Lab Director · CBID
Archer Lab · Field Guide
Adler Archer, JD
Alumni · Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
Alumni · Carey Business School
Archer Lab · The founder
Military roots, professional identity, and a lab built with the people who live the problems - from classroom to clinic to community.
FOUNDER · CBID
Adler Archer, JD
I struggled for the longest time identifying as an academic, not because it is a bad identity, but because my military roots felt like a world apart from the ivory tower. One day a friend politely pointed out that I am trained as a biomedical informaticist, neuroscientist, space systems engineer, and lawyer. That conversation not only changed how I viewed myself, but also set the course for my PhD research in professional identity formation.
Now, I get the unique pleasure of spending as much time with business students and government officials as with community leaders and justice impact folks endeavoring for a fresh start. That is because I know that the lab only works when the people who live the problems help shape what we build. That mix is unusual on purpose: veterans and SkillBridge fellows in the same orbit as high school Innovation Scholars, doctors from Japan and Brazil completing additional graduate training in public health, and Baltimore City agencies. Translation is not a talking point for us; it is the thread from classroom to clinic to community.
Hopkins leadership & programs
Institutional roles alongside CBID and the lab, from Hopkins Engineering strategy and the Veterans Employee Resource Group to national consortia and Baltimore-facing collaboration, each informing how we teach and who we partner with.
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Founding director · 2021–2025 · Hopkins Engineering
Office of Strategy Management
Created and led Hopkins Engineering’s first Office of Strategy Management - strategic planning and performance for a $500M+ enterprise.
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Co-founder · Johns Hopkins University
Johns Hopkins Veterans Employee Resource Group
Helped launch VERG - a staff- and faculty-led community for veterans, service members, and military-connected employees across Hopkins.
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Director of outreach strategy · 2022–2024 · NeuroTech Harbor
National neurotechnology consortium
Outward-facing strategy and engagement for the NIH-backed NeuroTech Harbor ecosystem.
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Managing director · 2022–2025 · Kauffman Knowledge Challenge
Baltimore Collab
Co-led Hopkins’ side of the Intelligent Innovation Initiative (i3) - building a more inclusive Baltimore business ecosystem.
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Chesapeake Digital Health Exchange · 2020–2022
Presidential Fellow
Johns Hopkins presidential fellowship overlapping senior personnel on the Commerce-funded Chesapeake Digital Health Exchange.
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Principal investigator & mentor · 2016–2023 · Technology Innovation Center
HEXcite
PI and mentor for HEXcite - structured cohort cycles of customer discovery, regulatory reality checks, and pitch discipline.
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What I teach
Seminars and intensives that show up in how the lab works: regulation, leadership, emerging technology, and who gets to build the future of care.
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REGULATION · MEDICINE · Seminar
Digital Health Laws & Regulations
Legal, regulatory, and safety frameworks for digital health - from wearable apps to AI diagnostics and Software as a Medical Device.
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LEADERSHIP · VALUES · Seminar
Business Leadership & Human Values
A values-centered seminar on what business leaders owe the world - ethics, equity, and responsibility in practice.
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IMMERSIVE TECH · EQUITY · Seminar
Inclusive Health Innovation in Virtual Reality & AI
VR and AI in healthcare through the lens of inclusive design, access, ethics, and real-world impact.
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BIDS · INNOVATION & REGULATION · Intensive
Digital Health Innovation & Regulatory Science
An intensive on AI-driven digital health innovation, SaMD pathways, and post-market regulatory obligations.
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