Laura Brass

Laura Brass is a Managing Director at the Novartis Venture Fund, based in Cambridge, MA, where she leads early-stage life-science investments in biotech and biopharmaceutical companies. She holds a BA in Philosophy and a BS in Biochemistry from the University of Missouri–Columbia, and both a PhD in Molecular Genetics and Cell Biology and an MBA from the University of Chicago — a combination of deep scientific training and business education that underpins her work in company creation and deal structuring.

Before joining the Novartis Venture Fund, Brass was a Managing Director at MPM Capital, one of the longest-standing dedicated life-science venture firms. Earlier, she was a member of the founding management team and SVP of Business Development at TriNetX, a health-data and clinical-research network company that she helped build from the ground up.

Prior to TriNetX, Brass served as Director of Business Development at Harvard University's Office of Technology Development and at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering. There she led commercialization strategy, startup creation, deal structuring, and negotiations across a portfolio of more than 250 biotech, synthetic-chemistry, engineering, software, device, and stem-cell technologies developed at Harvard and its affiliated institutions. She also held business-development and IP-strategy roles at Elixir Pharmaceuticals and was CEO of Aferon, an early-stage antiviral startup — giving her operating experience as a founder-CEO in addition to her investing and tech-transfer track record.

• Invests at the seed and Series A stage in therapeutics-focused biotech and biopharma companies, frequently participating in company creation and syndicate-building.
• Typical initial checks in the ~$5M–$10M range, with NVF committing meaningful follow-on capital (up to ~$30M–$50M total per company over its life).
• Sector interests span oncology, immunology, gene therapy / genome insertion, and targeted protein degradation — reflected in her active board portfolio.
• As part of the Novartis Venture Fund, she deploys from a fund managing >$750M in committed capital across a portfolio of 40+ companies, investing across North America, Europe, and Israel.
• Her profile favors strong, differentiated science and experienced/ scientifically credible teams, consistent with a PhD-trained investor who has also operated as a founding executive and CEO.