Impact1 Voices

"We do these things because they're hard!"  Right after college, John Parker  moved to Japan… with no plan, no experience in banking, and no idea what he was doing. Then the market collapsed. Suddenly, he wasn’t learning anymore—he was leading. Turnarounds. Crisis situations. Even stepping in as an interim GM in Australia. That mindset—running toward hard problems—never left. Today,...

“You know where we need to put funding? Pediatrics.” Dr. Alison Curfman has spent her career proving it. After a defining moment in a rural ER, she moved beyond clinical care to build solutions—from shaping pediatric telehealth policy to founding Startup Physicians and launching a value-based Medicaid model serving tens of thousands of children nationwide. In this episode, Alison shares how physic...

“We should be investing in the children and we're not! Instead, we're investing in [someone like] me from a medical perspective.” We enormously enjoyed catching up with none other than @ Paul Hooper, a longtime supporter of Impact1. Paul's wealth of knowledge, insights, and also humility made him a fantastic guest and we could have chatted forever, but here are few topics that stuck with us: Pedia...

In this episode of Impact1 Voices, we are chatting with our very own Alyssa Abo, MD, MBA, FAIUM , Real-World Evidence Lead here at Impact1 and VP of Clinical Innovation at DeepSight Technology . Hear Alyssa's thoughts on how to increase data access, reduce data silos, and her work with DeepSight Technology, which makes a sensor that uses ultrasound for needle guidance.

In this episode, Dave discusses why they deliberately avoided traditional VC funding at first to protect their cause and the strategy behind their chosen business model of driving profitability that can ultimately fund multi-year innovations. This is an excellent case study to demonstrate that business sustainability and growth in the pediatric innovation industry is very possible. You can't m...

Emma Moran, Head of CobiCure Medtech, shares insights into the pediatric medtech ecosystem and the mission of CobiCure—a nonprofit focused on bringing innovative devices to pediatric patients. With a background in biomedical engineering and strategy at Cook Medical, Emma has become a key leader in the space. She discusses the challenges the ecosystem faced prior to CobiCure, the organization’s ini...

Andre Bessette is the CEO of Eclipse Regenesis, a company developing a mechanical solution to short bowel syndrome. In this episode, Andre highlights the regulatory pathways available to solutions addressing needs in small patient populations. He also discusses clinical study site selection, payor engagement, and the current challenges of short bowel syndrome and necrotizing enterocolitis care.

Pedram Afshar is the CEO of Sage Health, a platform to streamline enrollment in public benefits for underinsured patients and improve accessibility, affordability, and efficacy of care. Pedram is a physician with a PhD in medical robotics, an alum of the Biodesign Innovation Fellowship, and has experience working with medical device companies of all sizes. In this episode, Pedram explores the oppo...

Krista Donaldson is the Director of Innovation to Impact at Stanford Biodesign, where her work focuses on ensuring design tools and processes are broadly applicable across global markets. She also serves on a number of boards and works with organizations to promote financing of local medtech innovation in emerging markets. In this episode, Krista dives into the essential aspects of user involvemen...

Sofía Ferreira is an Innovation Manager at i4Kids, a pediatric innovation hub at Sant Joan de Déu Barcelona Children’s Hospital. In this episode, Sofía highlights key differences between product commercialization in the United States and Europe.

Beverly Tang is the CEO of Starlight Cardiovascular, a company developing a portfolio of devices to address congenital heart defects. In this episode, Beverly discusses the synergies involved in building a multi-product company, creative methods for fundraising, and how to conduct needs finding without formal ties to a health system.

Anna Lisa Somera is the CEO of Rhaeos, a company developing the FlowSense device to assess hydrocephalus shunt flow in pediatric and adult patients. In this episode, Anna Lisa discusses how her team chose to use their platform sensor technology to meet the needs of hydrocephalus patients and clinicians. She also addresses the benefits of family involvement in clinical trials, opportunities for non...

Eric Chehab co-invented a device called the LifeBubble for protecting and securing umbilical cord catheters in neonates. In this episode, Eric discusses how his team developed the product's value proposition and the associated clinical evidence generation strategy while staying financially lean. Eric's company, Novonate, spun out of the Stanford Biodesign graduate student course and in 2023 was ac...

Welcome to Impact1 Voices! At Impact1, our team is working to improve children’s lives from day one through innovative health technology that solves the most impactful problems in pediatric healthcare. Our team is based at Stanford University’s Mussallem Center for Biodesign, which teaches a repeatable need-based innovation process for developing new technologies to advance health outcomes and hea...