Current Work

Building Kind Shark®

Kind Shark® is an AI-enabled clinical research company helping sponsors identify eligible patient populations, assess site readiness and expand trials into underrepresented markets.

Our goal is simple: make clinical research more efficient, representative and accessible.

Kind Shark® connects sponsors, health systems, research sites and patient populations through trusted, privacy-conscious data and market intelligence.

What We Do

Patient and Protocol Intelligence
Translate complex trial criteria into actionable insights about eligible patient populations.

Site and Market Feasibility
Assess whether a country, health system or research site is ready to support a successful trial.

Responsible Trial Activation
Help sponsors move from opportunity to action while respecting privacy, governance and local requirements.

Global Access
Expand participation in medical research for patients and communities historically left out.

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Strategic Advisory

Alongside building Kind Shark, I selectively advise founders, nonprofit leaders and institutions on:

• Growth and capital strategy

• Cross-border expansion

• Asia–United States partnerships

• Government and institutional engagement

• Strategic relationships

• Mission-driven growth

My role is often to connect the right people, capital and institutions—and help turn those relationships into trusted, productive partnerships.

Dr. Diane Gu

Between Worlds, By Design

Dr. Diane Gu is an entrepreneur and strategic advisor working across healthcare, philanthropy, technology, government and global markets.

She is the Founder & CEO of Kind Shark®, an AI-enabled clinical research company building infrastructure to make global trials more representative, responsible and effective.

Diane’s career has been shaped by an ability to move between worlds that do not always speak the same language: philanthropy and venture, academia and enterprise, the United States and Asia, institutional leadership and entrepreneurial execution.

Before founding Kind Shark®, Diane served as the inaugural Chief Philanthropy Officer of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington, the Gates Foundation’s premier academic partner. Earlier in her career, she held senior external-affairs and faculty roles at UCLA, working across philanthropy, healthcare, international engagement and institutional strategy.

Across these roles, she has helped leaders translate ambitious missions into trusted relationships, capital strategies, partnerships and executable initiatives.

How I Work

Relationship Before Transaction

The strongest partnerships are not created by exchanging business cards. They are built through trust, consistency, generosity and shared purpose.

Mission With Execution

Ambition matters, but it must be accompanied by clear decisions, accountable structures and the ability to operate in the real world.

Local Trust, Global Scale

Cross-border growth cannot simply be imported. It must be built with cultural understanding, credible local relationships and respect for the institutions and communities involved.

Capital in Service of Impact

Capital is most powerful when it is connected to the right people, the right structure and a mission capable of producing lasting value.

What Connects It All

Whether building a health-technology company, helping an institution mobilize capital or developing a cross-border partnership, Diane’s purpose is the same:

To connect exceptional resources with consequential opportunities—and help trusted people build what matters.

Selected Writing

Chinese Dreams? American Dreams?

Dr. Gu is the author of Chinese Dreams? American Dreams? (Springer), an ethnographic study of professional pathways and institutional environments among immigrant scientists and engineers.

The systems-oriented perspective of this work informs her current focus on structural readiness and governance-aligned development strategy.

BUY AT AMAZON

15

countries

71

clients

1 Billion

raised

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