Ayesha Chaudhary

Ayesha Chaudhary is a healthcare researcher and innovator by training. She presently works with the World Bank as a Consultant in finance competitiveness and innovation global practice; as an Advisor with Stanford University, India Program, Byers Center for Biodesign; and as an Adjunct Professor of Practice with IIT Jodhpur. She has previously worked with the Government of India (GoI) as an Officer on Special Duty (OSD) with the Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser and as Director at the Atal Innovation Mission, NITI Aayog, where she was deeply involved in policy, R&D, technology innovation and delivery of programs, towards creation of a science-based entrepreneurial ecosystem in India. In her 15+ years of professional experience, Ayesha has contributed to building ecosystems, organizations, teams and commercial solutions that have transformed communities through policy, innovation and public-private partnership. Her experience includes design, development and implementation of affordable and innovative solutions for impact, using principles of design thinking, behaviour science and business model innovation, across medical technology, global health and education. She is the co-founder of a med-tech start-up and has also worked in the healthcare industry at Baxter International. She holds 2 US patents, 1 EU patent, 1 Indian patent, and has authored research papers in peer-reviewed journals. She has also been actively publishing op-eds and articles about innovation in leading media outlets. Ayesha is passionate about leveraging biodesign and design thinking philosophy for addressing public health challenges in India and globally. She is a fellow with the US Department of State’s International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) on Biomedical Innovation, as well as a recipient of the MIT Innovators Under 35 award and one of YourStory’s 100 Emerging Voices of 2018. She has a PhD in Biosciences and Biomedical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay.