Q&A with Collider Board Member Stefan Madansingh

At Collider Foundation, we are grateful to lean upon the expertise of our board, which is made up of individuals with valuable experience within the Rochester community. Take a moment to learn more about a recent addition to our board, Stefan Madansingh!

Q: What brought you to the Rochester area and what would you say keeps you around? 

A: My now-wife (then-partner) and I moved to Rochester in 2017 to pursue our post-doctoral research fellowships at Mayo Clinic. I’ve been at Mayo now for almost 7 years in a few different roles and – as cliché as it may sound – the uniqueness of Mayo Clinic and the interesting work that is being done in every corner of the institution is what has kept me here.

 Q: What do you do for work? 

A: I work at Mayo Clinic in the Department of Business Development, specifically supporting Mayo Clinic Ventures (MCV). MCV does a number of things within Mayo Clinic, but most notably acts as the technology transfer office for the institution. This means we are responsible for working with the many innovators across the Mayo Clinic enterprise to protect and commercialize their healthcare innovations. For MCV, I support faculty from the Department of Neurological Surgery across the three Mayo Clinic campuses and lead a Technology Development team focused on medical device and digital health solutions. What I do is help faculty to identify new areas for innovation, develop plans with them to advance their ideas and help them secure funding to bring their ideas to reality. It is our team’s ultimate goal to partner with outside organizations so that these healthcare innovations make it outside the walls of Mayo and help patients all over the world. In my free time, I lead Research and Development for Zibrio, a healthcare startup based out of Houston, Texas. At Zibrio, we are focused on predicting and managing fall risk with the goal of empowering older adults to live a safe and healthy life.

 Q: What drew you to Collider and sparked your interest in becoming a board member? 

A: I’ve had the pleasure of being in the orbit of the Collider ecosystem for a number of years now and was very excited to learn of an opportunity to support their board. In my previous role at Mayo Clinic, I led the Rochester branch of the Office of Entrepreneurship which is an education-focused initiative within Mayo Clinic to develop a culture of clinical innovation and entrepreneurship among the staff throughout the institution. We worked closely with Collider leadership around a number of events, including the Walleye Tank life-science startup pitch competition (in partnership with the University of Minnesota), which has its founding roots alongside Collider. I’ve also had the opportunity to host 1 Million Cups, which was started in Rochester by members of the Collider community. I’m very grateful to be able to work with the team at Collider again.  

 Q: How do you hope to impact the entrepreneurial community through your involvement with Collider? 

A: In my day-to-day, I typically focus on innovation and entrepreneurship solely at Mayo Clinic. By joining the Collider board, I hope to be able be a resource to innovators in the community and bring another unique perspective to founders who are beginning their journey.

 Q: What are some of your hobbies and interests? 

I have a tendency to become passionate about any challenge in front of me, which has led to a laundry list of hobbies and interests over the years. Most consistently though: I love to cook (eat) and travel. I’m also passionate about personal fitness and trying to live an active life … mostly to support the eating and traveling. Let me know if you have any restaurant suggestions!