STANFORD, Calif--  
BYOB (Bring Your Own Brain) event during Entrepreneurship Week at Stanford
Date:               Monday, February 25th
Time:               4:00-5:30 PM
Location:         Clark Center Auditorium (map), Stanford University
 
By now you’ve heard that Stanford University kicked off its 2nd annual Entrepreneurship Week today (22). (See http://eweek.stanford.edu/2008 to find out more). Last year’s event was a big-time success and the site of the national launch of Entrepreneurship Week USA. Entrepreneurship is of enormous interest on campus, because the Stanford community recognizes that the 21st century will belong to innovators who can turn ideas into action.
 
This year’s lineup is impressive. Entrepreneurship Week events include presentations by prestigious speakers; roundtable discussions; mixers; Venture Capital/student "speed dating" allowing students to pitch their ideas; and a start-up job fair. Stanford will also host the Innovation Tournament, an "Apprentice-style" competition that will be open to student teams around the world. The high-energy documentary film, “Imagine It!,” will also be making its world premiere (trailer); it captures the dreams and excitement of last year's Innovation Tournament and features numerous Stanford students.
 
But what about innovating for health? That’s where BYOB (Bring Your Own Brain) comes in.
 
At 4:00pm Monday (25), the Center for Healthy Weight at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital, along with the Stanford BioDesign Program, is hosting a BYOB event to motivate students and staff to develop innovative products and services to help solve the problem of childhood obesity. “It’ll be lively,” said Thomas Robinson, MD, MPH, director of the center and also a professor at the School of Medicine. Together with Craig Albanese, MD, chief of pediatric general surgery and professor, Robinson will lead an original dialogue on new and creative ways to tackle the obesity epidemic. “I’m certain it’ll be one of the most popular events of Entrepreneurship Week,” said Robinson. Moderator will be Thomas Krummel, MD, surgeon-in-chief at Packard Children’s and co-director of the Stanford BioDesign Program.
 
Besides the panel discussion (panel listed below), there’s a BYOB audience brainstorming activity. The experts will present the audience with the top five issues surrounding obesity, which has traditionally lacked in innovative solutions. Following a warm-up by the Biodesign Innovation Fellows, the audience will participate in a brainstorming session and kick off a three-day competition, the Innovating for Health Challenge. The winner will be announced at the Entrepreneurship Week closing ceremony.
 
“This should be standing-room only,” added Robinson, who’s looking forward to the brainstorming. “Everyone is very passionate about solving this problem, and we expect to come away with some ideas we haven’t thought of before.”

BYOB panel

Kristin Gross Richmond
Founder and CEO
Revolution Foods

Pat Christen
President and CEO
HopeLab

Dana Mead
Venture Capitalist
Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers

Tom Fogarty, MD
Medical device innovator, Surgeon & Co-Founder
Satiety Inc

Thomas N. Robinson, MD, MPH
Irving Schulman, MD Endowed Professor in Child Health
Professor of Pediatrics and of Medicine
Division of General Pediatrics & Stanford Prevention Research Center
Director, Center for Healthy Weight
Stanford University School of Medicine
Lucile Packard Children's Hospital

Craig Albanese, MD
Professor of Surgery, Pediatrics, Obstetrics and Gynecology
Chief, Division of Pediatric Surgery
Department of Surgery
Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital
John A. and Cynthia Fry Gunn Director of Surgical Services

Thomas Krummel, MD, moderator
Emile Holman Professor and Chair
Department of Surgery
Stanford University School of Medicine
Susan B. Ford Surgeon-in-Chief
Lucile Packard Children's Hospital
Co-Director, Stanford BioDesign Program