Healthcare designer, creative strategist, and innovation consultant
David discovered the d.school in 2009 while studying medicine at Stanford and quickly became passionate about the opportunity for design approaches and methods to make an impact in improving healthcare services and delivery. After completing his MD, David joined the d.school as a fellow from 2011-2013 to more deeply explore the intersection of design with healthcare, while also teaching in the d.school’s flagship courses Design Thinking Bootcamp and Design for Extreme Affordability.
Over the past decade, David has taught numerous courses at the d.school that explore applications of design thinking in health, such as improving patient experience and emerging uses of virtual reality in medicine. These project-based classes collaborated with local partners including the Palo Alto VA Hospital, Stanford Health Care and the Department of Emergency Medicine. He has also advised organizations across the healthcare industry and in medical education seeking to expand the role of design as a valuable tool for problem solving and innovation.
Beyond healthcare, David has taught and explored design in the social sector more broadly with courses that apply design to social innovation, public policy, and election administration, as well as through coaching in the d.school’s Designing for Social Systems program. Following a d.school project in 2020 looking to adapt polling places for in-person voting during the pandemic, he recently served as the Co-Lead of the d.school’s Elections Project. This 2-year effort focused on the role of design in election administration and local election officials as unsung designers responsible for the essential infrastructure of democracy.
Currently, David is the Co-Lead of the Health Domain for the undergraduate design degree where he helps students navigate learning experiences and future careers in healthcare and design.