David Morris, MD

David Morris, MD, a pharma executive with experience in research and development, venture capital and developing early-stage biotech companies – as well as deep roots in academic medicine – has been named Vice Chancellor for Business Development, Innovation and Partnerships at UC San Francisco.

Morris has worked at Roche, as well as Novartis, where he led respiratory and primary care drug development, and ultimately rose to become global head of clinical operations, overseeing hundreds of clinical trials worldwide.

He has been directly or indirectly involved in the research, development and approval of multiple new medications for COPD, asthma, dermatologic diseases, diabetes, hypertension and heart failure, including work on Entresto which has become a standard of care for heart failure. He and his team were also early innovators in leveraging technology to streamline clinical research and apply digital solutions in drug discovery and development at Novartis.

He later served as managing director for the Novartis Venture Fund, working out of its Emeryville office with many Bay Area startups, including Soteria Biotherapeutics, a spinout from the laboratory of Jim Wells, PhD, in the UCSF School of Pharmacy.

Most recently, working from their Bay Area offices, Morris headed research and development at Valo Health, a Boston firm that uses generative AI for drug discovery. He also served as chief medical officer for Enterprise Therapeutics in the United Kingdom, where he helped develop new inhaled therapies for cystic fibrosis.