Health Innovation Professor Sonali Shah

Sonali Shah

Health Innovation Professor, Biomedical and Translational Sciences

sonali@illinois.edu

Carle Illinois College of Medicine Related Research

Innovation and entrepreneurship are cornerstones of economic and social progress. As the need for solutions to complex problems grows, it is increasingly important to understand and support the processes that fuel innovation and entrepreneurship. Professor Shah's research contributes to this goal. In one stream of research, I investigate the role of user innovators (i.e., physician innovators), entrepreneurs, and communities (i.e., open source software communities) in the innovation ecosystem, as well as understand their implications for firms and policy. A second stream of research investigates the factors that shape startup success, focusing on how knowledge, motives, and the use of particular processes (e.g., processes for building teams) shape entrepreneurial outcomes. A third stream examines how non-profit institutions can play a role in creating and/or strengthening markets in developing countries by providing widespread training and supporting coordination amongst market participants.I investigate these issues by analyzing novel, primary source data gathered directly from innovators and entrepreneurs through extensive interviews, fieldwork, and surveys.