Industry advisors provide invaluable mentoring & support to SPARK scholars.
The Industry and University Partnership Forms the Core of the SPARK Program
SPARK connects industry partners with academic collaborators and is a source for promising projects that may be developed into novel therapeutics or diagnostics.
Our industry advisors counsel SPARK Scholars on product development, clinical care, and business, and they help prepare participants for careers in the commercial sector that link fundamental research to important new therapies.
SPARK Industry Advisors
We are endowed with over 100 tenacious, experienced and highly talented industry executives and advisors, who regularly attend our SPARK meetings, some for as long as ten years! They provide advice and share their wisdom with the SPARK team. We are grateful to them for helping us fulfill the potential of Stanford’s inventions and help advance them to benefit patients and society.
- Provide feedback on our current projects
- Aid in the selection of new projects
- At times, mentor specific projects on a one-on-one basis
- Facilitate advancement of projects by introductions to potential partners, or in some cases form companies around selected assets
Our advisors are versed in a variety of areas:
- Assay Development
- Biologics Development
- Clinical Trial Design
- Commercialization Requirements
- Determining Clinical Needs
- Formulation
- High Throughput Screening
- Intellectual Property Law
- Medicinal Chemistry
- Obtaining funding from government, nonprofit and commercial sources
- Project Management
- Regulatory Requirements
- University Compliance
- Partnering with other departments/ specialties, outside institutions or industry
Becoming an Industry Advisor
Interested in becoming a SPARK industry partner? Reach out to Kevin Grimes, SPARK Co-Director for more information. Email Kevin Grimes