Mairal’s BioDesign Program Sparks Innovation Across India and Beyond

By Ritu Jha-

Dr. Anurag Mairal, an Indian-origin adjunct professor of medicine and director of global outreach programs at Stanford’s Mussallem Center for BioDesign, has played a pivotal role in shaping India’s health technology innovation landscape since 2007.

In his capacity as a faculty fellow and lead for technology innovation and impact at the Center for Innovation in Global Health, Mairal spearheads initiatives that apply the biodesign process to resource-constrained settings worldwide. His work also facilitates opportunities for Stanford students, faculty, and fellows to tackle global healthcare challenges.

The Stanford Mussallem Center for BioDesign, established in 2000, initially focused on training health technology innovators. Mairal joined in 2007 to launch the Stanford India BioDesign program, which trains Indian innovators to develop technologies tailored to India’s specific healthcare needs. The program has since expanded to approximately 11 biodesign programs across India.

“We don’t directly work with them, but they have taken our methodology and scaled it up,” Mairal told Indica in an exclusive interview.

The Stanford India BioDesign program has not only transformed India’s innovation ecosystem but has also inspired similar programs across six continents. 

“We now have programs in six continents, everywhere except Antarctica,” Mairal said.

In 2024, the program received substantial funding from Mike Mussallam, former CEO of Edwards Life Sciences, and his wife through their foundation. This funding has helped scale the program and provide long-term sustainability for the center’s global health technology innovation efforts.

Mairal, who also co-directs the India program, emphasized that India’s bio design movement is entering a new phase.

“It’s become a model for innovation that you started long ago. We started long ago, but now it’s getting to a new phase of its evolution,” he said.

The program has seen success working with Indian states to scale health technologies. Mairal’s team collaborates with regions such as Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka, which are keen on creating economic opportunities through high-value startups and jobs in health technology. 

“Ultimately, they want to not only create health technologies for India but for the world,” Mairal said.

He also serves as a founding co-director of MED 232, a graduate-level course on scaling health technology innovations in low-resource settings, and was part of the founding faculty team for BIOE 371, a course focused on global biodesign in medical technology. Additionally, Mairal is a co-founder and executive vice president of Orbees Medical, a strategy consulting firm focused on the MedTech, pharmaceutical, and digital health industries.

Reflecting on the last 17 years, Mairal noted the transformation of India’s health technology landscape. 

“When we first started in 2007, India did not have an innovation ecosystem,” he said. “The methodology we brought, the partnerships we built, and the ecosystem we created gave birth to this innovation movement.”

India, which previously imported up to 90% of its healthcare technologies, has invested heavily in building a startup nation, with health technology becoming one of the key sectors. Mairal and his team teach Indian innovators to identify unmet healthcare needs and create innovative solutions tailored to the country’s unique challenges.

While the Stanford India BioDesign program initially received government funding, Mairal noted that the program now largely operates through private foundations and partnerships with the Indian government.

“We do not work with the government explicitly, but we have partnered with them and been part of advisory groups,” he explained.

In India’s diverse states, innovation efforts are tailored to local needs. Mairal highlighted the difference between Karnataka, which focuses on global health technology, and Uttar Pradesh, which addresses issues like maternal and infant mortality. Other states like Chhattisgarh, which is home to a large tribal population, are focused on diseases such as sickle cell anemia and neonatal sepsis.

India’s growing health technology ecosystem now includes over 10,000 innovators, a number that Mairal believes is a testament to the country’s rapid embrace of innovation. 

“India has evolved amazingly. India took to tech innovation as fish takes to water,” he said. “The country has young talent willing to get trained, willing to follow this bio design methodology, which has been pretty impressive.”

Mairal concluded by acknowledging the growing sense of responsibility in India. 

“India should solve its own problems and become a net provider of solutions for the Global South. I think that’s been phenomenal,” he said.