Our Ecosystem

Forever Lab operates as a collaborative ecosystem.

Core leadership works alongside an interdisciplinary constellation of artists, scientists, clinicians, designers, technologists, and community partners. Each project is built through shared authorship, ensuring artistic and scientific intelligence shape inquiry from the outset.

Janani Balasubramanian is an award-winning artist and director and a leading voice in artist-scientist collaboration.

His work has been presented at leading cultural and scientific institutions worldwide, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, London School of Economics, Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), Lincoln Center, San Francisco Exploratorium, Andy Warhol Museum, Ace Hotel, and most recently at The Music Center in Los Angeles in partnership with LeVar Burton Entertainment.

He has received support from many of the nation’s most prestigious funders and commissioning organizations, including the MacArthur Foundation, Getty Foundation, Sloan Foundation, and Sundance Institute. His many awarded artistic residencies include MacDowell, Camargo, Djerassi, Green Box Arts, Pioneer Works, and UCross.

He is co-author of Art-Science Undisciplined: A Playbook for Transformative Collaboration  (University of California Press, 2026), a field-defining guide to interdisciplinary innovation. A 2025 Lenore Tawney Fellow, he sits on the boards of the Djerassi Resident Artists Program and the Journal on Perspectives in Arts in Health.

At Forever Lab, Janani leads the artistic vision and strategic development of interdisciplinary initiatives that unite artists, scientists, and technologists to design new models of care.

Dr. Karleen Giannitrapani, PhD, MPH, is a nationally recognized expert in co-design, healthcare innovation, and interdisciplinary collaboration, with a focus on improving patient and caregiver experience in moments of vulnerability. A former professional dancer with over twelve years in the field, she brings a deep commitment to bridging creative and scientific approaches to care.

She is Principal Investigator of Forever Lab, where she leads the lab’s research strategy, overseeing clinical studies, interdisciplinary design processes, and the translation of artistic and scientific collaboration into durable care innovations.

Dr. Giannitrapani is Section Chief of Research for Palliative Care and an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Stanford University. She is also a Core Investigator at the VA Palo Alto Center for Innovation to Implementation and Director within the VA Quality Improvement Resource Center for Palliative Care, supporting programs across 170 VA facilities nationwide.

She has been an investigator on more than $30 million in federally funded research and has published over 80 peer-reviewed articles in journals including Medical Care, JAMA Surgery, JAMA Network Open, and Journal of Pain and Symptom Management.

Rather than functioning as a traditional hierarchical lab, Forever Lab operates as a connective structure.

Collaborators enter an environment where investigation, creation, and translation unfold concurrently. This model ensures:

  • Ethical co-design

  • Sustained interdisciplinary dialogue

  • Shared intellectual ownership

  • Long-term field-building

COLLABORATORS

Students

Photography by Ryan Wimsatt for IDA Stanford

Emily Saletan is an artist and technologist who wants to try everything twice. Saletan is a master’s candidate in Music, Science, and Technology at Stanford’s Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics, having studied Symbolic Systems (Neurosciences) in undergrad with minors in vocal performance and social dance. Other research includes audiology at the Stanford Translational Auditory Research Lab and a master’s thesis in psycholinguistics. She moonlights as a singer-songwriter.

BOARD

Skip Victor (Stanford Distinguished Careers Institute Fellow 2021) is a private equity investor, and supporter of innovation at the intersection of art, science, and technology.

Sean Wheeler (Stanford Distinguished Careers Institute Fellow 2021) is a global strategist, social impact leader, and lecturer at the Stanford d.school with expertise in organizational transformation.

Photography by Colorado College Athletics

Nyah Flores student researcher recently graduated from Colorado College having received a Bachelor’s Degree in Neuroscience with a minor in Spanish. She is a former student-athlete, a visual artist, a traveler, and life-long student (currently exploring graduate education options). Flores’ research interests include Neuroaesthetics and how art can promote health and wellbeing. 

Srinija Srinivasan (Stanford Trustee Emeritus, Vice Chair of Stanford Institute for Human-Centered AI Advisory Council) is a visionary advocate for human centered technology and markets driven by artistic values and our deepest humanity. 

Deborah Cullinan (Vice President for the Arts at Stanford) is a leading thinker on the role of arts organizations in mobilizing communities and shaping political, social, and cultural landscapes. 

Work With US

We will list positions on this page as they become available.