Strategic Partnership for MCH Translational Medicine

The Stanford Maternal and Child Health Research Institute (MCHRI) is dedicated to developing promising technologies to solve health challenges facing pregnant women and children. Toward this goal, MCHRI created the Drug & Device Development (D3) Service, a resource to guide Stanford investigators in the maturation of breakthrough therapies through proof-of-concept studies and commercialization. Its obejctives include: 

  • Enabling the translational of technologies and therapeutics to support the final mile of bench to bedside for maternal child health
  • Alignment of resources & services to benefit maternal child health (MCH) research community, decrease development time & strengthen funding proposals
  • Establish an advisory board to evaluate worthy projects to make the best use of current resources

To further support the development of therapeutic and diagnostic devices that benefit this important population, MCHRI has partnered with SPARK Program in Translational Research, Byers Center for Biodesign, and Stanford Predictives and Diagnostics Accelerator (SPADA) to leverage Stanford’s expertise in health technology innovation and research.

Core Members

Mary M. Chen, MS, MBA
Executive Director, MCHRI; Assistant Dean for Maternal and Child Health Research, Stanford School of Medicine

James Wall, MD
Director of Program Development for Biodesign Innovation Fellowship, Stanford Byers Center for Biodesign; Associate Professor of Surgery (Pediatric Surgery), Stanford School of Medicine 

Kevin Grimes, MA, MD, MBA
Co-Director, SPARK; Professor of Chemical and Systems Biology, Stanford School of Medicine

Grant Wells, MS
Director of Innovation & Development, MCHRI

Purvesh Khatri, MS
Associate Professor of Medicine and Biomedical Data Science, Stanford School of Medicine

Jim Zuegel
Program Manager, SPADA, Stanford School of Medicine

Karl Sylvester, MD 
Director of Clinical Research Support Office, MCHRI; Associate Dean for Maternal and Child Health Research and Professor of Surgery (Pediatric Surgery), Stanford School of Medicine

Advisory Members

  • Russ Altman, MD, Ph, Professor of Bioengineering, Genetics, Medicine (Biomedical Informatics Research), and Biomedical Data Science, Stanford School of Medicine; Faculty Director, SPADA
  • Mark Blumenkranz, MD, MMS, Professor Emeritus of Ophthalmology, Stanford School of Medicine
  • Bruce Burnett, PhD, RAC, Interim Executive Director, Laboratory for Cell and Gene Medicine, Stanford School of Medicine
  • Patrick Idemoto, EVP & Chief Strategy Officer, Stanford Children’s Health
  • Curt LaBelle, MD, President of Global Health Investment Corporation; Managing Partner, Global Health Investment Fund
  • Mary Leonard, MD, MSCE, Director, MCHRI; Professor and Chair of Pediatrics, Stanford School of Medicine; Physician-in-Chief, Lucile Packard Children's Hospital Stanford
  • Daria Mochly-Rosen, PhD, Professor of Chemical and Systems Biology, Stanford School of Medicine; Founder and Co-Director of SPARK
  • Ruth O’Hara, PhD, Senior Associate Dean for Research and Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford School of Medicine
  • Kevin Schulman, MD, Professor of Medicine, Stanford School of Medicine
  • Charlette Stallworth, VP of Strategic Partnership, Stanford Children's Health
  • George Tidmarsh, MD, PhD, Adjunct Professor of Pediatrics (Neonatology), Stanford School of Medicine