Dr Kunal Parikh

Dr Kunal Parikh, an inventor and entrepreneur working at the intersection of medtech, social enterprise, and finance to enable health equity globally, was recently awarded the William Oxley Thompson Alumni Award for Early Career Achievement by The Ohio State University. He was previously recognized by Forbes as one of 30 under 30 in Healthcare for his work inventing and commercializing novel technologies to improve human health. 

Kunal, a faculty member at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD, is the son of Sonal and Sailesh Dalpatbhai Parikh who reside in Ohio. His brother, Paras Parikh, also holds a Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering, and lives in San Diego, CA. His brother, Paras Parikh, also holds a Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering, and lives in San Diego, CA.

He leads a multidisciplinary team of engineers, scientists, and clinicians to innovate and commercialize biomedical solutions for significant and unmet medical needs globally. He has 10 issued and pending patents for novel medical technologies, including sutures and stents capable of delivering drugs in a local and sustained manner to eliminate post-operative complications across a broad range of clinical applications in ophthalmology and beyond. 

Some of Kunal’s noteworthy initiatives include: the Global Institute for Vision Equity which he recently founded to eliminate avoidable blindness through development, translation, and distribution of technologies addressing the most critical eye care needs in low- and middle-income countries; Eyedea Medical, a medical device company developing a series of technologies to improve access to vision-restoring corneal procedures, of which he is Cofounder & President; and Access HEARS, a social enterprise providing affordable, accessible hearing care to older adults, where he serves as Cofounder & President.

Prior to his current roles, Kunal was Cofounder and Executive Director of the Social Innovation Lab, an incubator for social enterprises where he advised and funded dozens of social entrepreneurs across a broad range of industries. To date, SIL has incubated 103 mission driven companies with focused on having an impact in Baltimore and around the world. He also served as founding CEO of Core Quantum Technologies, a venture-backed biotechnology company developing superior imaging, detection, and targeting reagents.