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Multidisciplinary
Teams
Patient oriented
program
Clinically integrated
prototyping
The Program
Our vision is to provide an educational driven center that scales up the local health technology ecosystem using Stanford’s Biodesign approach, to significantly improve treatment and patient well-being around the world.
Clinical Need
Driven Challenges
Value Based
Solutions
Project Based
Multi-DisciplinaryApproach
Team
Dr. Yona Vaisbuch
Founder, Program Director and Chief Clinical Officer
Dr. Vaisbuch is a Stanford Biodesign Innovation graduate and serves as a mentor in the Stanford Biodesign Mobile Health program and the Stanford Spark program for drug development.
Sharon Gal
Chief Executive Officer
He previously held a leading position at Rosetta Genomics, a molecular diagnostics company (Nasdaq: ROSG). Before that he was a senior manager at EY Corporate Finance, where he consulted startups on fundraising from non-dilutive sources, and led the firm’s China Business Advisory.
Dr. Dan Marom
Chief Strategy Officer
In the course of his career he has consulted various branches of the Israeli government, the World Bank, the European Commission and a large number of leading companies around the world. Dr. Marom holds a PhD in Finance, an MBA (Cum Laude) and a BSc in Electrical Engineering.
Doron Bar-Shalom
Chief Technology Officer
Si Buchbut
Chief Operations Officer
Nicole Perlmotov
Administrative Assistant
Dr. Tahel Altman
Chief Instructor
Dr. Lior Lev Tov
Instructor | Director of Engineering
Dr. Nitai Klein
Instructor | Projects Director
Dr. Leor Perl
Mentor | Director at Rabin Medical Center Innovation Laboratory
Dr. Perel demonstrated leadership skills when he established the Israeli Medical Residents’ Union, Mirsham, during his medical internship. He later became the first Israeli to train at the Stanford Interventional Cardiology Fellowship program and the Stanford Biodesign Fellowship program. He has held central positions in Israeli medical device start-up companies and acts as medical director for the successful Vectorious Medical Technologies company, which created the world’s first in-heart microcomputer for heart failure treatment. He recently founded a new innovation laboratory at the Rabin Medical Center and now leads the program, creating a new model for need-driven innovation in an Israeli medical center.
Dr. Talma Cohen
Director of Team Dynamics
Prof. Ezri Tarazi
Mentor | Chair of the Industrial Design Program at Technion - Israel Institute of Technology
Prof. Ezri Tarazi
Mentor | Chair of the Industrial Design Program at Technion - Israel Institute of Technology
Prof. Shulamit Levenberg
Mentor | Dean of the Biomedical Engineering Faculty - Technion Israel Institute of Technology
Prof. Shulamit Levenberg
Mentor | Dean of the Biomedical Engineering Faculty - Technion Israel Institute of Technology
Prof. Miriam Erez
Mentor | Vice Dean MBA program, Chair Innovation Center at the Technion - Israel Institute of Technology
Prof. Miriam Erez
Mentor | Vice Dean MBA program, Chair Innovation Center at the Technion - Israel Institute of Technology
Prof. Avigdor Gal
Mentor | Faculty of Industrial Engineering & Management at the Technion - Israel Institute of Technology
Prof. Avigdor Gal
Mentor | Faculty of Industrial Engineering & Management at the Technion - Israel Institute of Technology
Prof. Eitan Yaakobi
Mentor | Counselor for Excellence Program Computer Science Department at the Technion - Israel Institute of Technology
Prof. Eitan Yaakobi
Mentor | Counselor for Excellence Program Computer Science Department at the Technion - Israel Institute of Technology
Prof. Joachim A. Behar
Mentor | Head of the Artificial Intelligence in Medicine Lab at the Technion - Israel Institute of Technology
Prof. Joachim A. Behar
Mentor | Head of the Artificial Intelligence in Medicine Lab at the Technion - Israel Institute of Technology
Prof. Shay S. Tzafrir
Mentor | Head of the Business Administration Department at the University of Haifa
Prof. Shay S. Tzafrir
Mentor | Head of the Business Administration Department at the University of Haifa
Dr. Maayan Agmon
Mentor | Member at the Scientific Committee of Haifa Innovation labs, Faculty of Social Welfare and Health Studies, University of Haifa
Dr. Maayan Agmon
Mentor | Member at the Scientific Committee of Haifa Innovation labs, Faculty of Social Welfare and Health Studies, University of Haifa
Rina Assulin
Mentor | Head of Innovation in Nursing at Rambam Medical Center
Prof. Rafael Beyar
Advisory Committee Chairman | President of Rambam Medical Center’s International Associations
Prof. Rafael Beyar
Advisory Committee Chairman | President of Rambam Medical Center’s International Associations
Prof. Beyar also established Rambam MedTech in 2014, Rambam's technology transfer office for bringing medical innovations to market, and the MindUp Incubator for promoting Digital Health, in collaboration with Medtronic, IBM, Pitango and Impact First. He has previously served as chair of the Israeli Committee for the Expansion of the Health Basket (2010–2014) and currently serves as chair of the National Center for Transplants, as well as being a member of many other committees.
