Skip to main content Skip to secondary navigation

About Us

Main content start

Our story

In 2020, Jennifer Cochran (Chair, Stanford Bioengineering) and Narges Baniasadi (Stanford alumna and serial entrepreneur) began discussions about how to catalyze more research and innovation targeted at the most pressing societal and planetary challenges,  encourage more students and faculty members to become entrepreneurs, and shift the culture of entrepreneurship to be more mission-driven and inclusive.

These conversations led to joining forces with a number of colleagues to launch Emergence – a new initiative intended to inspire, educate, and support Stanford students and researchers in tackling global systemic challenges that affect the health of society and the planet through science-based and purposeful entrepreneurship. We chose the name Emergence to communicate the emerging nature of this work, the need for collective leadership and collaboration across many disciplines and sectors, and our hope for a brighter future.  

To accelerate our progress, Emergence is now partnering with the Stanford Byers Center for Biodesign. Together, our preliminary focus will be on advancing societal health, health equity, and health technology innovation to improve lives everywhere, for everyone.