John Zacharia

Product Manager. Data Geek. Not Necessarily In That Order

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An expert is a person who has made all the mistakes that can be made in a narrow field

Niels Bohr

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What has been done before may not be the best way to do it anymore. Who knew?

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The University of Michigan has created Appropedia, a wiki to aggregate healthcare solutions for low resource countries. 

I have always been interested in this since I saw Lifestraw from Vestergaard Frandsen. There is a tremendous need for innovative solutions in third world countries to improve access to water, reduce conditions that breed disease, and create sustainable infrastructure. 

Even companies not targeting underserved populations can learn from these clever and cost effective solutions.

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I love when industrial designers apply design principles from consumer electronics to medical devices. There is a tremendous amount of UX that can translate across industries, and elements of modern design go a long way to reducing purchase inertia and boosting long term satisfaction.

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Illumina has introduced BaseSpace, a genomics oriented (obviously) cloud computing platform. By creating this open ended framework, building a fairly generous API, and launching with a number of larger 'development partners' in the genomics field, Illumina is making a smart move towards outsourcing the heavy lifting to the scientific community.

This is a big step forward for managing large data sets. I hate Web 2.0 / 3.0 terminology, but genomic analysis is one of the ripest fruit for open source / crowd driven data sluicing.

MiSeq value prop is looking better and better. Ion Torrent, are you listening?

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CONNECT issues latest San Diego Innovation Report

From Xconomy.com:

$67.5 million. The total amount of federal grants awarded to San Diego biomedical researchers by the National Institutes of Health in the fourth quarter—a 75 percent drop from the $275 million awarded by the NIH in San Diego during the previous quarter. Connect said the plunge was due to NIH restrictions under a continuous resolution signed by President Obama in November, so the agency is essentially operating without an approved budget.

67. The number of new life sciences companies created in San Diego in 2011 (with 21 established during the fourth quarter), a 6 percent decline from the 71 life sciences companies started in 2010.

5,978. The total number of innovation companies in San Diego. The report counts about 600 life sciences companies in San Diego, which accounts for about 10 percent of the total.

30,100. Total life sciences jobs in San Diego. Of the 138,000 technology employees of all stripes, life sciences represents the biggest sector.

$95,351. Average annual wage in San Diego’s life sciences sector. The average annual wage for all types of technology employment here is $97,715.

$269 million. Total venture capital investments in 23 deals in the San Diego area during the fourth quarter. Venture funding for San Diego pharmaceutical, biotech, and medical device companies amounted to $193 million in 17 deals, or almost 72 percent of total invested capital.

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Contrary to popular belief, CA actually hosts some of the most population rich areas of the United States. Striking down popular misconceptions about CA urban density may help push more federal allocation (or at least awareness) to CDPH line items.

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Beautiful Yosemite time lapse video, and a great 'green space' assessment. 

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Great article about value creation in healthcare vs. software, and how long haul product development cycles limit ROE

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Tip to aspiring entrepreneurs: If you don’t like choosing between horrible and cataclysmic, don’t become CEO.

Marc Cenedella

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Counting on transplants to solve the organ crisis is like counting on the lottery to solve poverty

http://www.tedmed.com/2012speakers#billy_cohn