Prof. Beyar has founded two companies: InStent, which was sold to Medtronic, and NaviCath (later Corindus), a Technion incubator company and the world’s first robotic catheter company, which was recently acquired by Siemens Healthineers. Since his appointment as Hospital Director he has promoted entrepreneurial development within subsidiaries of the Health Corporation. He serves as a board member of Biorp and Rambam Medtech, and has founded the International Conference for Innovations in Cardiovascular Interventions (ICI) together with Prof. Chaim Lotan, which they have been co-chairing for 24 years consecutively.
Dr. Adi Aron-Gilat
Advisory Committee Member | Head of Strategy at X, Alphabet's Moonshot Factory
Dr. Adi Aron-Gilat
Advisory Committee Member | Head of Strategy at X, Alphabet's Moonshot Factory
Oded Tamir
Advisory Committee Member | Executive Chairman & Board member
Dr. Benny Zeevi
Advisory Committee Member | Managing General Partner Tel Aviv Venture Partners and Run Young Capital
Dr. Benny Zeevi
Advisory Committee Member | Managing General Partner Tel Aviv Venture Partners and Run Young Capital
Dr. Zeevi is a physician specialized in interventional pediatric cardiology. Prior to joining DFJ TFV in 2003, Dr. Zeevi was the Vice President Business Development & Medical Director of Card Guard AG since 1998.
In 2012-15 Dr Zeevi was the Co-Chairman of the IATI - Israel's largest non-profit umbrella organization for the High-Tech and Life Science sectors (http://www.iati.co.il ) and wrote the first comprehensive report about the Israel life sciences industry. Co-Chairman of the IATI Biomed Conference 2012-2017, Co-Chairman for the DigitalHealth.IL conference in 2015-2020 and Co – Chairman of the WHII - 1st World Congress on Women’s Health Innovations and Inventions: Addressing Unmet Needs.
Dr. Zeevi is deeply involved in the Israeli life sciences and digital health industries.
Dr. Zeevi is the Founder and Co Director of an Executive Program for Biotechnology and Medical Device Entrepreneurs and Managers, based on International faculty, at the Faculty of Management of Tel-Aviv University (http://biomedmanagement.tau.ac.il) and serves on the advisory board of the MBA in Management of Technology, Innovation & Entrepreneurship, Faculty of Management at Tel Aviv University.
Dr. Zeevi serves as the chairman of the board, a board member and advisory board member of 9 life sciences companies in different subsectors of the life sciences.
Dr. Zeevi is a member of the National Council of Digital Health and Innovation in Healthcare Services at the Ministry of Health, Board Member, Israel National Tissue Bank.
Dr. Zeevi is a certified Pediatric Cardiologist. From 1990-1998 he was Director of Pediatric Catheterization Unit, Schneider Children's Medical Center in Israel. Dr. Zeevi was a fellow and a visiting Professor and part-time clinical staff at the Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School in Boston. His credentials include over 70 peer-reviewed scientific and industry articles, in addition to various chapters in textbooks and invited reviews and editorials in pediatric cardiology journals. His contributions have been acknowledged in 1993, when he received the Liberman prize for significant contributions to the evaluation and treatment of children with congenital heart disease.
Dr. Zeevi holds a M.D. degree (Magna Cum Laude) from the Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Israel.
