Jules Sherman, MFA Design

Jules Sherman is a product designer, inventor, researcher, author, and educator committed to human-centered healthcare innovation and social impact. She currently serves as the Design Research Lead at Soul Seated Journey, where she leads mixed-methods, IRB-approved research and contributes to program design to support young adults’ spiritual wellbeing.

Previously, Jules directed the Biodesign Program at Children’s National Hospital in Washington, DC, collaborating with clinicians, engineers, and families to design pediatric medical devices and supporting entrepreneurs through the Alliance for Pediatric Device Innovation. She also teaches as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Maryland’s Fischell Department of Bioengineering in the A. James Clark School of Engineering.

Jules specializes in turning the lived experiences of patients, families, and clinicians into meaningful healthcare solutions. Her work spans complex systems, where she leads cross-disciplinary teams from early insights to published studies or commercial products—with curiosity, grit, and joy. She believes design is a tool for justice, most powerful when it centers underrepresented voices and challenges outdated norms.

Jules’s contributions to healthcare research and medical device design have led to 14 published articles, six issued patents, and three pending patents. Her work has also resulted in a product acquisition by Lansinoh and, most recently, the honor of receiving the 2025 Cooper Hewitt National Design Award for Product Design.

Before spending the last fifteen years focused on healthcare product design, Jules developed consumer products for some of the world's most well-known brands including Costco, Walmart, Target, Restoration Hardware, and Limited Brands. She holds a BFA in Industrial Design from the Rhode Island School of Design, an MFA in Design from Stanford University, and is currently studying for an MS in Human-Computer Interaction at UC Irvine (‘26).

Jules is the mother of an amazing teenager, Kyle, and the guardian of a released CCI dog, Ingrid.