Sarafan ChEM-H | Stanford University

What Sarafan ChEM-H | Stanford University does

Sarafan ChEM-H (Chemistry, Engineering & Medicine for Human Health) is an interdisciplinary academic research institute within Stanford University, founded in 2013 and named after benefactor Lily Sarafan '03, MS '03. The institute's mission is to bridge chemistry, engineering, and medicine to improve human health, operating as a hub that connects Stanford's Schools of Humanities & Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine through shared facilities, translational programs, and training. It serves Stanford faculty, postdoctoral scholars, graduate students, and undergraduate scholars rather than external commercial customers.

The institute's core platform is the Nucleus, a collection of seven shared research facilities covering Medicinal Chemistry, Macromolecular Structure, High-Throughput Screening, Cryo-Electron Microscopy, Metabolomics, Protein Engineering, and Cell and Gene Therapies. These facilities provide state-of-the-art instrumentation — including Bruker NMR, Agilent LC/MS, cryoEM workflows, and protein expression/purification pipelines — supported by expert staff scientists and partners such as the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource at SLAC. Layered on top of the Nucleus are two translational programs: the Innovative Medicines Accelerator (IMA), a partnership with Stanford Medicine that moves discoveries toward clinical development, and the Microbiome Therapies Initiative (MITI), a 2019 partnership with the Department of Bioengineering focused on manipulating bacterial communities in the gut and skin.

Sarafan ChEM-H does not sell commercial products or services; its revenue is institutional. It is funded through Stanford University allocations, benefactor support (notably from Lily Sarafan), seed grant programs distributed internally, and competitive research grants such as the $261 million Aligning Science Across Parkinson's/Michael J. Fox Foundation program and an $18 million CEPI antiviral vaccine grant. The institute is led by Nobel laureate Carolyn Bertozzi as Baker Family Director and Elizabeth Ponder as Executive Director, with a roster of Institute Scholars that includes HHMI investigators, Packard, Sloan, and Schmidt Polymath fellows. The go-to-market model is community-led: recruiting top faculty and trainees, providing shared instrumentation and seed funding, and forming strategic partnerships to accelerate discovery and translation.

Name

Sarafan ChEM-H | Stanford University

Legal name

Sarafan ChEM-H Institute at Stanford University

Website

https://chemh.stanford.edu

Company type

Private

Founded year

2013

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Sarafan ChEM-H is a Stanford University interdisciplinary research institute founded in 2013 that bridges chemistry, engineering, and medicine. It serves Stanford faculty, postdocs, graduate students, and undergraduates via shared core facilities (the Nucleus), translational accelerators (IMA, MITI), and seed grant programs.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Academic Biomedical Research Institute

NAICS

Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (54171), Research and Development in Biotechnology (except Nanobiotechnology) (541714)

SIC

Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731)

akta.pro primary industry

Translational Medicine & Biomarkers (HLAIALAF)

akta.pro secondary industries

Genomic & Multi-Omic Biomarkers (NGS panels, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics) (HLAAAMAJ), Proteomics & Mass Spectrometry Services (HLAGANAB), Target Identification & Validation Platforms (omics-driven, chemoproteomics, genetic validation) (HLAAAIAI)

Keywords

• Academic research institute
• Shared research facilities
• Biomedical research training
• Drug discovery platform
• Interdisciplinary science programs

Headquarters

HQ city

Stanford

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Institutional Funding: Funding from Stanford University administration and Deans of Research to support institute operations, facilities, and programs.
2. Benefactor Support: Named after Lily Sarafan '03, MS '03, who provided significant benefactor support. Her foundation and initiatives (including Project BIG) support institute programs and fellows.
3. Seed Grants and Fellowships: Funding opportunities provided to researchers including undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral programs. The 2025 Sarafan ChEM-H Seed Grant program offers grants in Medicinal Chemistry, Metabolomics, Macromolecular Structure, Chemoproteomics, Cryo-EM, Protein Engineering, and Cell and Gene Therapies.
4. Research Partnerships: Collaborative research with Stanford Medicine through the Innovative Medicines Accelerator (IMA) and the Department of Bioengineering through MITI to accelerate translation of discoveries into medicines.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Sarafan ChEM-H is an interdisciplinary academic research institute at Stanford University that operates the Nucleus, a portfolio of shared research facilities providing access to specialized instrumentation and expert consultation in medicinal chemistry, macromolecular structure, high-throughput screening, cryo-electron microscopy, metabolomics, protein engineering, and cell and gene therapies. It complements these facilities with training programs for undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral scholars and runs translational initiatives (the Innovative Medicines Accelerator and the Microbiome Therapies Initiative) to move laboratory discoveries toward medicines and clinical applications.

