She was part of Forbes’ 30-under-30 names to watch out for in science and healthcare. And rightly so, because Divya Nag’s list of achievements is just not the usual run-of-the-mill certificates on the wall.
Originally from Jaipur, Divya is a medical technology enthusiast who dropped out of Stanford University at the age of 20, to start StartX Med and Stem Cell Theranosticsa — according to her the hardest and also the easiest decision she ever had to make.
“My time at Stanford was remarkable; there is truly no other university like it in the world. Stanford gave me the opportunities that lay the foundation for what has come to be the most meaningful work in my career. Once I found what I was truly passionate about —innovating in the field of medicine — choosing to drop out to pursue cool opportunities in this field was very easy. It’s also great to be at a university that encourages its students to do things that aren’t on the beaten path. I often say it was the hardest and easiest decision I’ve ever had to make. But I have no regrets,” says Divya, who was born in Portland, Oregon.
Her parents, on the other hand, were born and raised in Jaipur, Rajasthan. “I’ve spent many summer and winter vacations in India, I even attended pre-school for a bit in India. I love Jaipur, Agra, Udaipur and Bengaluru — they’ve been great cities to explore. I visit India once every two years; I was just in Jaipur and Bengaluru last May with a dear friend,” she says.
After dropping out of Stanford, Divya started Stem Cell Theranostics, a drug screening company. “Heart diseases are the leading cause of death and illness; Stem Cell Theranostics is dedicated to changing the future treatment of heart disease through the use of stem cells. We have developed a technology that converts skin cells into stem cells and finally into beating heart cells in a dish.
We’re using these cells on a dish to perform the first ‘clinical trials in a dish’ in use for development of cardiovascular drugs as well as testing new drugs for safety to the heart,” she says. But she soon realised that a lot of medical technologies were not able to function outside of academic institutions due to “fundamental lack of entrepreneurship education for scientists, especially due to difficult commercialisation landscapes.” To address this issue, Divya then founded the first non-profit medical entrepreneurship programme for Stanford scientists, StartX Med.
“I was picked for the Forbes 30 under 30 candidates’ list because of my work in my company Stem Cell Theranostics, and the entrepreneurship programme I started, StartX Med, which helps medical start-ups. StartX Med has grown to support over 30 healthcare technologies and partners with Stanford Hospital, Johnson & Johnson, and Merck to continue empowering technologists. I feel absolutely honoured and humbled to have been included on the list alongside so many other incredible young men and women,” says Divya.
“The biggest change has been that I get many many more emails and messages from people since being featured on the list — it’s great to be able to hear stories from people who are inspired by my story, and share advice/learnings with individuals from all around the world,” she adds.
Divya’s expertise has won her several other accolades — Stanford University Thought Leader (2012), Global Achievement Awards. She has been invited as a speaker at WIRED Magazine’s Healthcare Conference and discussions with President Obama on Women in Entrepreneurship (2013) among other entrepreneurial and medical related events. But she maintains that all this would not have been possible if not for her family’s support.
“My family has been my strongest pillar of support throughout my journey,” she says. “My dad has been in engineering his whole life, and works at Intel. My mom has been in the medical and biochemistry fields, my younger brother is studying microbiology and economics at Berkeley (in his free time he is a certified EMT), and my youngest brother is about to start high school next year in Sacramento. They have supported me every step of the way,” she adds.
