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Darren Cooke

UC Berkeley Interim Chief Innovation & Entrepreneurship Officer | Life Sciences Entrepreneurship Center | Berkeley Haas Faculty

Darren Cooke, the interim Chief Innovation & Entrepreneurship Officer at UC Berkeley, holds a diverse and accomplished professional background spanning law, mechanical engineering, entrepreneurship, and academia.

With a JD from Columbia Law School, an MS in Mechanical Engineering from UC Berkeley, and a BS in Mechanical Engineering from California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo, Darren has a strong academic foundation backing his diverse skill set.

Darren's experience includes serving as the executive director of UC Berkeley's Life Sciences Entrepreneurship Center, a faculty member at the Haas School of Business, and the past chair of the Bio Track at the Berkeley SkyDeck startup accelerator.

He also has a notable role as a faculty member for the Innovation Corps (I-Corps) program for the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation, showcasing his commitment to fostering innovation and entrepreneurship.

Darren's background further includes stints as an investor and former chair of Medical Device and Digital Health at Life Science Angels, a leading figure in IP legal matters for the life science tools group at Bio-Rad Laboratories, and a patent litigator in the life sciences sector.

His journey extends back to his days as a mechanical engineer at UCSF, where he contributed to developing cochlear implants, demonstrating his technical acumen and dedication to advancing healthcare technologies.

Darren's affiliations with prestigious organizations like UC Berkeley, National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, and Life Science Angels underscore his leadership and expertise in driving innovation, entrepreneurship, and legal matters within the life sciences and startup ecosystem.

Through various roles as faculty, coach, chair, director, and investor, Darren Cooke has left an indelible mark on the innovation landscape, shaping the next generation of entrepreneurs and contributing significantly to the advancement of life sciences and healthcare technologies.

Highlights

Sep 5 · linkedin

Berkeley is #1 for venture backed startups and founders - by a huge margin! Also #1 for female founders and female-founded companies, natch.

Full story here: https://lnkd.in/gYNN-8Vd

Grateful to be working with a wonderful I&E team that made sure PitchBook had the correct data, including Laura Hassner, Mia R., Debra Summers and of course our new Chancellor, Rich Lyons, who got this ball rolling.

University of California, Berkeley Follow UC Berkeley Innovation & Entrepreneurship for more like this.

Gino Segre, Kaspar Mossman, Caroline Winnett, Sibyl Chen, Rhonda Shrader

#YouSeeBerkeley #entrepreneurship

Aug 15 · linkedin

Hey, did you know I teach an MBA course in the fall that's open to all Berkeley graduate students? #Lean_Transfer provides hands-on learning for building deep technology startups. Based on the #Lean_Startup methodology, students form teams work with top Berkeley inventors to use industry-standard #customer_discovery principles to hunt for commercialization potential.

The ~45 students in this class are typically a mix of Haas MBA students, master's students from the M.Eng program, Information Management and Systems, Information and Data Science, Information and Cybersecurity, Translational Medicine (MTM), and doctoral trainees.

❓❓Interested in learning more? My wonderful co-instructor Rhonda Shrader and I are holding a 30-minute info session next Thursday morning at 10:30am. ➡➡ Register here: https://lnkd.in/ebb2_uFK

Huge thanks to former Lean Transfer student Mihikaa J. for finding the projects this semester. 🙏

#YouSeeBerkeley #entrepreneurship University of California, Berkeley, Haas School of Business

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Darren Cooke
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Location

San Francisco Bay Area