for Entrepreneurial Studies. An innovative educator, he was the first to introduce courses on the interface between medicine, engineering, and management in the MBA curriculum, and he is the lead architect of Startup Garage, a popular experiential elective on forming new startups. His pioneering research on maximizing the benefits of medical technology to patients when resources are limited has influenced policies in the US and Europe. Dr Zenios is the co-founder of Konnectology.com, a website funded by the National Institutes of Health to help kidney patients find transplant centers.
Josh Makower has dedicated his life to the creation of medical technologies that improve the quality of life for patients. He is the CEO and Founder of ExploraMed Development, LLC, a medical technology incubator, through which he has founded several healthcare companies, including Acclarent, acquired by J&J, TransVascular, acquired by Medtronic, EndoMatrix, and GI Reflux, acquired by C. R. Bard. He is also a Venture Partner with New Enterprise Associates, where he supports investing activity in the medical device arena. Dr Makower holds over 200 patents for medical devices in the fields of orthopedics, ENT, cardiology, general surgery, drug delivery, and urology. He serves as a Consulting Professor of Medicine at Stanford University Medical School and co-founded Stanford's Biodesign Innovation Program.
Todd J. Brinton is a Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine (Cardiovascular) and Consulting Associate Professor of Bioengineering at Stanford University. He is also an interventional cardiologist at the Stanford University Medical Center and the Palo Alto VA Hospital. His clinical practice focuses on general cardiovascular disease and complex coronary interventions. Dr Brinton is also a clinical investigator for new interventional-based therapies for coronary disease and heart failure. He has served as the Fellowship Director for the Biodesign Program since 2006, through which he has mentored numerous innovators in the biodesign innovation process. He also serves as the co-director of the graduate courses in Biodesign Innovation and the Biodesign Executive Education Program at Stanford. He is co-founder of BioParadox and Shockwave Medical, both venture-backed medical device companies, where he is a member of the board of directors and directs clinical development and strategy.
Uday N. Kumar is the Founder, President and CEO of Element Science, Inc., a company focused on the treatment of sudden cardiac death, that he started during his time as an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Third Rock Ventures, LLC. He also is a co-founder and board member of Qurious.io, Inc., a healthcare information technology company, a co-founder and board member of Sympara Medical, Inc., a company developing a novel therapy for hypertension, and the founder of iRhythm Technologies, Inc., a company focused on developing cost-effective new devices and systems for cardiac rhythm monitoring. He served as a board member and Chief Medical Officer of iRhythm from founding through broad commercialization of its Zio® Patch cardiac monitoring device. Dr Kumar currently serves as a Consulting Associate Professor of Bioengineering at Stanford University and is the Fellowship Director of Stanford's Global Biodesign Programs.
Jay Watkins has extensive experience founding and funding healthcare companies. He is a Managing Director with De Novo Ventures and an active individual investor and advisor to emerging medtech companies. He serves as a Lecturer in Management at the Graduate School of Business, Stanford University. Previously, Mr Watkins was on the Guidant management committee and served as president of several divisions, including the Minimally Invasive Surgery Group, and Heart Rhythm Technologies. While President of the Cardiac and Vascular Surgery Group, he initiated the development of a minimally invasive vein harvesting technology, which has be
