When developing technologies to solve medical problems, one often encounters significant hurdles, that at times seems insurmountable. In this discussion, recorded at the 8th annual Partnership Opportunities in Drug Delivery (PODD) conference, Dr Jeffrey Karp, Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School and Director of the Laboratory for Accelerated Medical Innovation, Brigham and Women's Hospital discusses overcoming these hurdles with the use of nature for inspiration. This talk will explore medical technologies being developed that harness lessons from nature for inspiration. Some of the technologies that will be described are rapidly advancing to the clinic and some are already on the market helping patients. Join us for the 9th annual PODD conference business development event on October 7-8, 2019 at the Renaissance Boston Waterfront Hotel in Boston. PODD covers the latest advances in drug delivery science, while also providing a meeting place to network and form new partnerships. To learn more about the event, please visit PODD 2019.