Yoav Medan
Advisory Committee Member | Co-Founder and CTO at AmplioSpeech
Our Academic Partners
innovation can thrive:
Medical institutions
& industry affiliates
The Rambam Medical Center, housing the program and providing a rich platform for in-depth examination of clinical needs across all hospital departments, access to the wealth of medical information digitally kept and managed at the hospital over the past 20 years, as well as broad range of professionals from various aspects of the medical fields, including specialists, interns, nurses and physiotherapists.
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Our Supporters
Richard Beleson
In the late 1980s, he became one of the first US investors in Teva Pharmaceutical Industries. It was through his initial investment in Israeli medical device companies Instant (acquired by Medtronic) and Biosense (acquired by Johnson & Johnson) that Rick met Motti and Rafi Beyar, and learned of the incredible medical innovation ongoing at the Technion and the Rambam Medical Center.
Rick retired from professional investing in 2010, and in recent years has focused on his hobby of archaeology, while continuing to support medical innovation through both venture investing and philanthropy. A graduate of Stanford University, Rick was thrilled to hear of Rambam’s participation in the Stanford Biodesign program and stepped forward with a significant initial grant.
Oren Dobronsky
Even though Oren's investment focus is on Internet technology, he is very passionate about innovation in the medical field and was one of the first to support the idea of bringing BIODESIGN to Israel. Oren believes that bringing the BIODESIGN well-studied and proven methodologies to Israel's "Startup Nation" mentality, will induce an enormous amount of high-quality innovation.
Miki and David Donoho
Prof. David Donoho is a world-renowned mathematical statistician. His work has led to a breakthrough in medical imaging. Among many prestigious awards, he has received an honorary doctorate from the Technion.
Dr. Miki Donoho brings a wealth of experience from her academic life. She served on the executive committee of her professional society, the Institute of Mathematical Statistics, as well as on other organizational and academic boards.
Their son Dr. Daniel Donoho is now a neurosurgery fellow at Texas Children’s Hospital. The Donohos are a dynamic couple and enjoy activities such as ballroom dancing, skiing, and walks in nature.
Ziv Elul
Ziv Elul co-founded Inneractive in 2007 and served as its CEO, expanding the company globally, and achieving profitability, with consecutive 3-digit year-over-year growth. In 2016, Fyber N.V acquired Inneractive and Ziv was appointed as the next CEO of Fyber N.V. Since stepping into his role in July 2017, he has been leading the successful integration of Fyber, Heyzap, and Inneractive into one consolidated entity, under the Fyber brand, with the goal of bringing the best components of each group into one cutting-edge, unified technology platform. Under his leadership, Fyber N.V. reached profitability for the first time as a unified company.
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The Program
The Biodesign Israel program is designed to provide up to 36 carefully selected students and professionals from the fields of medical science, engineering and business administration advanced training and mentoring in health technology innovation. In 2020-2021, the program will focus on innovation in the fields of medical devices and digital health, taking participants step by step through Stanford’s world-renowned Biodesign Innovation Process, to provide them with the tools to successfully implement their solutions in the global markets.
Participants will be divided into mastermind teams in which they will identify needs and develop solutions through ongoing cross-pollination for the duration of the program. Each team will be thoughtfully assembled to comprise two entrepreneurs from the field of medicine, two from the field of engineering and two from the field of business administration.
The program will be led by a highly trained and experienced faculty of four doctors, who are all graduates of the Stanford University Biodesign program. They will be joined by teaching assistants from relevant academic faculties and departments as well as experts from diverse disciplines, various hospital wards, HMOs and leading authorities from the Israeli tech industry, Silicon Valley and other leading global markets.
Admission Criteria And Enrollment
We are looking for smart, motivated, creative, and entrepreneurial participants with a commitment to improving healthcare, an interest in technology and a dedication to making a real-world impact.
The program is offered free of charge to up to 36 select undergraduate, graduate and postdoctoral-level students and professionals from the fields of medicine, engineering and business administration who work together in six multidisciplinary teams of six participants each. The program is recognized as academic accreditation for BA Engineering, BSc, MBA, M.Sc. Engineering students and medical interns. This is a fast-paced, demanding course and attendance is mandatory for the duration of the course (two semesters). Enrollment is by application only.
