Texas Biodesign

Texas Biodesign was established in August 2020 and is managed by the Texas Innovation Center. The program is inspired by Stanford Biodesign’s process of front-end innovation development. Our program is a nine-week intensive practicum of biodesign concepts, followed by commercialization support for teams that want to move their project to the marketplace.

Texas Biodesign collaborates with MD Anderson Cancer Center and Texas Venture Labs, bringing together scientists, engineers, business-minded participants, and clinicians to form interdisciplinary teams to learn and implement how to use needs-driven innovation to solve medical and business problems.

This workshop is designed to help faculty, graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, MBA/MSTC students, and clinicians utilize the biodesign process to assess and innovate commercial opportunities.

Participants work in cross-functional teams of four, including a seasoned MD Anderson clinician, and are mentored by Texas Biodesign coaches with significant entrepreneurial experience. Teams completing the Texas Biodesign program will be eligible to apply for the Texas Biodesign Seed Grant ($5,000) to further explore the commercialization of their project.

Cohort #4 launching in Spring 2024

Apply Now

Workshop Details

Instructor: Dr. Rush Bartlett
Global Innovation Leader | Executive-in-Residence
Assistant Director of Corporate Innovation & Education at Stanford Breyer Center for Biodesign

Needs-Driven Innovation Workshop Sessions
The workshop will provide you with didactic instruction on the Biodesign innovation process. Although this process started as a medical technology development tool, it is extremely useful in all business areas and has been used in consumer-packaged goods, software development and many other areas to achieve success.

Goal
Each participant will complete an assessment of multiple needs, select a lead concept, and present a value proposition of the combined need and concept to help decide whether or not to take the project to the next stage. This process training will equip participants with skills to help them identify the difference between a good and a great opportunity.

Biodesign Coaches
Each team is paired with a Biodesign coach using the Stanford Biodesign methodology. The coaches will provide individual mentoring and will help you think carefully about what’s required to make progress in the evaluation of your need-and-lead concept. We encourage you to meet with your business coach at least 2-3 times during the workshop series.

Weekly Schedule

  • Week 1 – Introduction to Biodesign, form teams and develop Need Statement
  • Week 2 – Need Scoping and Validation
  • Week 3 – Needs Filtering by Value
  • Week 4 – Understanding Stakeholders and Need Specific Criteria
  • Week 5 – Define, distill, and validate each team’s top need criteria through stakeholder interviews
  • Week 6 – Refine Need Statements, a primer on concept filtering
  • Week 7 – Refine Need Statements, a primer on intellectual property and a primer of business models
  • Week 8 – Final Presentations Prep
  • Week 9 – Team Final Presentations

For more information, contact us at innovation@utexas.edu.

Texas Biodesign Mentors – Cohort #3 (Spring 2023)

Dr. Alfred Song
Clinical Innovation Fellow and Resident
Stanford University School of Medicine

Dr. Emma Essock-Burns
Engineering Coach
Stanford University Byers Center for Biodesign

Dr. John Paderi
Chief Scientific Officer
IHP Therapeutics

Dr. Shaili Sharma
Director of Business Development – Neurosurgery
Stryker

Dr. Vrad Levering
Head of Device Research and Development
Spiral Therapeutics

Texas Biodesign Cohort #3 (Spring 2023)

TEAM 1

Bart Herpers, Ph.D. Candidate
Department of Biomedical Engineering
The University of Texas at Austin

Khang D. Nguyen, MD, FAAD
Assistant Professor of Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine
Ascension Seton Medical Center and Dell Seton Medical Center

Pranay Rai, MBA Candidate
McCombs School of Business
The University of Texas at Austin

Sierra M. Brooks, Ph.D. Candidate
Department of Chemical Engineering
The University of Texas at Austin

TEAM 2

Alexis Dimanche, Ph.D. Candidate
Department of Biomedical Engineering
The University of Texas at Austin

Celeste Marsan, Ph.D. Student
Department of Chemical Engineering
The University of Texas at Austin

Jiaqi Xue, MS Candidate
Department of Mechanical Engineering
The University of Texas at Austin

Nina Tamaresa, MD
Assistant Professor of Breast Surgical Oncology, Division of Surgery
MD Anderson Cancer Center

TEAM 3

Ahad Azimuddin, MD Candidate
Texas A&M University, Health Science Center School of Medicine
Student Researcher, MD Anderson Cancer Center

Alexander Mericli, MD, FACS
Assistant Professor of Plastic Surgery, Division of Surgery
MD Anderson Cancer Center

Sanidhya D. Tripathi, Ph.D. Student
Department of Biomedical Engineering
The University of Texas at Austin

Travis Sims, MD, MPH
Assistant Professor of Gynecologic Oncology and Reproductive Medicine, Division of Surgery
MD Anderson Cancer Center

TEAM 4

Dave Boruta, MD
Professor of Gynecologic Oncology and Reproductive Medicine
MD Anderson Cancer Center

