LifeSci Search Opens Office in San Francisco; Expands Health Technology and AI Expertise
April 22, 2020 – New York City-based life sciences-focused executive search firm LifeSci Search has opened a new office in San Francisco. The location will be led by managing partner Elena Liapounova.
“Having a presence in San Francisco gives us an opportunity to provide a more personalized approach to clients on the West Coast,” said Andrew Cronin, president and co-founder of LifeSci Search, a division of consulting services company LifeSci Partners. “We feel it is important to have people based in the geographies we cover so our clients know exactly who they are working with. In the coming months we also plan to hire consultants in the LifeSci Partners offices across Europe, APAC and Israel.”
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As part of the same announcement, LifeSci Search said the firm has also expanded its digital health, AI healthcare and medical technology expertise with the additions of Erin Crider and Micaela Sigel. Both have more than a decade of experience and will bolster the firm’s ability to place C-suite executives and board members.
“As health technology and AI become increasingly important tools in drug discovery and development as well as improving disease diagnosis and treatment, we felt it was critical to expand our expertise and reach into this field,” said Matt Toner, CEO and co-founder of LifeSci Search. “With these new hires LifeSci Search has some of the most respected search consultants focused on executing and finding the best talent within medical technology, digital health and healthcare AI.”
Ms. Crider joins LifeSci Search from global technology and healthcare executive search firm Talent International, where she was an associate director. She has seven years of executive search experience working with start-ups and VC funds focused on emerging technology and new solutions in AI, digital health and medical technology. Ms. Sigel most recently served as a principal recruitment consultant at life sciences-focused executive search firm EPM Scientific.
LifeSci Search is the global executive and board search division of LifeSci Partners. The firm operates exclusively in the biotechnology, pharmaceutical, medical device and healthcare sectors. LifeSci Search leverages domain expertise, deep client relationships, and a client-as-partner approach to fully understand and execute C-Suite assignments for each client company. The firm offers bespoke recruitment solutions leveraging its research and data analytics resources with global relationships to deliver strategic candidate identification and assessment with a seamless, high touch search process.
Top 50 Healthcare/Life Sciences Search Firm
LifeSci Search was recently named one of Hunt Scanlon’s Top 50 Healthcare and Life Sciences Search Firms. “We are less than two years old and being named on this list is a great milestone, but this is just a start,” said Mr. Toner.
Just recently, LifeSci Search recently broke into the marijuana industry with the addition of Charles Albert as vice president and head of cannabis. “There is a real opportunity for cannabis companies to grow outside of mom and pop shops,” Mr. Albert said. “At LifeSci Search, we can leverage our parent company platform (investor relations, capital investments, public relations) and existing relationships to quickly identify board, C-suite and senior executive candidates.”
“Our expertise in life sciences and our ability to tie in therapeutic industries specifically provides us with a competitive advantage in the medical cannabis market,” said Mr. Albert. “We are also seeing these companies looking to add credibility to their boards, bringing in pharma executives or those that can provide further exposure to capital markets. The growth of these cannabis industries has seen a rise in demand for top talent across the board from master growers to C-suite executives and our expertise spreads across all functions / roles in the industry.”
Mr. Albert has over 10 years of recruiting experience with an emphasis on retained executive search. He helped introduce Korn Ferry to the cannabis market in the U.S. He also spent time running internal executive recruiting processes as well as focusing on broader life sciences and manufacturing retained search. Mr. Albert is one of the solely focused cannabis recruiters in the U.S. levering relationships across cultivators, retail / dispensaries, private equity, banking, venture capital, packaging, cosmetics, technology and more.
Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief; Dale M. Zupsansky, Managing Editor; and Stephen Sawicki, Managing Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media