Program Schedule
Biodesign Israel’s first course begins October 2020 and will take place over two semesters (one academic year), with sessions held on Mondays and Thursdays, 4 p.m. – 6 p.m. Some sessions will be led by Stanford Global Faculty members and other professionals from the US and global Biodesign partners. These sessions will be held at various times that will be scheduled and announced in advance.
July 1, 2020
Registration opens
During July
Q&A session with course faculty (online) – link will be sent to registered candidates
August 12-30, 2020
Enrollment decisions announced
October 26, 2020
Course begins
Curriculum
The Biodesign Methodology, With A Focus On Medical Devices Anda Digital Health
Based on the profound understanding that innovation must be designed to meet the users’ actual needs and challenges, a principle that is especially important in the medical field, the Biodesign Innovation Process involves the systematic identification and screening of needs from the ground up. This process, which Stanford has developed and refined over two decades, has been taught to thousands of participants at all levels in numerous countries around the world. Its application across a variety of fields within the medical landscape has led to exceptional results, enhancing the lives of millions around the globe.
This Biodesign Innovation Process includes three phases:
1. Identify.
This phase is first and foremost about finding important unmet health needs. By directly observing the full course of care, from diagnosis and treatment to recovery, as well as all the relevant players in the medical world, participants discover problems and opportunities. During this first-hand observation period, hundreds of needs are collected, initially with no judgment or prioritization. Then it’s time to filter the list with rigorous objectivity, taking into account everything from the different stakeholders affected by each need, to how much potential it has to improve care and/or save the system money, technological feasibility and business potential. This is an intense and iterative process, with progressively deeper dives into the needs that have the most potential. Ultimately, the trainees arrive at the two or three needs with the most promise for major impact on health and wellness.
2. Invent.
This phase begins by brainstorming hundreds of potential solutions for each of the top needs. Then, the ideas are organized and objectively compared against key criteria for satisfying the needs. During this phase, participantas create rough prototypes in a rapid “think-build-rethink” sequence, so failures emerge early and iteration can lead to better solutions. They then filter the surviving solutions by researching everything from intellectual property issues and business models to reimbursement and regulatory pathways. In the end, the process produces several lead concepts perfectly suited to meet real needs, which are feasible from a business perspective and have a good chance of actually reaching and improving patient care.
3. Implement.
This phase focuses on prototyping and testing the proposed technology in a quick and flexible way, while developing an approach to patenting, regulatory approval, reimbursement, charting market potential for the innovation and exploring sources of funding.
As mentioned, Stanford has been developing and refining this process for over two decades. An extremely broad number of participants from many countries around the world have undergone this training, at all levels of management and across a variety of medical fields. The results speak for themselves - this is an incredibly effective, systematic and proven process that is now being offered to entrepreneurs participating in the Biodesign Israel.
Any Questions?
Frequently Asked Questions
As for the 2020-21 course, the application deadline, interview dates and timeline for announcing decisions will remain the same. If necessary, we will host interviews and classes using a virtual format. Please follow our website for more information as it becomes available.
Program alumni pursue a wide variety of careers that include launching health technology start-ups, driving innovation inside major health technology companies and teaching innovation inside universities. To date, many interesting technologies have been invented and fifty health technology companies have been launched by the program’s graduates.
The Biodesign Innovation program begins on October 26th, 2020.
The clinical subspecialties chosen as the focus for the program in 2020-2021 are medical devices and digital health. We believe that by working on an area outside your specific field of expertise, you are more likely to question existing paradigms and recognize interesting opportunities. To jump-start the process, you will begin your training with several weeks of clinical immersion in the chosen subspecialty to observe first-hand how care is delivered in that space.
Here is a list of all our academic collaborations. If your specific faculty or institution does not appear on the list, please contact us.
Enrollment in Biodesign Israel is by application only. Final applicants will be invited to participate in an interview (online or in person).
Your application must include the following information:
- Basic background and your education, work and/or research experience.
- Why you are interested in medical technology innovation (in 250 words or less).
- Your bio, which will be distributed to students and class mentors if you are accepted (150 words or less).