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Mike Pellini
Board Member
Work hard, be humble, and treat everyone fairly. Don’t be afraid to ask the “dumb and basic” questions; you’d be surprised what you will learn.”
Mike Pellini, MD, has served on Sema4’s Board of Directors since August 2019.
Currently, Mike is also a Managing Partner of Section 32, a venture capital fund investing at the frontiers of technology, healthcare and life sciences. Previously, he served as CEO and Chairman of Foundation Medicine (NASDAQ:FMI), a company that transformed the way pharmaceutical companies and physicians evaluate the genomic changes underlying a patient’s cancer, until he transitioned to chairman through the close of Roche’s (NASDAQ:RHHBY) acquisition of FMI in August 2018. Before that, he was President and COO of Clarient (NASDAQ:CLRT), a national leader in molecular pathology, which was acquired by GE Healthcare in 2010.
In addition to Sema4, Mike currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors for Tango Therapeutics, Nusano, Vineti, Singular Genomics, Adaptive Biotechnologies, Octave Health, Thrive Earlier Detection, Cradle Genomics, the Personalized Medicine Coalition, the GO2 Foundation, and the Mission Hospital Foundation (Providence/St. Joseph Health). Mike brings a breadth of understanding in personalized medicine, with a particular interest in and focus on defeating cancer. He is also a member of the President’s Leadership Council at Thomas Jefferson University and Jefferson Health, as well as the Advisory Board for Mission Hospital’s Cancer Institute (Providence/St. Joseph Health).
Mike earned his MD from Jefferson Medical College, his MBA from Drexel University, and his B.A. from Boston College.
What’s the most interesting project you ever worked on that people may not know about?
We worked to build the largest repository of DNA and tissue samples in the world for research purposes. The ethical and privacy issues were all completely uncharted territory at the time (the mid 1990’s).
What are you most proud of in your career?
Working with an outstanding team to build Foundation Medicine into a company, which has had a significant impact on cancer care. Also, we worked with the FDA and CMS to reshape how an innovative diagnostic test, FoundationOne CDx, could set a new standard for care.
What values do you live by?
Treat everyone fairly and with respect and dignity.
What quote most inspires you?
“Everything is theoretically impossible until someone does it” – Robert A. Heinlein
What advice would you provide to people who are starting their careers?
Always volunteer for the hardest job. Work hard, be humble, and treat everyone fairly. Don’t be afraid to ask the “dumb and basic” questions; you’d be surprised what you will learn.
Who would you most like to meet that you’ve never met?
Tom Petty (but it’s too late).
