The 2026 Lefteroff intern class came with “energy, enthusiasm and a great work ethic,” says Fogarty Innovation’s chief medical officer Zachary Edmonds, MD, MBA. “They really got out of their comfort zones, learned a lot and took full advantage of the summer.”
The Lefteroff Internship is an eight-week program designed to engage students in the multi-faceted world of medical technology by providing them with immersive experiences, professional development and crucial insights into the industry.
Wrapping up its 13th year, the program was created to honor former board member and avid supporter of Fogarty Innovation, the late Tracy Lefteroff, an influential leader in venture capital-funded life sciences companies who was known for his commitment to mentoring and educating the next generation of students, entrepreneurs and innovators.
While it was very difficult to narrow down from a record 145 applicants, this year’s 25-person cohort came from 22 universities throughout the United States and one in Brazil. “Tracy would have been proud of this group as a way to continue his legacy,” Edmonds said.
To choose the class, Fogarty has its dedicated selection committee—headed by Fogarty’s chief commercial strategy officer Marga Ortigas-Wedekind—which continues to improve upon this impactful program as they build each year’s class intentionally.
Mentorship and hands-on learning
The program includes “101” educational classes where the interns learned from the Fogarty leadership team about numerous facets of startup success from leadership to engineering, product development, commercial strategy and more. In parallel, the students were paired with company mentors who provide the hands-on learning that is so integral to the Lefteroff experience.
Many participated in real-world projects for one of Fogarty’s Companies-in-Residence (CIR) or in the Company Accelerator Program (CAP), while others worked with Fogarty leadership.
Three of the interns participated in a new hospital track, working directly with administrators at El Camino Health in functions that included hospital operations, communications and marketing.
The program also featured a wide array of activities designed to expose them to all facets of the medtech ecosystem, such as a two-day workshop with Diversity by Doing (DxD); shadowing physicians and nurses, observing surgeries using the newest tools, including the da Vinci robotic surgical system; hearing medtech leaders share insights on everything from VC funding to intellectual property law; visiting Intuitive Surgical and Abbott where they heard the story of the MitraClip, which was championed by longtime Fogarty leader Dr. Fred St. Goar.
There was plenty of social time on the calendar too, with notable highlights including an interns’ dinner with Fogarty CEO Andrew Cleeland, a camping trip to Yosemite and two BBQs at St. Goar’s house. “They were a great group, curious, energetic and ready to learn. It was amazing how they quickly bonded with each other,” said St. Goar noting the close synergy the group formed. “We are delighted that they will now be life-long members of the Fogarty family,” he added.
Meet the interns
We spoke to a few interns to learn firsthand what the summer meant to them and what stood out most from their eight weeks at Fogarty.
Priya Kumar; Bioengineering/Global Health Technologies/Biochemistry/Cell Biology; Rice University
Priya Kumar came to the Lefteroff internship with a strong interest in maternal and fetal health, driven by her school’s Global Health Technologies Program, where she learned about existing inequities and the potential for impact through simple interventions. Working with Novocuff, which is developing a device that addresses preterm, prelabor rupture of membranes (PPROM), served to foster her interest in the field, as she became more aware of how few people are innovating in this space. “It’s been inspiring to work with a team that’s so passionate about solving this problem,” she said. “Seeing how they’re already thinking about bringing the technology to low-resource settings made me realize how much impact thoughtful innovation can have.”
As an engineering intern, Kumar worked on CAD modeling and prototyping, testing and documentation, and clinical literature review.
Kumar says the internship served to solidify her track. “Being able to step into an OR and shadow medical professionals affirmed that medicine is my passion,” she said. “But I also really enjoyed exploring the different ways to combine innovation with medicine, and how to continue this work, whether by championing medical devices, consulting or working directly with medtech companies.”
Prithvish Ganguly, Masters, Biomedical Engineering, UC Berkeley
Looking back on his summer at Fogarty, Prithvish Ganguly appreciated how his experience built on his previous hardware-centric internships to provide a much broader view into the world of medtech startups. In his work with Auricle, which is focused on restoring hearing and improving speech perception in adults with severe high-frequency hearing loss through a minimally invasive cochlear neurostimulation device, Ganguly conducted electromagnetic simulations to support a feasibility study for the technology.
He also appreciated the opportunity to participate in conversations and troubleshoot ideas beyond his assigned project, which gave him a firsthand look at the inner workings of a startup.
Ganguly said he particularly valued the access to industry leaders through group sessions and one-on-one mentorship. He also came away with a deeper appreciation for the complexity of medtech. “It’s not like tech where things move within months and are shipped overnight,” he said. “There’s complexity at essentially every level.”
With plans to pursue R&D or product development roles at small- to mid-size medtech companies, Ganguly found the internship helped clarify the skills he needs. “The arduous process of taking innovation from an idea into something that’s being used on patients puts into perspective how adaptable and tenacious you have to be as an engineer in this industry,” he said.
Abha Dahal; Mathematics/Economics; Lehigh University
Abha Dahal came to the Lefteroff Internship unsure what direction she wanted to take her degree. Working with Corveus Medical, a startup developing a minimally invasive catheter to treat heart failure, helped give her a clearer direction.
Her project spanned three areas: creating a dynamic budget model to estimate the cost of a pivotal trial based on variables such as study duration and participant needs; gathering raw data from research papers to conduct Fourier transform; and updating estimates for materials needed to manufacture the company’s catheters.
The internship was full of rewarding experiences, from shadowing physicians, whom she realized are “remarkably approachable despite the lifesaving work they do,” to learning more about startup culture.
But what also stood out were the relationships she built with fellow interns and with the Fogarty staff. Dahal was struck by how generous the team was with their time. “Despite the demands of their own work, they were always willing to stop what they were doing to answer questions, share their experiences, and help us learn. That was something I really appreciated,” she said.
The internship confirmed Dahal’s interest in a career in healthcare, potentially medtech, where she hopes to use her skills to make a positive impact on human lives.
Evan Hanning; Master’s, Mechanical Engineering, BS, Biomedical Engineering; Washington University
As a master’s student, Evan Hanning came to the Lefteroff internship wanting to learn more about medtech from an engineering perspective. He said that his biggest takeaway was developing a comprehensive understanding of the journey a medical device company takes—from concept to exit. “I left with a much broader understanding of the many factors involved in bringing a device to market, including commercialization, regulatory strategy, reimbursement, and the needs of the many stakeholders who shape the process,” he said.
In his work with Maguro Surgical, a startup that developed the MagStone System to simplify kidney stone removal, Hanning designed and conducted early-stage tests that showed how the company’s existing intellectual property could be leveraged in new applications, creating additional pathways for future grant funding.
Hanning appreciated hearing firsthand from the Fogarty team about their extensive experience building and exiting medical device companies. Additionally, as a congenital heart disease patient who has undergone five median sternotomies, one highlight from hospital shadowing was observing a mitral valve repair and a robotic-assisted hysterectomy. “It made me appreciate how difficult performing surgery is. I was also impressed by how willing the doctors at El Camino Health were to share their knowledge with the interns.”
Reflections from the team
“Summer is a special time for us because the interns bring in such great energy,” Cleeland said. “We challenge them to not only learn from their experiences here, but to be introspective – exploring who they are and what they’re passionate about. This group embraced the idea that you get out of this experience what you put into it, and they gave it their all.”
“We learn just as much from the interns as they learn from us,” said Fogarty program manager Gretchen Berstler. “We love keeping in touch with the groups from years past, and I can’t wait to hear what this impressive group accomplishes.”