Academic Courses

Below are courses that are available to Yale students interested in global health innovation and entrepreneurship. Please contact the instructor directly for more information:

This course examines how emerging technologies, funding models, and organizational strategies are transforming health systems and shaping population health outcomes. Students explore the evolution of health innovation, from public and philanthropic initiatives to venture-backed enterprises. Topics include artificial intelligence (including applications of generative AI in population-level health initiatives), digital health, genomics, and the social determinants of health. Real-world case studies and team projects provide hands-on experience in evaluating and designing sustainable, scalable health solutions. No prerequisites are required and the course is not open to auditors.

This course combines needs assessment methods, user-centered design principles, and an agile approach to designing digital health tools for consumers. The class environment is designed to model that of a health tech start-up. Students are expected to apply what they learn from the lectures and readings to identify a pain point (i.e., a problem or need faced by a prospective user) and solicit input from intended users to design a prototype of the digital health tool. Solutions are presented in class to receive feedback on the design and to iteratively refine a prototype in order to create a minimum viable product. Prerequisite: BIS 560/CB&B 740, SBS 574, or permission of the instructor.

This course aims to familiarize students with the principles and practice of innovation and entrepreneurship in the context of public health, as defined by the well-being of society, focusing on social and environmental determinants of health. We examine a set of public health challenges within the context of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), using a hybrid method combining case studies and assignments. Case studies provide an opportunity to analyze cross-cutting challenges faced by innovators and entrepreneurs in the field of public health. Assignments allow students to dig deeper into specific topic areas within public health innovation and entrepreneurship. The target audience for this course includes graduate and undergraduate students in the MBA, MAM, MPH, and other programs at Yale SOM, the School of Public Health, and across campus. The course is a precursor, but not a prerequisite, for ENV 632/MGT 612, where students design ventures tackling social challenges through new or existing organizations. Not open to auditors. Half a Course cr HTBA.