Susan Desmond-Hellmann

Sue Desmond-Hellmann (born 1958) is an American oncologist and biotechnology leader who was the chief executive officer of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation from 2014 to 2020. In March 2024, she was elected as a board member of OpenAI. She was previously Chancellor of the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), the first woman to hold the position, and Arthur and Toni Rembe Rock Distinguished Professor, and before that president of product development at Genentech, where she played a role in the development of the first gene-targeted cancer drugs, Avastin and Herceptin.

Early life and education Born in Napa, California, Desmond-Hellmann grew up in Reno, Nevada, as one of seven children. Her father worked as a pharmacist and her mother was an English teacher. She graduated from Bishop Manogue High School in 1975. She earned a bachelor of science degree in pre-medicine and an M.D. from the University of Nevada, Reno and received her residency training at UCSF, where she was chief resident. She is board-certified in internal medicine and medical oncology, and also holds a master's degree in public health from the University of California, Berkeley School of Public Health.

Career Beginnings Desmond-Hellmann was an associate adjunct professor of epidemiology and biostatistics At UCSF. She joined the UCSF medical faculty during the HIV/AIDS epidemic in San Francisco, and worked on Kaposi's sarcoma. Beginning in 1989 both she and her husband, an infectious disease doctor, spent two years as visiting faculty at the Uganda Cancer Institute, studying and treating patients with infectious diseases and Kaposi's sarcoma in a project funded by the Rockefeller Foundation. She left after the company was acquired by Roche Pharmaceuticals. At that point her compensation was $8 million a year.

Chancellor of UCSF, 2009–2013 After being invited to apply, on August 3, 2009, Desmond-Hellmann became the ninth Chancellor of UCSF, and the first woman to hold the position. Desmond-Hellmann became the first Chancellor drawn from outside academia. Her starting salary was $450,000 a year.

In January 2012, Desmond-Hellmann proposed changing the relationship between UCSF, a health sciences university, and the University of California. She proposed creating partnerships between UCSF and private pharmaceutical corporations and other sources of funding, in order to increase its revenues and resolve its projected financial instability.

Desmond-Hellmann served as UCSF Chancellor until March 2014, holding the Arthur and Toni Rembe Rock Distinguished Professorship during her tenure. The so-called "knowledge network" would integrate the wealth of data emerging on the molecular basis of disease with information on environmental factors and patients' electronic medical records and would allow scientists to share emerging research findings faster, thereby accelerating the development of tailored treatments. It also would allow clinicians to make more informed decisions about treatments, reduce health care costs and ultimately improve care. The NAS report, titled "Toward Precision Medicine: Building a Knowledge Network for Biomedical Research and a New Taxonomy of Disease", was described by Keith Yamamoto, Vice Chancellor for Research at UCSF, as "the most important National Academy of Sciences Framework Analysis since that advisory body recommended that the United States go forward with the Human Genome Project".

CEO of Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, 2014–2020 On December 17, 2013, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced that it had selected Desmond-Hellmann as its next chief executive officer.

In 2017, Desmond-Hellmann became a member of the Prix Galien USA Committee, succeeding Roy Vagelos as Chair of that Committee in 2018. She is also Chair of the Prix Galien International and Member of the Prix Galien Africa Committee.

In December 2019, Desmond-Hellmann announced plans to step down from her role as BMGF CEO "for health and family reasons". Mark Suzman will leave his role of BMGF president of Global Policy & Advocacy and chief strategy officer to become the new BMGF CEO on February 1, 2020.

Later career In 2021, Desmond-Hellmann was appointed by President Joe Biden to the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST), co-chaired by Frances Arnold, Eric Lander and Maria Zuber. In March 2024, Desmond-Hellman was appointed to OpenAI's Board of Directors. In 2024 Desmond-Hellmann received the Clark Kerr Award for distinguished leadership in higher education from the UC Berkeley Academic Senate.

Other activities Corporate boards Facebook, Member of the Board of Directors (2013–2019) Pfizer, Member of the Board of Directors (since 2020) OpenAI, Member of the Board of Directors (since March 2024) California Academy of Sciences, Member of the Board of Trustees (since 2008) Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Member of the Board of Trustees (since 2012)

Personal life Desmond-Hellmann married Nicholas Hellmann in 1987.