Andrew Conrad

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Andrew Conrad
Conrad (2019)
Born1964 (age 59–60)
United States
Alma materUniversity of California, Los Angeles
Spouses
​
​
(m. 2000; div. 2001)​
Scientific career
FieldsGenetics
InstitutionsNorth Carolina Research Campus

Andrew J. Conrad is an American geneticist who heads Verily, a life sciences division of Alphabet Inc.[1] As its chief executive officer, Conrad has recruited a multidisciplinary team of chemists, doctors, engineers, behavioral scientists and data scientists to research health and disease.[2]

Early life

Conrad grew up in Malibu, California and enjoyed surfing there.[3]

Education

Conrad graduated with a B.S. in

neurobiology and a Ph.D. in cell biology from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in the late 1980s.[4][5]

Career

In 1991 Conrad co-founded the National Genetics Institute (NGI) along with Mike Aicher.

LabCorp bought NGI for $65 million.[3]

With the money earned from the sale of NGI, Conrad built a vacation home on the Lānaʻi island of Hawaii. On June 2, 2000, Conrad and Hollywood actress Courtney Thorne-Smith impulsively got married but the two split 7 months later.[8][9][10]

At an art auction in Lānaʻi, Conrad met

Dole Food Company, and also owner of Lānaʻi island. Murdock came to trust Conrad and eventually gave him board membership on companies he controlled: Castle & Cooke, Dole Food Company and NovaRx. Conrad invested his money with Murdock and his son, Justin.[3]

In 2005, Conrad helped set up the North Carolina Research Campus (NCRC), a life sciences research center in Kannapolis, North Carolina. Murdock donated $700 million to NCRC as its founder.[3][11] As its chief scientific advisor, Conrad attracted prominent scientists and companies to NCRC to develop products focused on agriculture, food, nutrition, and health.[12]

In November 2006 Conrad founded the

Wellpoint.[13][14]

In March 2013 Conrad joined the life sciences unit of

Google X after 22 years at NGI.[15][16]

In June 2013 Murdock started the process to take the Dole Food Company private and appointed Conrad at the head of a four-person special committee of independent directors to approve a deal.[17] Murdock initially offered $12 a share in cash,[18] a price that the committee found too low. Murdock ultimately closed the deal at $13.50 but shareholders sued anyway. In 2015 they were awarded $148 million in damages while Conrad was found to have acted with integrity, and was not held liable.[19]

In August 2015 the life sciences unit of Google X was spun out as its own company under the Alphabet Inc. with Conrad as its CEO.[20] In December 2015, the company changed its name from Google Life Sciences to Verily.[21]

In January 2023, Stephen Gillett became the new CEO of Verily,[22] while Conrad shifted roles to become the executive chairman amid a corporate restructuring.[23]

Awards

Conrad was named one of the Top 25 Most Influential People in Biopharma 2015 by FierceBiotech.[4][24]

Publications

Conrad has more than eighty-five publications in scientific and medical journals.[5]

Personal life

Conrad is an avid

surfer and has a casual dressing style. He is married to Haylynn Cohen, a model,[3] with whom he has two children.[25]

References

  1. ^ Alistair Barr (Jul 25, 2014). "Meet the Google X Life Sciences Team". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved Mar 28, 2016.
  2. ^ Charles Piller (December 7, 2015). "Verily, I swear. Google Life Sciences debuts a new name". STAT News. Retrieved Mar 28, 2016.
  3. ^ a b c d e Charles Piller (Mar 28, 2016). "Google's bold bid to transform medicine hits turbulence under a divisive CEO". STAT News. Retrieved Mar 28, 2016.
  4. ^ a b Johnson & Johnson Innovation Labs (Aug 10, 2015). "Meet Andy Conrad of Google Life Sciences". Xconomy, Inc. Retrieved Mar 28, 2016.
  5. ^ a b "Andrew J. Conrad Ph.D.: Executive Profile & Biography". Bloomberg Businessweek. Retrieved Mar 28, 2016.
  6. ^ "Genome Interpretation Company Omicia Appoints Mike Aicher as CEO". BusinessWire. January 2, 2013. Retrieved Mar 28, 2016.
  7. ^ "National Genetics Institute » Who We Are » Andrew Conrad, Ph.D." Archived from the original on 2016-03-06. Retrieved Mar 28, 2016.
  8. ^ "Shortest Hollywood marriages: Courtney Thorne-Smith and Andrew Conrad, 7 months". NY Daily News. Aug 21, 2004. Retrieved Mar 28, 2016.
  9. ^ Stephen M. Silverman (Jan 4, 2001). "Thorne-Smith, Hubby: Split". People magazine. Retrieved Mar 28, 2016.
  10. ^ "End of Honeymoon for Thorne-Smith". ABC News. Jan 4, 2001. Retrieved Mar 28, 2016.
  11. ^ "Precision Medicine Initiative: Andrew J. Conrad, Ph.D." National Institutes of Health. November 10, 2015. Retrieved Mar 28, 2016.
  12. ^ Hugh Fisher (Jul 1, 2008). "Conrad brings it". Salisbury Post. Archived from the original on April 9, 2016. Retrieved Mar 28, 2016.
  13. ^ "California Health and Longevity Institute Background" (PDF). California Health and Longevity Institute. Jan 19, 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 16, 2016. Retrieved Mar 28, 2016.
  14. ^ Jill Weinlein (March 2015). "10 Wellness Activities at the Four Seasons Westlake Village". The Independent Traveler, Inc. Retrieved Mar 28, 2016.
  15. ^ Steven Levy (Oct 28, 2014). "Steven Levy interviews Andrew Conrad: "We're Hoping to Build the Tricorder"". BackChannel. Retrieved Mar 28, 2016.
  16. ^ Ibanca Anand (January 8, 2015). "Google X's Newest Breakthrough Endeavor (and How Duke Is Involved)". North Carolina Research Campus. Retrieved Mar 28, 2016.
  17. ^ Steven Davidoff Solomon (September 17, 2013). "Dole Food's Buyout in 2013 Looks a Lot Like One in 2003". The New York Times. Retrieved Mar 28, 2016.
  18. ^ Jack Kaskey, Simon Casey (June 11, 2013). "Dole Food Chairman Makes $645 Million Bid to Go Private". Bloomberg Business. Retrieved Mar 28, 2016.
  19. ^ Matt Levine (Aug 27, 2015). "Dole's CEO Got Himself Too Sweet a Deal". Bloomberg View. Retrieved Mar 28, 2016.
  20. ^ Ben Popper (August 21, 2015). "Google confirms Life Sciences as the first new company under the umbrella of Alphabet". The Verge. Retrieved Mar 28, 2016.
  21. ^ Josh Beckerman. "Google Life Sciences Rebrands as Verily". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved Mar 28, 2016.
  22. ^ "Stephen Gillett begins tenure as Verily CEO". Verily. Retrieved Jan 19, 2023.
  23. ^ Miles Kruppa. "Alphabet Unit Verily to Trim More Than 200 Jobs". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved Jan 19, 2023.
  24. ^ FierceBiotech (May 13, 2015). "The 25 most influential people in biopharma in 2015: Andrew Conrad – Google Life Sciences". FierceMarkets. Retrieved Mar 28, 2016.
  25. ^ "A Conversation With Haylynn Cohen". The Cultural Omnivore. Jan 6, 2014. Retrieved Mar 28, 2016.

External links

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