Product overview

Sarafan ChEM-H is a research institute that functions as a platform of interconnected research resources and training programs. The Nucleus serves as the core facility providing shared instrumentation and expertise in medicinal chemistry, macromolecular structure, high-throughput screening, CryoEM, metabolomics, protein engineering, and cell and gene therapies. The Innovative Medicines Accelerator (IMA) and Microbiome Therapies Initiative (MITI) are major programmatic initiatives that translate research into therapeutic applications. The institute also offers comprehensive training programs at undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral levels, along with seed grant funding opportunities for researchers.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Nucleus Shared Research Facilities A collection of shared research resources that provides Stanford researchers with access to high-end instrumentation, hands-on training, and expert consultation in medicinal chemistry, macromolecular structure, high-throughput screening, cryo-EM, metabolomics, protein engineering, and cell and gene therapies.
• Innovative Medicines Accelerator (IMA) A partnership between Sarafan ChEM-H and Stanford Medicine that helps translate promising Stanford drug discovery prototypes from the laboratory into human clinical testing.
• Microbiome Therapies Initiative (MITI) A partnership between Sarafan ChEM-H and the Department of Bioengineering that studies how to change the genetics and composition of complex bacterial communities in the gut and on the skin for therapeutic benefit.
• Undergraduate Programs (including the Entrepreneurship Program) Training programs for Stanford undergraduates, including the Entrepreneurship Program that teaches biotech entrepreneurship with funding, mentorship, and experiential learning opportunities.
• Graduate Student Programs (Chemistry/Biology Interface) Predoctoral training programs including the Chemistry/Biology Interface (CBI) program that trains graduate students pursuing research at the intersection of chemistry, biology, engineering, and medicine.
• Postdoc Programs (Seed Grants, Postdoc Society, Retreats) Postdoctoral programs including Seed Grants, the Postdoc Society, and Retreats that build bridges across the postdoctoral scholar community in chemistry, engineering, and medicine.
• Sarafan ChEM-H Seed Grants Internal funding opportunities provided to individuals and initiatives pushing the boundaries of human health research at Stanford, with 2025 program areas covering Medicinal Chemistry, Metabolomics, Macromolecular Structure, Chemoproteomics, Cryo-EM, Protein Engineering, and Cell and Gene Therapies.

Quantifiable outcome

• First-in-human clinical testing of epigenetic editor for FSHD muscular dystrophy
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core, supporting and flagship.

• Stanford MedicinecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Stanford Innovative Medicines Accelerator (IMA) is a partnership between Sarafan ChEM-H and Stanford Medicine established to help translate promising Stanford discoveries into new medicines for patients.
• Stanford Department of BioengineeringcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMITI (Microbiome Therapies Initiative) is a partnership between Sarafan ChEM-H and the Department of Bioengineering established in 2019 with the goal of learning how to change the genetics and composition of bacterial communities in the gut and on the skin.
• Stanford Department of Chemical and Systems BiologycoreTechnology or IntegrationJoint effort between Sarafan ChEM-H and the Department of Chemical and Systems Biology for the High-Throughput Screening group providing support and services often inaccessible to academic labs.
• SLAC National Accelerator LaboratorysupportingTechnology or IntegrationStanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource at SLAC provides crystallographic data collection support for Nucleus researchers, including stations BL9-2 and BL12-2.
• C-ShaRP Experiential Learning GrantsupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerC-ShaRP Experiential Learning Grant provided additional funding for instrument use and training in shared facilities for protein crystallization research.
• Wu Tsai Neurosciences InstitutecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPart of Stanford's Life Sciences Council, which supports both Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute and Sarafan ChEM-H.
• Stanford Bio-XcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPart of Stanford's Life Sciences Council, which supports both Stanford Bio-X and Sarafan ChEM-H.
• Chan Zuckerberg BiohubsupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerStanley Qi is a Chan Zuckerberg Biohub Investigator, supporting collaborative research in biohub programs.
• Aligning Science Across Parkinson's (ASAP)flagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner$261M partnership with The Michael J. Fox Foundation to advance Parkinson's research and treatments, with Institute Scholar Monther Abu-Remaileh as co-PI on Team Lashuel.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Allen Institute: Philanthropically-funded research institute running large-scale shared research programs and core facilities. Comparable as a nonprofit institute model combining core facility infrastructure with translational scientific output.
• Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard: Major university-affiliated research institute performing large-scale genomic, chemical biology, and translational research. Comparable in mission to bridge computational/chemical sciences with biomedicine and provide shared core infrastructure.
• Gladstone Institutes: San Francisco-based nonprofit research institute affiliated with UCSF that conducts biomedical research with shared core facilities. Comparable as a mission-aligned research institute with translational focus.
• Chan Zuckerberg Biohub: Bay Area nonprofit research organization operating shared biomedical research infrastructure and investigator programs. Comparable as a shared-facility model with investigator networks; already a partner of ChEM-H faculty.
• Scripps Research Institute: Independent nonprofit research organization with deep expertise in chemistry, structural biology, and translational medicine. Comparable as an academic institute running chemical biology, screening, and structural biology cores.
• Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research: MIT-affiliated independent research institute focused on biomedical research with shared facilities and faculty training. Comparable as a tightly-coupled university institute structure with similar training/seed-grant programs.
• Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research: MIT-based interdisciplinary research institute bridging engineering, science, and clinical medicine with shared core facilities. Directly comparable as a university-embedded institute using engineering and physical-science approaches to solve human health problems.

Emerging players

• Arc Institute: Newer Palo Alto-based research institute with Stanford/UCSF/Berkeley affiliations focused on biomedical research. Comparable as an emerging interdisciplinary research institute with similar translation ambitions.

Broad incumbents

• Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (Science Programs): Large philanthropic funder operating biohub networks, seeding institutes, and funding biomedical research infrastructure. Comparable in its role as a funder/operator of shared biomedical research platforms.

Regional players

• New York Genome Center: University-affiliated genomics and multi-omics research center operating shared core sequencing/analytical facilities. Comparable in operating a multi-omics technology platform serving academic investigators.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks4 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/Stanford_ChEMH
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@stanford_chemh
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/stanford-chem-h

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Subsidiaries4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Sarafan ChEM-H | Stanford University