The COVID-19 Response Innovation Lab is an initiative bringing together over 450 members of the Stanford Graduate School of Business, School of Engineering, School of Medicine, and beyond from over 40 different countries for the purpose of forming entrepreneurial or research ventures that combat COVID-19 and its repercussions. We seek to provide pro bono personnel, financial, and domain-expertise support to our affiliated teams. We're partnered with Stanford Rebuild, Stanford Venture Studio, and Stanford Biosecurity.
Many of our projects are still looking for people with various skills. If you're looking to help, please reach out to the team lead of the project you'd like to help with, listed on our projects page.
MD/MBA, Professor of Emergency Medicine, Director of Stanford BioSecurity
Milana Trounce, MD MBA FACEP is a Clinical Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine at Stanford Medical School. She grew up in the former USSR where she was a professional ballerina. She completed a Disaster Medicine and Bioterrorism Fellowship at Harvard and runs a Harvard CME course titled “Responding to Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical Weapons” as the CME director educating thousands of physicians globally. While a faculty member at Harvard, she led projects for the US State Department involving redirection of the former Russian bioweapons scientists. Prior to Stanford she was an Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine at the University of California San Francisco where she was a Medical Director for Disaster Response. At Stanford she has been teaching a BioSecurity and Bioterrorism Response class educating over 1000 students. She served as a spokeswoman for the American College of Emergency Physicians.
WebsiteAssociate Professor and W.M. Keck Foundation Faculty Scholar, Management Science and Engineering
Chuck Eesley is an Associate Professor and W. M. Keck Foundation Faculty Scholar in the Department of Management Science and Engineering at Stanford University. As part of the Stanford Technology Ventures Program, his research focuses on the role of the institutional and university environment in high-growth, technology entrepreneurship. His National Science Foundation of China and Kauffman award supported research focuses on rethinking how the educational and policy environment shapes the economic and entrepreneurial impact of university alumni. Over the past three years, Prof. Eesley has been playing a growing role in national and international meetings on fostering high-tech entrepreneurship, including advising the U.S. State Department in the Global Innovation through Science and Technology (GIST) program, Chile (CORFO), Taiwan (ITRI), and the Korean Ministry of Science and Technology.
WebsiteFounder, Stylus Innovation, Direct Hit, Xfire, Ruba, Apollo Fusion
Mike Cassidy is the CEO of his fifth startup Apollo Fusion, Inc. He was a Vice President and the Project Leader for several years of GoogleX Project Loon (balloon-powered Internet for everyone). Prior to joining Google, Mike was the Co-Founder and CEO of four start-ups: Ruba, Xfire, Direct Hit, and Stylus Innovation. Mike has a BS/MS in Aerospace Engineering from MIT. He graduated from Harvard Business School. He studied jazz piano at Berklee College of Music. He has been an advisor to From the Top, Jazz at Lincoln Center, Endeavor.org, and numerous startup companies. He was selected for the DEMO Lifetime Achievement Award, nominated for a Webby award, and named a Forbes E-gang Trendsetter. His startup products have won PC Magazine’s Top 100 Websites, Computer Telephony Product of the Year, CNET Editor’s Choice, PC Magazine’s Editor’s Choice, and many other awards.
WebsiteDeputy Director of Stanford Center for Cancer Nanotechnology Excellence
Dr. Demir Akin is a well-known expert in Nanobiotechnology and Nanomedicine and a pioneer interdisciplinary scientist in the areas of diagnostic and therapeutic micro/nano-fabricated devices, nano-based targeted drug and imaging agent design and delivery for cancer as well as infectious diseases. His formal education includes a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree, a master's in clinical and diagnostic microbiology and a PhD in pathology and molecular virology. He has 30+ years of experience in biomedical sciences and 13+ years of expertise in Electrical Engineering (biosensors) and Medical Nanotechnology.
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