BLOOD IN THE VALLEY:

THERANOS HQ, 2014

ABOUT THE COMMITTEE

It was March 2004 when 19-year-old Elizabeth Holmes decided to drop out of Stanford and start her own company. Initially majoring in biomedical engineering, Elizabeth Holmes launched Theranos rooted in the idea that a single drop of blood can be used to conduct a wide variety of tests instead of the traditional needles and vials. Now 2014, Theranos is at its peak. They have announced a partnership with Walgreens and are evaluated at 9 billion dollars. Elizabeth Holmes was inducted into the list of Forbes millionaires; their executive board is star studded with former Secretaries of State George Shultz and Henry Kissinger as well as former senator William H Furst. Everything is stable until the Wall Street journal releases an investigation into the entire company. Theranos clinics at Walgreens were not using “a drop” of blood at all. Multiple drop samples were combined and watered down for testing in the traditional blood testing machines. Now that these investigations are out, Theranos and its reputation is at risk. Investors, Theranos employees, lawyers, and investigators  are equally concerned about the future of the company, and thus delegates here need to grapple with the company’s future and repercussions for their actions.
BACKGROUND GUIDE COMING SOON!

CRISIS DIRECTOR

ARIANNA CORREA

Arianna is a first year student at the University of Miami from Miami. Majoring in Economics with a minor in history, this will be her first year in Miami Model UN and her fourth year overall participating in Model UN. Outside of Model UN, you can find her reading, drawing, or watching documentaries and series such as “The Dropout” on Hulu. While she isn’t interested in necessarily being involved in a silicon valley start-up anytime soon, she is heavily invested in the Theranos news story and is excited to hear how you guys will resolve the crises involved in this committee!