Global Initiatives

Stanford Biodesign is dedicated to helping innovators around the world thrive as they work to improve lives everywhere.

“Biodesign” has become a global phenomenon, with training programs like ours now operating around the world. Over the past decade, Stanford Biodesign has had a hand in inspiring or advising more than 30 educational programs in 18 countries ranging from Israel and India to Singapore and Sweden.

One reason our approach is going global is that our unique biodesign innovation process works everywhere. When you’re identifying needs, whether you’re in a hospital in Palo Alto or an infusion clinic in rural China, it requires you to immerse yourself in the clinical and cultural environment and consider the unique perspectives and priorities of those stakeholders. When you’re inventing a solution, the process forces you to carefully consider exactly how and where it will be used. And when you’re implementing a solution, it again requires you to examine everything from traditions to economics to infrastructure so you can successfully get your product to patients. By innovating in this way, the biodesign innovation process can be used to effectively develop and deliver everything from high-end solutions for affluent populations in well-established markets to low-cost technologies intended to improve access for millions of patients in developing countries.

There are a number of different ways Stanford Biodesign supports global health technology innovation education:

Active Program Development Partners

Stanford Biodesign works with a limited number of program development partners to help them create and launch their own innovation training programs. The development agreement is for a set initial time period and can be renewed/extended as needed until the program can sustain independent status.

“Graduated” Partners

These programs started as joint fellowship programs based on formal collaborations with Stanford Biodesign. After operating as partners for number of years, the programs “graduated” to independent status:

Global Affiliates

Global affiliates are independent programs founded by Stanford Biodesign trainees that maintain a formal association with Stanford Biodesign.  We collaborate actively with our affiliates throughout each academic year to share ideas and best practices. In some cases, our trainees interact as well. Affiliate status is reserved for the highest quality Biodesign programs. To be awarded the designation, programs must fulfill specific performance requirements that demonstrate their success and sustainability. They also must undergo a formal review by Stanford Biodesign. As of 2021, only those programs that have previously been Stanford Biodesign joint programs or program development partners are eligible for consideration.

Other Programs

Those who complete our Global Faculty Training program return to their home institutions to launch, sustain, or expand Biodesign-like programs around the world. The list below highlights just a few of the most active programs.

KEY:

Active Program Development Partners Graduated Partners Global Affiliates Other Programs

Global Biodesign Initiatives Map
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Global Biodesign Initiatives Map

For questions about our global partnerships and affiliations, please contact Gordon Saul or Chris Shen.

  • Stanford Byers Center for Biodesign
    Palo Alto, California
    Stanford Biodesign is headquarters for our contacts across the globe. Many of our direct collaborators spend time training with us at Stanford through initiatives such as the Singapore-Stanford Biodesign Fellowship or our Global Faculty Training program.
  • Singapore Biodesign
    Singapore
    Modeled after Stanford Biodesign, Singapore Biodesign is a capability development initiative that aims to train and nurture the next generation of health tech innovators for Asia. This program began as Singapore-Stanford Biodesign, a partnership between Stanford University, the Singapore Economic Development Board, and the Agency for Science, Technology, and Research (A*STAR) in 2010. It offered a joint fellowship program with Stanford Biodesign from 2011 until its transition to independent status in late 2018.
  • East Africa Biodesign
    Rwanda, Africa
    East Africa Biodesign, a new Program Development Partner, is being developed in collaboration with the University of Global Health Equity and the Center of Excellence in Biomedical Engineering and eHealth at the University of Rwanda. It’s first offering, the EAB fellowship, will launch in January 2024. The fellowship is led, in part, by Stanford Biodesign trainees Gerard Rushingabigwi and Natnael Shimelash.
  • Japan Biodesign
    Osaka/Tokyo/Sendai, Japan
    Japan Biodesign, a Stanford Biodesign Program Development Partner, was established in 2015 in partnership with Osaka, Tokyo and Tohoku Universities and the Japan Federation of Medical Devices, and a fellowship program was launched that same year. Through this partnership, Japan Biodesign faculty are trained at the Byers Center through our Global Faculty Training program and receive ongoing support and mentoring from our core faculty. Japan Biodesign fellows visit Stanford Biodesign for an intensive two-week training experience mid-way through their fellowship year.
  • BioInnovate Ireland
    Galway, Ireland
    BioInnovate Ireland opened in 2011 after its program director, Mark Bruzzi, trained with us at Stanford Biodesign. As a Stanford Biodesign affiliate, BioInnovate is an independent program that offers both a fellowship and industry training. Fellows from Stanford Biodesign and BioInnovate collaborate throughout each academic year to share ideas, information, and experiences.
  • School of International Biodesign
    New Delhi, India
    The School of International Biodesign is focused on training medical technology innovators and creating an ecosystem of frugal medical innovations in India. This program began as Stanford-India Biodesign, a collaboration between Stanford University, the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, and the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in partnership with the Indo-US Science & Technology Forum. From 2008 and 2015, we jointly operated a fellowship program for Indian citizens who spent the first six months of their training at Stanford Biodesign, followed by six to 18 months at AIIMS. Now independent, the School of International Biodesign offers the iFellowship for aspiring medtech entrepreneurs.
  • Biodesign Israel
    Haifa, Israel
    The Biodesign Israel leadership team all trained in Stanford Biodesign programs and courses, including founder Yona Vaisbuch, chief instructor Tahel Altman, and instructors Lior Lev Tov and Nitai Klein. The program is an educational-driven center that is helping build the local health technology ecosystem using the Stanford Biodesign approach to training aspiring innovators. Its goal is to significantly improve patient treatment and well-being around the world.
  • Einstein Biodesign
    São Paulo, Brazil
    The Einstein Biodesign fellowship is a graduate program for physicians, engineers, data scientists, administrators, and other healthcare professionals seeking to become leaders in healthcare innovation. Based at the Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein in Brazil, the program is led by the organization's chief innovation officer Rodrigo Bornhausen Demarch and a number of other innovators who completed Stanford Biodesign’s Global Faculty Training program.
  • Perth Biodesign
    Perth, Australia
    Perth Biodesign launched in 2018 after co-founder Matt Oldakowski completed our global faculty training program. Using the Stanford Biodesign methodology, the program brings together multidisciplinary teams of learners passionate about making a difference in healthcare. Perth Biodesign’s biomedical entrepreneurship programs are experiential in nature, designed for the Australian biomedical environment, and thrive on the support of the local ecosystem.
  • TMU Biodesign
    Taipei, Taiwan
    TMU Biodesign is a health technology training ecosystem anchored by Taipei Medical University. It includes the TMU BioMEd Accelerator, Taiwan's first international medical university-based accelerator, which is led by Stanford Biodesign global faculty trainee Jowy Tani. The accelerator also has a start-up mentorship program supported by other alumni of our programs. Additional ecosystem partners include Wan Fang Biodesign, Shuang-Ho Biodesign, and TMUH Biodesign and Biodesign Jr.