SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Foresite Capital, a healthcare growth equity firm, today announced that it has named Molly He, Ph.D., as venture partner. A former senior director at Illumina, Dr. He brings to Foresite more than 15 years of experience in pharmaceutical and genomic research and development.
“Dr. He is one of the most respected scientific researchers in the area of next-generation sequencing, and we are thrilled to welcome her to the team,” said Jim Tananbaum, M.D., chief executive officer and managing director of Foresite Capital. “With her extensive expertise in genomics and drug development and her remarkable track record of leadership, she will be an invaluable resource to Foresite as we continue to expand and diversify our portfolio of transformational companies.”
As senior director of scientific research at Illumina, Dr. He was responsible for the company’s global protein reagent innovation and improvements. Prior to Illumina, she was the head of protein sciences at Pacific Biosciences where she was responsible for protein reagent development for the company’s single molecular real-time sequencing chemistry. Earlier in her career, she spent 10 years in the pharmaceutical industry focusing on structural-based design of antibody and small molecule drugs targeting cancer and immune diseases. Dr. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in biochemistry from Nankai University and a Ph.D. in protein biophysics from the University of California, Los Angeles. She is the author of more than 20 published papers and holds more than 20 patent applications and issued patents in the field of next-generation sequencing and personalized medicine.
“Foresite has an unparalleled reputation of investing in some of the most exciting and innovative companies in healthcare,” said Dr. He. “I am honored to join such a seasoned, dynamic team to help grow the firm’s next-generation sequencing portfolio – an area that has the potential to fuel the next wave of breakthroughs in clinical research and drug discovery.”
About Foresite Capital
Foresite Capital provides growth capital to emerging healthcare leaders with disruptive products and services across all healthcare sectors in both the private and public markets. The firm is based in San Francisco with an office in New York. For more information, please visit http://www.foresitecapital.com/.
