Third Rock Ventures Appoints Mark A. Goldsmith, M.D., Ph.D., as Venture Partner
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The venture capital firm announced the appointment of Mark A. Goldsmith, M.D., Ph.D., to the role of venture partner in the firm’s San Francisco office. Previously, Dr. Goldsmith was president and chief executive officer of Constellation Pharmaceuticals, the leading biopharmaceutical company in the field of epigenetics and a Third Rock Ventures portfolio company. He will also continue his active involvement with Constellation Pharmaceuticals by serving as executive chairman.
“We are excited to welcome Mark to the firm and to the San Francisco office,” said Mark Levin, partner at Third Rock Ventures. “Mark is a proven leader in the biotech space. During his time with Constellation, he and his team built a world-class epigenetics and chromatin biology research program leading to the valuable strategic collaboration between Constellation and Genentech. His operational expertise, combined with his deep scientific background, will be a tremendous asset as we continue to create and launch innovative companies and expand our presence on the west coast.”
Prior to joining Third Rock, Dr. Goldsmith held senior executive positions in the biotechnology industry and academia. Prior to his appointment at Constellation in 2009, Dr. Goldsmith was a senior executive-in-residence at Prospect Venture Partners, a leading healthcare venture capital firm. Previously, he served as CEO of Cogentus Pharmaceuticals and as senior vice president leading the health care division of Genencor International. Before entering the private sector, Dr. Goldsmith led a medical research laboratory at the Gladstone Institute of Virology and Immunology, practiced medicine on the faculty of the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine and at San Francisco General Hospital, and was a consultant to leading pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. He received his undergraduate degree from Princeton University, earned his M.D. and Ph.D. in microbiology and immunology from the University of California, San Francisco and conducted postgraduate medical training at Harvard Medical School and the University of California, San Francisco.
“Having worked with the Third Rock team while at Constellation, I have experienced firsthand the firm's passion for and commitment to building and investing in companies that are founded on cutting edge science with the potential to make a difference for patients,” said Dr. Goldsmith. “I look forward to working with the teams in San Francisco and Boston to discover, ideate and launch high-value companies around transformative scientific approaches.”
Keith E. Dionne, Ph.D., a Third Rock Ventures entrepreneur-in-residence, will be leaving the firm to join Constellation as president and chief executive officer to succeed Dr. Goldsmith.
