Afshin Nadershahi
MD, MBS, MBA
Chief Executive Officer

Afshin Nadershahi is a medical and healthcare technology innovation leader with a focus on new ventures and incubation programs.

Dr. Nadershahi grew up in St. Louis, Missouri, where he enjoyed playing soccer and other outdoor activities. His fascination with nature and biology led him to an early start in research, studying telomeres at the age of 15 in the genetics laboratories of Washington University in St. Louis.

He continued his studies at the University of California, Berkeley, where he obtained his BA in molecular and cell biology while also performing vascular research at the University of California, San Francisco. He spent his final year at UC Berkeley focused on computer science. Fascinated by the many applications of computing in biomedical research, he then studied bioinformatics at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. He graduated with a Masters in Biological Science, with a thesis on applications of artificial intelligence to gene sequence analysis.

Dr. Nadershahi then spent several years working in nonprofit organizations—one supporting career development in biotechnology, and another enabling volunteers in the United States to establish medical aid trips to developing countries.

Inspired by the positive impact of the medical aid trips on the health of individuals and communities, he decided to attend medical school and obtained a medical doctorate from the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California. While in medical school, Dr. Nadershahi nurtured his growing interest in biomedical technologies by working at the Alfred E. Mann Institute for Biomedical Engineering at USC (AMI-USC).

As a Biomedical Market Analyst and Medical Technology Consultant, he conducted market intelligence analyses on the incubator’s nascent technologies now worth over $1B. Through this work, he developed a passion for life science technology development and commercialization, which he decided to pursue in business school and beyond.

Upon graduating from medical school, Dr. Nadershahi studied entrepreneurship and innovation at the MIT Sloan School of Management. While at MIT, he co-founded a medical device company spun off from AMI-USC. After graduating with his MBA, he continued to run the operations of the startup company, leading the design, development, and commercialization of a surgical device from concept to market.

Through his startup, and while serving as Medical Advisor to AMI-USC, Dr. Nadershahi met the team at the Innovation Lab, a medical and healthcare technology incubator and innovation hub in Southern California. He joined the Innovation Lab as Executive in Residence before taking on the role of Executive Director, Clinical and Market Intelligence. Dr. Nadershahi engaged with executives and clinical staff from the organization’s six member/owner health systems across the United States to identify and assess opportunities for improvements in service quality and financial performance through the development of new products and services, transformation of existing products and services, and adoption and integration of emerging solutions from industry.

Dr. Nadershahi continues to enjoy spending time outdoors, hiking and traveling, especially with family and friends.