Meet Carol Gallagher, Pharm.D.: 

Carol Gallagher, Pharm.D. is a Venture Partner at New Enterprise Associates. Previously, she was the  CEO of Calistoga Pharmaceuticals, and President and CEO of Metastatix. Dr. Gallagher currently  serves on the Board of Directors at Atara Biotherapeutics, Chromacode, PIONYR Biotherapeutics,  QPEX BioPharma, Recludix, Slope.io, TREX, and Turning Point Therapeutics, and is a Trustee for the  Salk Institute. She received a Doctor of Pharmacy from the University of Kentucky.

Key Insights: 

Carol Gallagher, Pharm.D. explores the progression of her career through the pharmaceutical  industry and as a founder, CEO, and investor. 

• Complement Founders. Dr. Gallagher’s co-founder had a scientific background with immune system cancers, whereas she had experience with clinical trials and patient application related to B cell and other immunological disease. Founding a company is a team sport and building a complementary team is fundamental to success.

• Self-Assessment. For all leaders, it’s important to have an honest self-assessment. Carol cites that the best CEOs are introspective. They understand their limitations and are also able to recruit the right team to fill those gaps.

• Investment Philosophy. Innovators love to think about big changes, but sometimes incremental is good. When investing, Dr. Gallagher considers if the innovation can occur within the 3–5-year investment timeframe.

This episode is hosted by Rick Lemoine, M.D. He is a member of the Advisory Council for Day Zero and is the Chief Medical Information Officer for Sharp HealthCare. 

Relevant Links:

o Learn more about Carol Gallagher, Pharm.D.

o Read “Salk Institute welcomes biopharmaceutical executive Carol Gallagher as new  trustee”