Risa Stack

Risa Stack joined Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers in 2003. Risa specializes in the development of life science companies. She was the founding CEO and is currently a board member of several companies including CardioDx, Nodality, and an incubation in the personalized medicine area. She is currently on the BoD of Corthera and Trius and a board observer at Codon Devices, Xdx, Orexigen (OREX), Tethys, and Pacific Biosciences. Prior to joining KPCB, Risa was a Principal at J.P. Morgan Partners in the life science practice for 6 years. While at J.P. Morgan Partners she sponsored a series of investments including Acurian, AlgoRx (now Anesiva), Connetics, Diatide, Ilex Oncology, Illumina, Praecis Pharmaceuticals and Triangle Pharmaceuticals. Prior to working in the venture capital industry, Risa worked as a Derivative Specialist on the Chicago Board of Trade where she traded futures and options on government securities. As an intern at ARCH Development Corporation she participated in the development of several companies based on the research of University of Chicago scientists. At Abbott Laboratories, Risa worked to develop a new Hepatitis C assay system and researched new procedures for evaluating patient samples for HIV and Hepatitis B. Risa received her B.S. in Genetics and Development with distinction from the University of Illinois and her Ph.D. in Immunology from the University of Chicago. She was also a member of the second class of Kauffman Fellows. Risa was named as one of the 100 Most Influential Women in Business by the San Francisco Business Times in 2004.