ARTICLE SUMMARY:
Ingrid Ellerbe heads the new Stanford Biodesign/Fogarty Innovation joint venture focused on solving problems caused by a lack of diversity in the medtech industry.
A couple of years ago, the Stanford Byers Center for Biodesign program, an important source of innovation in medtech and a critical training ground for innovators and entrepreneurs, conducted a retrospective survey of the fellows who had passed through the program. Rightfully proud of the innovators, devices, and companies that the program has spawned, Biodesign leaders were nonetheless chagrined to find that the program, merit-based and open to all, had selected a disproportionate number of white, male fellows to go through its training. Was overweight of a single demographic group a coincidence? A matter of unintentional bias? A product of larger forces beyond its control?
