David Benaron
David A. Benaron was an American physician, biomedical researcher, and technology entrepreneur. He served as a professor of pediatrics at the Stanford University School of Medicine and was known for contributions to medical optical imaging, wearable health technology, and related biomedical innovations.
Education
Benaron studied biochemistry at the University of California, Davis. He attended the Harvard–MIT Health Sciences and Technology program, earning his medical degree from Harvard Medical School. He later completed fellowships in physiology at the National Institutes of Health, in biophysics at the University of Pennsylvania, and in neonatal intensive care at Stanford Medical School.Academic career
Benaron joined the faculty of Stanford’s Division of Neonatal and Developmental Medicine in 1989. He worked on optical imaging methods, including early in vivo imaging of infection in collaboration with colleagues at Stanford. He remained at Stanford until 2002 and continued as a consulting professor until 2016.Business and technology
While at Stanford, Benaron developed biomedical imaging technologies that led to the founding of several biotechnology companies. His work contributed to the development of the green‑light heart‑rate sensor found in many consumer wearables, luciferase‑based bioluminescent imaging, and applications of white‑light spectroscopy for tissue oxygen measurement.In 2002, he received the Tibbetts Award from the United States Congress for innovation commercialization, and in 2012 he was inducted into the Stanford Inventors Hall of Fame.