Harvard University
Stanford University
Harvard University
Stanford University
entrepreneur scientist venture capitalist
Hsu was born on October 31, 1957, in New York City, to Chichang Hsu and Ujjala (Deb) Hsu. He was selected as a Presidential Scholar in 1975 while attending Norwalk High School in Norwalk, Connecticut. The Presidential Scholars program recognized high-achieving American high-school seniors for academic achievement and leadership potential.
Hsu studied biochemistry at Harvard University and received a Bachelor of Arts degree magna cum laude in 1979. Harvard, founded in 1636, is the oldest institution of higher education in the United States and has long combined liberal-arts education with advanced scientific research.
He continued at Stanford University, receiving a Doctor of Philosophy in genetics in 1984 and a Master of Business Administration in 1990. Stanford's research university developed in close association with the scientific and technology communities of California's Santa Clara Valley, while its Graduate School of Business provided training in management and finance. During his Stanford years, Hsu also contributed to genetics research published in Nature.
Hsu began his career in academic and industrial biotechnology. He was a teaching fellow at Harvard University from 1978 to 1979 and a postdoctoral fellow at Stanford University in 1984. His early scientific work was situated in the expansion of molecular genetics and biotechnology, fields that increasingly connected university research with pharmaceutical and medical applications.
From 1984 to 1988, he worked as a staff scientist and senior scientist at Creative Biomolecules and Invitron Corporation in the San Francisco Bay Area. He then served as an independent consultant to Comm-Tech International in 1989. These positions preceded his transition from laboratory science to life-science investment.
Hsu joined Advent International in 1990 as an investment manager and became a partner in 1992. Advent International is a global private-equity and venture-capital firm whose investment activities have included healthcare, technology, and other growth industries. At Advent, Hsu co-managed life-science investments before joining Walden Group.
He became a general partner of Walden Group in 1996 and remained associated with Walden Group or its affiliate Walden International until 2003. Based in San Francisco, Walden invested internationally in biotechnology, healthcare, software, and internet companies; Hsu's responsibilities included life-science investment activity. He was also associated with the formation of Eureka Pharmaceuticals, a biotechnology company based in San Francisco and Shanghai, where he served as chairman.
In 2005, Hsu became a venture partner at A. M. Pappas & Associates, later known as Pappas Capital, a life-science investment firm based in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. The firm focused on biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, and medical technologies. Hsu's work there involved identifying and evaluating life-science investment opportunities and supporting portfolio companies.
Hsu was a founding investor and business adviser of LEAD Therapeutics, a San Bruno biotechnology company established to develop small-molecule drug candidates in oncology and infectious diseases. The company's research model connected United States-based biotechnology management with drug-discovery activities in China; BioMarin acquired LEAD Therapeutics in 2010. Hsu has also been associated with Crosswave as managing partner and with a range of life-science companies as an investor, co-founder, board member, or adviser.
Hsu contributed to biotechnology research at Stanford University and co-authored a 1984 Nature paper on the expression of cell-surface antigens in transfected mouse cells.
Hsu developed a career investing in life-science and healthcare companies, serving as a lead investor, board member, adviser, or co-founder in numerous biotechnology ventures.
Hsu helped found LEAD Therapeutics, a biotechnology company that pursued small-molecule drug discovery in oncology and infectious diseases through a United States–China research model.
(Co-authored with Paula Kavathas and Leonard A. Herzenberg...)
1984Hsu is identified with the Democratic Party. In American political life, the party has historically combined support for civil rights, social welfare, labor protections, and public investment with changing positions on economic regulation, technology, and international affairs. His documented political affiliation is separate from his professional work in biotechnology and venture capital.
Hsu is a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, a national scientific organization founded in 1848 to advance science, engineering, and innovation and to promote communication among scientists and the public.
Hsu is the son of Chichang Hsu and Ujjala (Deb) Hsu. His professional connections include co-founders, investors, board members, and scientific collaborators in biotechnology and healthcare companies, including the founding group of LEAD Therapeutics.
