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Riya Sandler (Sargent’27) spent her summer splitting her time between the labor and delivery floor of Brigham and Women’s Hospital and the innovation lab at Innovate@BU. Through the Enlight Fellowship, she combined her clinical interests with her entrepreneurial drive to launch a new venture aimed at changing how patients understand cord blood donation.
Cord Connect, the social venture Riya developed, emerged from an intersection of personal experience and professional insight. As a cord blood collector, she witnessed how often patients, especially patients of color, were unaware, hesitant, or misinformed about donating cord blood, a critical resource in treating diseases like leukemia and lymphoma.
“What struck me was how something as impactful as cord blood often just gets discarded,” she says. “I wanted to change that through education.”
By highlighting voices from both donors and recipients, Riya hopes to build a platform that fosters understanding, combats misinformation, and increases donation rates among underrepresented communities. “What makes me passionate about healthcare is hearing directly from patients. I think others can connect that way, too,” she explains.
Working directly with patients not only shaped her venture’s direction—it fueled her growth as an innovator. “Outreach was so intimidating at first,” Riya admits. “But with the support of the Innovate@BU community, I learned how to step into it with confidence.” Exercises and workshops helped her develop a social entrepreneur’s mindset, while the program director, Katie Quigley Mellor, created a space where taking risks and testing ideas felt both possible and encouraged.
Beyond mentorship and workshops, the $10,000 Enlight Fellowship stipend made Riya’s summer work possible. “Last year, I had an unpaid internship and it was a major stressor,” she says. “This funding let me stay in Boston, focus fully, and feel supported—not just financially, but emotionally, too.”
“I realized I was in a position to make a difference for people in my community,” she says.
Looking ahead, Riya plans to continue developing Cord Connect while staying actively engaged with Innovate@BU. “This is one of the most supportive spaces I’ve found at BU. I didn’t expect to walk away with such close friends and mentors, but I did,” she shares. “I’m excited for what comes next.”
Whether you’re a fellow Sargent student or new to innovation altogether, Riya believes the Enlight program is valuable for anyone. “Just go for it. You don’t need to have it all figured out to start,” she says. “The Enlight Fellowship meets you where you are and helps you grow from there.”
Learn more about the Enlight Fellowship at bu.edu/innovate.
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