Dr. Leila Daneshmandi is an Assistant Professor in Residence in Innovation and Entrepreneurship in the College of Engineering and Biomedical Engineering Department and Director of the Entrepreneurship Hub for the College of Engineering. She holds a Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering and a Master’s in Global Entrepreneurship from the University of Connecticut.

During her time as a Ph.D. student at UConn, Leila co-founded Encapsulate, a healthtech startup in cancer precision diagnostics that has raised $1.8M+ to date and that has received considerable recognition nationally and internationally, including from The International Space Station U.S. National Laboratory and Boeing, the National Science Foundation, and the Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce and Enterprise Europe Network. During her tenure as a Ph.D. student, Leila published over twelve peer-reviewed journal articles on her research, developed five patents, and presented her work at over sixteen forums and venues. She was awarded the Outstanding Senior Women Academic Achievement Awards by the Women’s Center at UConn for academic excellence and high achievement in research and service to the University.

Leila is a TEDx speaker, CT Women of Innovation Finalist selected by the Connecticut Technology Council and Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology, board member at the Connecticut Invention Convention (CIC), and was awarded the Entrepreneur of the Year Award for Scalable Venture in 2020 by the Connecticut Entrepreneur Awards.

In her role at UConn, Leila teaches Technology Innovation and Entrepreneurship I and Technology Innovation and Entrepreneurship II, experiential entrepreneurship courses that help launch technology startups at UConn; Entrepreneurial Skills, a professional development course to train Engineering graduate students in entrepreneurial skills; and the Capstone course for the Master of Engineering in Global Entrepreneurship students. She also runs the Master of Engineering in Global Entrepreneurship degree program and the Third Bridge Grant program, both offered to student entrepreneurs working on technology-based startups.

Leila is an Affiliate Professor at the Werth Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation and the Engineering for Human Rights Initiative. She has a background in Healthcare Strategy Consulting and is interested in translating innovative healthcare solutions to market, social entrepreneurship, elevating and enhancing innovation and entrepreneurship efforts in our education system, and empowering the next-generation of student entrepreneurs.