Fernando Cordova, MS
Technology Commercialization, McCombs School of Business
University of Texas at Austin

Jamie Crow, MS, MBA, MHA, CCRP, CHFP
Manager, Clinical Protocol Administration
MD Anderson Cancer Center

John Tran, MS
Clinical Research Program Coordinator
MD Anderson Cancer Center

Texas Biodesign Cohort #2 (Spring 2022)

TEAM 1

Tom Fitzsimons, MBA Candidate
McCombs School of Business
The University of Texas at Austin

Kjirsten Ayn Carlson, MD
Department of Breast Surgical Oncology
MD Anderson Cancer Center

Daryl Rose Barth, Ph.D. Student
Department of Molecular and Cell Biology
The University of Texas at Austin

John Tran, MSBME Candidate
Department of Breast Surgical Oncology
MD Anderson Cancer Center
Johns Hopkins University

TEAM 2

Jen Plantz, MBA Candidate
McCombs School of Business
The University of Texas at Austin

Bernice Liying Huang, MD
Department of Surgical Oncology
MD Anderson Cancer Center

Vivian Chou, MSME Student
Walker Department of Mechanical Engineering
The University of Texas at Austin

Sangamithra Vardhan, Ph.D. Student
Department of Biomedical Engineering
The University of Texas at Austin

TEAM 3

Rachel Smith, MBA Candidate
McCombs School of Business
The University of Texas at Austin

Abbas Hassan, MD
Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
MD Anderson Cancer Center

Pablo Ramos Ferrer, Ph.D. Student
Department of Chemical Engineering
The University of Texas at Austin

Jaime R Crow, MBA, MHA
Department of Breast Surgical Oncology
MD Anderson Cancer Center

TEAM 4

Sanjay Mukhi, MBA Candidate
McCombs School of Business
The University of Texas at Austin

Anees Siddiqui, MD
Department of Pediatric Gastroenterology
Dell Medical School

Trey Putri Sutjita, Ph.D. Student
Department of Molecular Biosciences
The University of Texas at Austin

Kasia J Dinkeloo, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of Molecular Biosciences
The University of Texas at Austin

TEAM 5

David J Kim, MBA Candidate
McCombs School of Business
The University of Texas at Austin

Nicole Fleming, MD
Associate Professor
Department of Gynecologic Oncology
MD Anderson Cancer Center

Brielle Hohne, Ph.D. Student
Department of Chemical Engineering
The University of Texas at Austin

Jared M Eller, Ph.D. Student
Department of Molecular Biosciences
The University of Texas at Austin

TEAM 6

Marija Vukicevic, MBA Candidate, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Houston Methodist University
McCombs School of Business
The University of Texas at Austin

Alejandro Maurer, MBA Candidate
McCombs School of Business
The University of Texas at Austin

Sandra Renae DiBrito, MD, Ph.D.
Department of Surgical Oncology
MD Anderson Cancer Center

Subha P Mallick, Ph.D. Student
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
The University of Texas at Austin

Texas Biodesign Mentors – Cohort #1 (Spring 2021)

Dr. Alfred Song
Clinical Innovation Fellow and Resident
Stanford University School of Medicine

Dr. Shriram Raghunathan
President and CEO
Noctrix Health

Dr. Vrad Levering
Head of Device Research and Development
Spiral Therapeutics

Texas Biodesign Cohort #1 (Spring 2021)

Scott Alpard, MBA, MMSc
Administrator and Director, Innovation
Department of Breast Surgical Oncology
MD Anderson Cancer Center

Dave Boruta, MD
Professor of Gynecologic Oncology
MD Anderson Cancer Center

Cristina M. Checka, MD
Department of Breast Surgical Oncology
MD Anderson Cancer Center

James Clarke, Ph.D. Student
Department of Physics
The University of Texas at Austin

Fernando Cordova, MSTC Candidate
McCombs School of Business
The University of Texas at Austin

Diana E. Gutierrez Lopez, Ph.D. Student
Department of Nutritional Science
The University of Texas at Austin

Brianna Flynn, Ph.D. Student
Department of Cell and Molecular Biology
The University of Texas at Austin

Deanna Glassman, MD
Gynecologic Oncology Fellow, PGY5
Department of Gynecologic Oncology & Reproductive Medicine
MD Anderson Cancer Center

Tanya Hutter, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Walker Department of Mechanical Engineering
The University of Texas at Austin

Nick Kapecki, MBA Candidate
McCombs School of Business
The University of Texas at Austin

Miles Massidda, Ph.D. Student
Department of Biomedical Engineering
The University of Texas at Austin

Andrew Repetski, Ph.D. Student
Department of Aerospace Engineering
The University of Texas at Austin

Nicholas Schneider, MBA Candidate
McCombs School of Business
The University of Texas at Austin

Siva Saket Sripada, Ph.D. Student
Department of Biomedical Engineering
The University of Texas at Austin