Moonshots Scholar Program—Building Entrepreneurship Skills

This is a non-degree co-curricular program on entrepreneurship and innovation, otherwise known as our Moonshots Scholar Program, that aims to help you exercise your creative muscles so you can better meet the needs of tomorrow.

About the Program: Your Moonshot. Think Big.

We are on the brink of a revolution in every aspect of our lives. AI is making the drug discovery process >100X faster and cheaper and 90% more likely to succeed in clinical trials. The mobile health market is predicted to reach over $300 billion market by 2027. The cost of sequencing your genome has decreased 100,000-fold over 13 years, a staggering speed that is 3 times faster than the rate of Moore’s Law. As we increasingly find ourselves at the convergence of these fast-moving technologies, we must learn to ride the wave of exponential growth.

The Moonshots Scholar Program at Touro University aims to familiarize students with the diverse opportunities and challenges faced by the economy across various business sectors including life sciences, medicine, healthcare, pharmacy, and beyond. This initiative will equip students with the necessary knowledge to establish their own "Moonshot Enterprise." Through the lenses of innovation and business design, participants will cultivate the skills needed to conceive and develop services and products that can make a meaningful impact on society.

The Moonshots Scholar Program introduces you to the wealth of challenges and opportunities facing the world right now and prepares you to think innovatively and launch your own Moonshot venture that will transform a major community, industry and/or the planet. You will learn what happens when AI, robotics, virtual reality, digital biology and sensors crash into 3D printing, blockchain and global gigabit networks. You will meet entrepreneurs that converge these technologies into high-impact ventures as well as the investors who bet big on their bold ideas. Using principles from books such as  Bold: How to Go Big, Create Wealth, and Impact the World, you will learn to embrace opportunities with an entrepreneurial mindset that seeks to solve the world’s most pressing problems. Moonshots will show you how the convergence of fast-moving technologies can be used to solve real human problems by expanding your thinking to include not only “how can I be a good clinician/ social worker/ teacher?” but also “how can I use my training to change the world?”

Who, When, Where?

This program is open to all Touro University system students (undergraduate, graduate and professional) each fall semester.

Weekly meetings will take place on Wednesdays from 5pm to 6pm EST via Zoom. Fall 2024 dates are Sept 11, Sept 18, Sept 25, Oct 30, Nov 6, Nov 13, Nov 20, Dec 4, Dec 11, and Dec 18.

This is a non-credit bearing program (at no cost to the student, other than the purchase of book as required reading) and cannot be taken in lieu of a credit-bearing course.

To receive a badge certificate (called Entrepreneurial & Innovative Mindset) at the end of the program, you must:

  • attend all 10 sessions starting September 11th, 2024 (allowed one absence),
  • attend all sessions with ZOOM camera on and seated at a desk,
  • complete required readings,
  • take part in weekly discussions on Canvas and
  • make a brief class presentation regarding your Moonshot.

How to Sign-Up: Zoom Registration

Fall 2024 Required Reading (book to be purchased by student): Diamandis, Peter & Steven, Kotler (2015). Bold: How to Go Big, Create Wealth, and Impact the World. Simon & Schuster: New York.

For additional questions, please contact Program Instructor and Facilitator Dr. Rima Aranha at moonshots@touro.edu.