Pharma executive with UCSF roots named vice chancellor for business development, innovation, and partnerships

David Morris, MD, a pharma executive with experience in research and development, venture capital, and developing early-stage biotech companies, has been named UCSF’s vice chancellor for business development, innovation, and partnerships.

Along with his deep roots in academic medicine, Morris has worked at Roche as well as Novartis, where he led respiratory and primary care drug development, and ultimately rose to become global head of clinical operations, overseeing hundreds of clinical trials worldwide.

He has been directly or indirectly involved in the research, development, and approval of multiple new medications. He and his team were early innovators in leveraging technology to streamline clinical research and apply digital solutions in drug discovery and development.

As managing director for the Novartis Venture Fund, he worked with many Bay Area startups, including Soteria Biotherapeutics, a spin-off from the lab of Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry faculty member Jim Wells, PhD. Most recently, Morris headed research and development at Valo Health, a Boston firm that uses generative AI for drug discovery.

“Dave has a sophisticated understanding of how to take biomedical innovations and turn them into therapies,” said Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Catherine Lucey, MD. “I am excited to have him at UCSF at a time when there are so many new opportunities to help patients.”

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