April 16, 2021

We are delighted to announce the appointment of Josh Makower, MD, as Director of the Stanford Byers Center for Biodesign. Dr. Makower co-founded the center in 2000 with outgoing director Paul Yock, MD, and stayed involved even after returning to the private sector in 2004. He will begin in his role as the center’s director on August 1.

Dr. Makower is a renowned innovator and entrepreneur in health care technology with more than 300 patents and patent applications to his name. His familiarity with Stanford Medicine’s mission and prolific career of inventing biomedical devices and developing them for market uniquely qualify him to lead the Center for Biodesign. Additionally, his passion for teaching innovation, dedication to mentorship, and in-depth knowledge of the center’s mission promise to seamlessly continue its remarkable productivity.

As the lead of Stanford Byers Center for Biodesign, Dr. Makower will focus on diversity, health care access, economically sustainable innovation, and how regulatory, economic, and social policies aid or hamper innovation.

Dr. Makower was elected in 2021 to the National Academy of Engineering for his pioneering work, including inventing balloon sinuplasty, which has proven effective for chronic sinusitis. He is a member of the College of Fellows of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering and was awarded the Coulter Award for Healthcare Innovation by the Biomedical Engineering Society in 2018.

Throughout his career, Dr. Makower has helped aspiring entrepreneurs and scientists bring their innovations to market. He currently serves as general partner at New Enterprise Associates (NEA), one of the world’s largest venture capital funds focused on health care and technology businesses, where he has led medical technology investing since 2015. In 1995, he founded the incubator ExploraMed, which has fostered numerous successful medical device companies advancing health care in various areas, including obesity, plastic surgery, concealable breast pumps, and osteoarthritis.

We want to commend and thank Dr. Yock, who will remain closely associated with the program, for his more than two decades of tireless dedication as an educator, mentor, researcher, and innovator. Under Dr. Yock’s leadership, the Stanford Byers Center for Biodesign has become a global engine for medical technology innovation, touching the lives of tens of millions of people around the world.