Working on something big...

Helping Amazon build the future of hybrid-commerce (online + in-person) by owning the long-term product roadmap and launching new initiatives for our Buy-Online-Pickup-In-Store and Local Delivery programs.

Founding member of a central innovation team reporting to Amazon’s most senior leadership (S-team), to generate, build, and launch new-to-the-world, products and services. As a core member of this team, conceived and led development of 12 new, global-scale businesses (7 of which pitched directly to the CEO), and supported the ideation and development of 10 funded projects including: AWS Comprehend Medical (machine learning for healthcare), Echo Frames (take artificial intelligence with you anywhere), Amazon Care (connected care on demand), Amazon Explore (real time teleportation) and Amazon Glow (togetherness through remote play).

Led development of the world’s “most comfortable” N95-form facemask comprising: (i) 6 sizes optimized from a 2,700-face database to fit 90% of the US adult population, (ii) a tessellated origami design which increased breathability by 20%, and (iii) inkjet-printed patterns for improved aesthetics. Assembled and led a team of 16 people, building hundreds of masks by-hand and completing a customer study on comfort. In Q1 2021, won the US CDC/NIOSH Mask Innovation Challenge.

Designed, launched, and managed Amazon’s first university research fund (Amazon Catalyst). Worked closely with university partners to fund 62 out of 546 projects scoped and evaluated at UW and WSU; seed grants ranged from $10k-$300k (total fund size: $3M). Designed an expansion strategy involving negotiations with university administrators domestically (MIT, Columbia, Cornell Tech, etc.), in India (IIT-Bombay, IIT-Delhi and IISc-Bangalore), and in China (Tsinghua).

Co-founder of Skye Health, a startup company developing consumer healthcare solutions based on research out of Stanford University. Skye's first product, Curv, is a state-of-the-art, smartphone-connected medical device for women's health.

Providing mentorship to researchers, inventors, and startup founders at Columbia University, helping them move their innovations out of the lab and into the market.

Board member and mentor of the MIT Sandbox Innovation Fund Program. The program connects qualified students at MIT with tailored educational experiences, mentoring and seed capital to pursue innovation and venture creation while enrolled at MIT. Link: http://sandbox.mit.edu

Board member and mentor of the Catalyst Fund at the University of Washington. The program provides students, faculty, and staff of all trades, fields, and disciplines with mentorship and seed capital to help them test and grow early-stage ideas. Link: http://catalyst.amazon.com

Worked with entrepreneurs and inventors at Columbia University to facilitate and accelerate the transfer of research innovations from the lab to the market. Day-to-day role involved assisting early-stage entrepreneurs in needs assessment, product identification, product-market fit, and startup operations (e.g., recruiting, fundraising, scale-up manufacturing).

Member of the fifth class of the digital health accelerator. Rock Health is a nonprofit foundation focused on the intersection of healthcare and technology powering the next generation of healthcare entrepreneurs

Conducted needs assessments and commercialization for projects in Google [X] including Google Glass and the Google Smart Contact Lens. Activities included working side-by-side with engineers to develop business hypotheses, testing these hypotheses with expert interviews, customer surveys, and market analytics, and designing product launch strategies

Analyzed the commercialization potential of several health, agriculture, and consumer start-up companies based on technology developed in collaboration with the university:− Wrote and received $1.4 M (US DOD and Bill & Melinda Gates) grants for product development− Conducted over 80 interviews with content experts and potential customers− Launched four consumer-facing websites, driving thousands of visitors via Google AdWords− Designed customer analytics program using A/B website testing and customer surveys

Advised global Fortune 500 companies in the pharmaceutical, medical device, health insurance, and consumer products industries. Focused on personalized medicine, drug launch strategy, and product innovation. Engagements included (partial listing):– Design of a company-wide companion diagnostics strategy for a global pharmaceutical firm– Overhaul of R&D and new product development for an international soft drink company– Design of the pre-launch marketing strategy of a blockbuster drug in a global biotech firm– Quantitative valuation of pharmacy benefit management (PBM) division of a large health payer– Due diligence on primary care acquisition targets for a global pharmaceutical firm– Management of the company-wide transformation and restructuring for a drug packaging firm

Sourced new deals and performed due diligence for a technology-driven venture capital firm with over $250 M under management focused on seed and early stage investments in the physical and life sciences

Five-year Howard Hughes Fellow in the George M. Whitesides group in the Department of Chemistry. Specialized in electronic interfacing to unconventional materials such as silicone and paper. Inventor on 10 patents and patent applications and author of 10 peer-reviewed scientific publications. Research has been highlighted in The New York Times, CNN.com, Wired Science, The Economist, TED and TEDx Conferences, Technology Review, Science, Nature, Chemistry World, and other press outlets. Work provided the foundation of two start-up companies (Diagnostics for All and Claros Diagnostics), each with current valuation >$10 M

HHMI Predoctoral Fellow (full fellowship) focused on basic and applied research in materials, chemistry, and engineering.

Designed and hand-built the initial prototype of a simple and portable diagnostic test for human biomarkers and infectious disease, which became the core product of Claros Diagnostics (acquired by Opko Health in 2011). Co-inventor on all founding patents and co-author of the founding academic publication. Provided consulting on product development and innovation strategies.