Thoughts on Joining Foresite Labs

I’m excited to embark on the next phase of my career journey by joining Foresite Labs as the company’s first chief operating officer.

I was drawn to Foresite Labs because it has built a platform supported by a team of world class entrepreneurs, data scientists, and ecosystem partners. The intersection of different technologies is where the most innovative and game changing medical products and solutions will be developed. You can see this in action with the launch of Foresite Labs incubated companies Interline Therapeutics, TenSixteen Bio, Sestina Bio and Alumis.

I found the Labs opportunity irresistible because it weaves together a few of the threads that I’ve most enjoyed in my prior career. Great ideas need to be executed successfully with the most productive utilization of resources. Understanding the market and the potential while appreciating the challenges of the journey is key. I have had the privilege to develop the HPV- Test, a cervical cancer detection product early in my career, as well as Galleri for multi-cancer early detection. These experiences gave me insight into the challenges and opportunities involved in bringing a product to market, and the impact they have on the healthcare landscape.

I’m also an entrepreneur and know first-hand the challenges of building a company. I launched RoosterBio and have a sincere appreciation for how hard it is and wish I had had access to resources (scientific and business) like Foresite Labs has to offer. At Verily I was able to support product strategy and business model development. I look forward to supporting current and new companies to create value and achieve the greatest potential of their products that improve the human condition.

New incubated companies have a variety of needs as they form and scale operations. A strong scientific thesis alone is not enough — building the corporate structure, performing the right experiments to validate the technology and understanding the market are areas that need attention early in company creation. The efficient raising and deployment of capital to create value are crucial to success. Working closely with founders to address and support these areas and helping hire talent to scale is an area of focus for me. The success of these companies will change the landscape of healthcare with access to novel treatments, devices, and solutions for current and future generations.

I’m excited to rejoin Vik Bajaj and the stellar team that he has assembled. Vik and I worked together closely at Grail, where we built the scientific foundation for the early detection of multiple cancers.

I deeply appreciate the trust that Vik Bajaj, Jim Tananbaum and team have placed in me, and look forward to a long and successful tenure at Foresite Labs as we incubate and launch the next generation of companies to disrupt healthcare and the life sciences.