Kathy LaPorte appointed to Stem Cell Agency Board

For immediate release

Contact: Kevin McCormack 415-396-9813 kmccormack@cirm.ca.gov

 

Kathy LaPorte appointed to Stem Cell Agency Board

November 10, 2014

San Francisco, CA – Kathy LaPorte, an angel investor in digital health technology, has been appointed to the governing Board of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, the state’s Stem Cell Agency.

Ms. LaPorte was appointed to the Board by State Treasurer Bill Lockyer who cited her expertise and experience, saying she “will serve the people of California well as a member of the Independent Citizens Oversight Committee.”

“I’m honored to be joining the Board, and excited about CIRM’s mission to bring new regenerative medicine therapies to patients with chronic diseases,” says Ms. LaPorte. “I hope my experience from 28 years of helping to finance and guide the work of passionate scientists and entrepreneurs, enabling their ideas to get to the people who really need them, will be helpful to the CIRM team.”

Ms. LaPorte is currently the Chief Business Officer for Nodality, Inc., a biotech company focused on improving therapeutic drug development. She is also a Founding and Venture Partner at New Leaf Venture Partners. Her areas of expertise are in evaluating and mentoring start-ups developing digital and biopharmaceutical technology solutions for healthcare consumers, providers, payers and the pharmaceutical and medical device industries.

“We are thrilled to have Kathy join us on the ICOC,” says Jonathan Thomas, J.D., Ph.D., Chair of the Board. “As a representative of a life science commercial entity she brings with her a wealth of knowledge and expertise in biotech and business development for healthcare companies and products. Her keen intellect and analytical skills are going to be terrific assets for the Board.”

A profile of her in the Silicon Valley Business Journal described her as “smart, thorough and solution-oriented,” adding that “Ms. LaPorte has spent nearly her entire professional life in venture capital — something of a rarity — and is considered a quick study by those who have worked with her.”

Ms. LaPorte was born in the Bronx and grew up in the New York suburbs. She originally planned for a career in medicine, getting her B.S. degree in biology from Yale University, before realizing that her heart lay elsewhere. She instead got her MBA degree from Stanford University Graduate School of Business.

Ms. LaPorte has two children. In her spare time she is an avid tennis player and loves to travel.

 

About CIRM: CIRM was established in November 2004 with the passage of Proposition 71, the California Stem Cell Research and Cures Act. The statewide ballot measure, which provided $3 billion in funding for stem cell research at California universities and research institutions, was overwhelmingly approved by voters, and called for the establishment of an entity to make grants and provide loans for stem cell research, research facilities, and other vital research.