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. 2013 Sep;41(9):1803-10.
doi: 10.1007/s10439-013-0761-2. Epub 2013 Feb 13.

Outcomes from a postgraduate biomedical technology innovation training program: the first 12 years of Stanford Biodesign

Todd J Brinton  1 , Christine Q Kurihara, David B Camarillo, Jan B Pietzsch, Julian Gorodsky, Stefanos A Zenios, Rajiv Doshi, Christopher Shen, Uday N Kumar, Anurag Mairal, Jay Watkins, Richard L Popp, Paul J Wang, Josh Makower, Thomas M Krummel, Paul G Yock
Affiliations

Outcomes from a postgraduate biomedical technology innovation training program: the first 12 years of Stanford Biodesign

Todd J Brinton et al. Ann Biomed Eng. 2013 Sep.

Abstract

The Stanford Biodesign Program began in 2001 with a mission of helping to train leaders in biomedical technology innovation. A key feature of the program is a full-time postgraduate fellowship where multidisciplinary teams undergo a process of sourcing clinical needs, inventing solutions and planning for implementation of a business strategy. The program places a priority on needs identification, a formal process of selecting, researching and characterizing needs before beginning the process of inventing. Fellows and students from the program have gone on to careers that emphasize technology innovation across industry and academia. Biodesign trainees have started 26 companies within the program that have raised over $200 million and led to the creation of over 500 new jobs. More importantly, although most of these technologies are still at a very early stage, several projects have received regulatory approval and so far more than 150,000 patients have been treated by technologies invented by our trainees. This paper reviews the initial outcomes of the program and discusses lessons learned and future directions in terms of training priorities.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Distribution of previous fields of study for the Biodesign fellows. Fellows with BS degree had significant corporate or start-up experience before coming to the program.
Figure 2
Figure 2
General timeline for the Biodesign Fellowship.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Distribution of careers following the Biodesign fellowship, categorized by primary description. A number of alumni in non-corporate categories (e.g., faculty members and physicians) are involved as part-time consultants to start-up companies.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Technologies in clinical use that have been invented by Biodesign trainees. (a) Zio® patch for cardiac rhythm monitoring (iRhythm Technologies, Inc); (b) Epiphany Epidural Access System for controlled access to the spinal epidural space (InSite Medical Technologies, Inc); (c) LimiFlex™ spine stabilization system (Simpirica Spine, Inc); (d) SNaP® device for portable negative-pressure wound healing (Spiracur, Inc),
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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