[Professor Spotlight] Dr. Shuvo Roy at the University of California, San Francisco
“Something that is particularly exciting to me as a translational bioengineer is that the problems are always changing. And the technologies available are also changing, so I’m always learning something new with a diverse group of practitioners.”
Dr. Shuvo Roy is a professor at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) in the Department of Bioengineering and Therapeutic Sciences. Having been involved in the MTM program since its founding, Dr. Roy’s research brings in a combination of different disciplines to bear unmet medical needs. He works closely with bioengineers, biological scientists, clinicians, and entrepreneurs to overcome the barriers that hold the development of medical devices moving toward the clinic. He is not only an expert in the technology aspect of this work but has gained experience also on the regulatory side, decision making procedures in the hospital, workflow considerations by clinical staff, patient preferences and usability, and the obstacles that make market access harder. This month, we sat down with Dr. Shuvo Roy to learn about his extensive background in translational medicine as well as the invaluable experiences MTM students will gain through the UCSF side of the program.
MTM Provides an Opportunity to Learn in a Clinical Setting
Dr. Roy is the UCSF Faculty Director of the MTM program. He emphasizes the importance of understanding the hospital system for careers in Bio/Medtech and translational medicine. At UCSF, MTM students get to work “more closely with the clinicians, as well as researchers, whose mission is to advance treatments and diagnosis for the clinical setting,” Dr. Roy explains. Based on the mission to advance health worldwide and within the community, UCSF is the center of “advancing new procedures, tools, and therapies”. Working one-on-one with these professionals, MTM students are placed directly inside a clinical setting. This not only helps them build connections with leaders in healthcare innovation but also “understand what it means to be a patient and be on the receiving side of care.”
Adding that hospitals are “large administrative bureaucracies,” Dr. Roy explains how valuable of an asset it will be that MTM graduates have a clear understanding of the “nuances of the various stakeholders in the hospital system” in their future careers. From the complex hierarchy of a hospital system to how decisions are made in a hospital setting through committees, students in MTM are able to gain a new set of perspectives at UCSF.
“Understanding how hospitals work, how to communicate with clinicians, and the hierarchy that’s in a hospital are some of the things MTM students will learn at UCSF. And they will later realize how helpful that is to building a career in healthcare and MedTech.”
An Integral Part of the MTM Experience: The Capstone Project
Dr. Roy is involved in running the Capstone Course, a key component of the MTM program many alumni recall to have helped them the most post-graduation.
In the Capstone Course, students form smaller groups and are connected to industry mentors, all of whom are leaders in diverse sectors of Medtech innovation. Throughout the year, they focus on their respective projects, analyzing their projects “through the lens of market access, intellectual property, regulatory strategy, and reimbursement considerations, as well as elements of fundraising and budgeting and health economics”. At the end of the year, MTM hosts a symposium that provides students an opportunity to “present their project and pitch their case for funding or other resources”. Dr. Roy is confident that this unique experience students gain through the MTM Capstone Project enables them to get a head start on their careers beyond graduate school.
Dr. Roy, who has been with the program since the beginning when they developed the first curriculum, shares that they are now “seeing those very first graduates taking on leadership roles in industry or academia or in government”. Directly witnessing how “invested students get in the project” during their time with MTM, then using their new skills to become leaders in the field of translational biomedical engineering, he has seen the power of the capstone project and its long-lasting impact.
Translational Medicine, an Ever-Evolving Field
Bioengineering has advanced rapidly over the past few decades. Today, Translational Medicine is becoming its own “discipline within bioengineering where [its focus is] on not just the technology, but also the tools in regulatory, reimbursement, intellectual property, business consideration, and clinical strategies” to actually bring ideas into products in the market.
Artificial intelligence is also “impacting every aspect of our society,” Dr. Roy adds. Digital health such as wearables have also advanced rapidly, changing the landscape of healthcare and medical treatment. As a director of the program, Dr. Roy shares he is also “learning with the students from industry instructors who are the subject matter experts”. Constantly updating the curriculum and connecting with new sponsors based on the evolving market demand, he works tirelessly to provide the best opportunities for the MTM students.
Starting this fall of 2024, MTM launched a new therapeutics track in collaboration with faculty at UCSF, UC Berkeley, and Bay Area sponsors. Dr. Roy is excited about the additional growth of ideas and collaboration that will stem from the introduction of the new therapeutics track.
UCSF being a special campus, home to many Nobel Prize winners and a world-renowned research hospital, Dr. Roy is confident MTM will be at the center of these ongoing evolutions in the field of biomedical engineering.