2. INVESTING IN HEALTHCARE BY
DESIGN
Mobile applications (m-health)
Redesigning health care products (dissolvable sutures,
nutraceuticals)
Data mining of “big data” to establish best practices and
epidemeological trends
Biodesign for measurement of health
Assisted living with wireless controls (sensing technologies and
robotic aid)
Frugal engineering (appropriate design for Africa, rural India)
Health engineering (applied physiology using technology)
Hybrid realities
3. DESIGN AS A WAY TO INNOVATE IN
HEALTHCARE AND MEDICAL
PRODUCTS
Next generation wheelchairs (WIRED)
Medical products move slowly. The first wheelchair was invented in 6th-century China. That basic
design lasted until the first collapsible “X-frame” model was developed in 1933. If there’s a logical
continuum, we are around 1,400 years away from the next major breakthrough in wheelchair
technology. At least we were, until New Zealand design student Oscar Fernandez submitted his
entry to the Dyson Design Competition
4. BIG DATA AND CROWDSOURCING FOR
HEALTHCARE INNOVATION FUND IDEA
Crowdsourcing, data mining and micronutrients (protein tracking). There
are few more overheated areas of venture capital than figuring out how to
mine “big data”. I am a believer that targeted projects enhance operational
efficacy so look at ways where crowdsourcing has produced operational
effectiveness. Ushahidi is a global brand in this. A social impact venture
fund looking at mining data from crowdsourcing for useful trends, tracking
changes in health patterns resulting from food production innovations,
assessing micronutrients .
Tracking micronutrient use is already high on the medical innovation. A fund
that used crowdsourcing to track the impact of micronutrient programmes,
changes in food production and nutrition enhancement and public health
records would be of interest to venture capitalists trying to manage “big data”
but would also enhance our capacity as decision-makers to understand
macro trends.
5. HEALTH INNOVATION THROUGH OPEN
SOURCE CROSS-CULTURAL
DISCUSSION
Chinese herbal remedies and commercialization of inventive
sources. A second fund needs to back the global expansion of
cost-effective remedies that are innovated outside of the G8
medical research mainstream. See the open source
innovation/biopiracy issues since the Hoodia cactus issue of a
decade ago. It has become a major part of Indian, Chinese and
Brazilian negotiating points on intellectual property and can be
remedied by a social impact investment fund that ensures
adequate commercialization of non-G8 inventive sources while
respecting the regulatory regimes which remain at the
cornerstone of G8 nation’s rules of intellectual property.
6. MOBILE HEALTH AS INNOVATION IN
HEALTH CARE
While discussions of mobile health are ubiquitous, there is no
venture capital fund that I know of that is exclusively dedicated to
mobile innovations in global health care. The M-health alliance
plays a role in this, with backing from among others the Vodafone
foundation.
KOMODO (OCADU) mobility assistance through
technologyhttp://www.ocadu.ca/about_ocad/articles/stories/20111
216_ inclusive_design_mobile_tech.htm
7. THOUGHT LEADERS IN HEALTH
INNOVATION BY DESIGN
Sam Basta www.HEALTHCAREINNOVATIONBYDESIGN.COM
Rodrigo Martinez http://www.ideo.com/people/rodrigo-martinez
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62uKu-
UIDnk&list=PL7374C8D1C19B66B6&index=1&feature=plpp_video
Jay Srini http://www.slideshare.net/HowardRosen129/the-future-of-
mhealth-jay-srini-march-2011 and
http://www.cs.cmu.edu/advisoryboard/bios/srini.html
Sean Hogan Global Healthcare IBM
Stefanos Zenios BIODESIGN INNOVATION
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UxVbA48Kb40
Chris Shen http://biodesign.stanford.edu/bdn/people/shen_chris.jsp
Rajiv Doshi http://biodesign.stanford.edu/bdn/people/doshi_rajiv.jsp
8. VENTURE CAPITAL PORTFOLIO
STRATEGIES FOR INNOVATION IN
HEALTHCARE
Frazier Healthcare http://www.frazierhealthcare.com/
Biodesign at STANFORD
http://biodesign.stanford.edu/bdn/supporters/venturepartners.jsp
Partners Innovation Fund
http://rvl.partners.org/investors_and_entrepreneurs/partners_inno
vation_fund
Versant Ventures http://www.versantventures.com/
9. HEALTH CARE DESIGN INSPIRED
INNOVATION VENTURE CAPITAL
PORTFOLIO
Indian M-health
Design assisted living (e.g. KOMODO)
Information architecture “big data” epidemiology.
Medical devices assisted by design (stents, catheters)
Smart materials and new product innovation.
Crowdsourced nutritional maps
http://www.nhpr.org/post/forget-robots-venture-capitalists-change-
their-health-care-investments
http://www.laterlifeskills.com/latest-news/aging-place-startup-
independa-tops-235m-funding/
10. OTHER INNOVATORS IN DESIGN AND
MEDICINE
NORTHWESTERN
http://cight.northwestern.edu/global-health-
initiatives/current%20projects1/diagnostic_tools_for_the_developing_world.ht
ml
NEW MEDIA MEDICINE MIT MEDIALAB http://newmed.media.mit.edu/blog
MEDIALAB ePatients http://e-patients.net/archives/2012/01/mit-media-labs-
health-wellness-2012-ten-day-innovation-fest-six-us-centered-projects.html
IMPERIAL COLLEGE (London) Virtual Worlds
http://www1.imperial.ac.uk/surgeryandcancer/divisionofsurgery/research_the
mes/virtualworlds/
11. ROCK HEALTH INCUBATORS - CASE
STUDY OF HEALTH INNOVATION AND
DESIGN
http://www.xconomy.com/san-francisco/2011/06/02/rock-health-a-
new-incubator-for-healthcare-it-startups-names-its-first-class/
http://www.imedicalapps.com/2011/10/rock-health-incubator-
seeks-mobile-health-startup-applicants/
http://www.thehappymd.com/health-care-products-that-work/
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/41-innovative-
products-selected-as-finalists-in-2012-medical-design-excellence-
awards-145846955.html
http://www.healthymagination.com/stories/pediatric-adventures/
