Funding

Partial / Stipend

Program dates

Aug 2, 2027

Fellowship•USA · Stanford

Stanford Biodesign Innovation Fellowship

Stanford Mussallem Center for Biodesign, Stanford Medicine (Stanford University)

Application Deadline

August 27, 2026

Official Page

The Stanford Biodesign Innovation Fellowship is a 10-month, full-time programme run by the Stanford Mussallem Center for Biodesign at Stanford Medicine, based in the James H. Clark Center on the Stanford University campus in California. Twelve fellows are selected each year and placed in three multidisciplinary teams of four, mixing clinical, engineering, computer science, scientific, design and business backgrounds. Teams work through the Biodesign process across the year: finding unmet health needs by shadowing patients and clinicians at Stanford Health Care and community settings, screening those needs, inventing concepts, and building an intellectual-property, regulatory, clinical and reimbursement strategy around the strongest one. The technology areas covered are medical devices, diagnostics, digital health, drug delivery and biotechnology. The fellowship has run since 2001 and is open to people from anywhere in the world who can work in the United States on an academic visa. The 2027–28 cohort begins on 2 August 2027 and finishes in early June 2028.

Benefits & funding

  • Stipend of at least US$6,150 per month for the 2027–28 fellowship year.
  • One-time program supplement of US$1,400.
  • Stanford University health insurance for the fellow, paid for by Stanford Biodesign: medical, dental, vision, mental health and maternity/paternity. Cover is available for spouses and dependants as well, but Biodesign does not pay for it.
  • Formal appointment through the Stanford Graduate School as a non-matriculated graduate student.
  • No application fee.
  • A private year inside Stanford Health Care clinical settings, faculty mentorship, an externship of four to five weeks tailored to the fellow’s career direction, and entry to the Biodesign alumni network.

Eligibility

  • Open to any nationality. Applicants who need work authorisation must be eligible to work in the United States on an academic visa; Stanford does not sponsor H-1B visas for this position.
  • Applicants affected by the United States travel proclamation of 4 June 2025 are currently not eligible.
  • Education and experience must meet one of these combinations: an undergraduate degree (BA, BS or an equivalent three- to four-year degree) plus at least four years of professional experience after graduation; one or more master’s degrees plus at least three years of professional experience accumulated after the undergraduate and/or master’s programme; an MD or equivalent (MBBS, MBChB, MMed) plus at least two years of residency completed by the start of the fellowship or at least two years of professional experience after the MD; a fully completed PhD; or a fully completed MD/PhD.
  • Roles counted towards professional experience must have run at least 10 continuous months. Internships and other short placements do not count.
  • Backgrounds sought include engineering, life sciences, computer science, business, product design, law, medicine and nursing. Experience in healthcare or health technology is preferred but not required.
  • English proficiency scores (TOEFL iBT or IELTS Academic) are required unless the applicant is exempt, for example United States citizens and permanent residents, native English speakers, and those whose degree was taught in English.
  • The programme is built for emerging leaders with an established track record; people with more than 10 years of professional experience in a senior leadership role, such as a senior management or executive position in industry, academia or private practice, may gain less from it.
  • Participation is full time and in person at Stanford, in excess of 40 hours a week. Moonlighting is not allowed, and fellows are usually too busy to take other Stanford courses during the year, though exceptions are possible in rare cases where a compelling need exists.
  • No age requirement is set.

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Application process

  1. 1
    Check the education-plus-experience thresholds and the United States academic-visa requirement before starting.
  2. 2
    Create a free SlideRoom account and open the Innovation Fellowship application.
  3. 3
    Prepare the applicant information section: a CV of no more than three pages, a transcript from the most recent degree programme, English test scores where required, an online profile link, and confirmation of work-authorisation status.
  4. 4
    Complete the main application: education and professional history, four leadership examples, creativity examples from personal and work contexts, an essay on future vision (350 words maximum), an essay on problem-solving (250 words maximum), and a video introduction of two minutes or less.
  5. 5
    Supply the names and contact details of three recommenders, who are asked to assess problem-solving and teamwork with specific examples.
  6. 6
    Submit all materials by 11:59 pm Pacific Time on Thursday 27 August 2026.
  7. 7
    Around 30 finalists are interviewed virtually on 12–13 November 2026, and decisions are sent before the end of 2026.

Program timeline

  1. 8 June 2026

    Applications open for the 2027–28 fellowship

  2. Applicant webinar, Beyond Devices — Biodesign and Biopharma

    20 July 2026

  3. Applicant webinar, Beyond Devices — Biodesign and Digital Health

    11 August 2026

  4. Application deadline

    27 August 2026, 11:59 pm PT

  5. Virtual finalist interviews

    12–13 November 2026

  6. Decisions announced

    Before the end of 2026

  7. 2 August 2027

    Fellowship begins with an August boot camp

  8. Fellowship ends with graduation

    Early June 2028