Andrew J. Conrad is an American

geneticist A geneticist is a biologist or physician who studies genetics, the science of genes, heredity, and variation of organisms. A geneticist can be employed as a scientist or a lecturer. Geneticists may perform general research on genetic processes ...

who heads

Verily Verily Life Sciences, also known as Verily (formerly Google Life Sciences), is Alphabet Inc.'s research organization devoted to the study of life sciences. The organization was formerly a division of Google X, until August 10, 2015, when Sergey ...

, a life sciences division of

Alphabet Inc. Alphabet Inc. is an American multinational technology conglomerate holding company headquartered in Mountain View, California. It was created through a restructuring of Google on October 2, 2015, and became the parent company of Google and sev ...

As its chief executive officer, Conrad has recruited a multidisciplinary team of chemists, doctors, engineers, behavioral scientists and data scientists to research health and disease.

Early life

Conrad grew up in

Malibu, California Malibu ( ; es, Malibú; Chumash: ) is a beach city in the Santa Monica Mountains region of Los Angeles County, California, situated about west of Downtown Los Angeles. It is known for its Mediterranean climate and its strip of the Malib ...

and enjoyed surfing there.

Education

Conrad graduated with a B.S. in

neurobiology Neuroscience is the scientific study of the nervous system (the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nervous system), its functions and disorders. It is a multidisciplinary science that combines physiology, anatomy, molecular biology, developme ...

and a Ph.D. in cell biology from the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California S ...

(UCLA) in the late 1980s.

Career

In 1991 Conrad co-founded the National Genetics Institute (NGI) along with Mike Aicher. He served as its chief scientist and helped grow it into one of the largest genetics laboratories in the world. In 2000

LabCorp Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings, more commonly known as Labcorp, is an American healthcare company headquartered in Burlington, North Carolina. It operates one of the largest clinical laboratory networks in the world, with a United St ...

bought NGI for $65 million. With the money earned from the sale of NGI, Conrad built a vacation home on the Lānaʻi island of

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...

. On June 2, 2000, Conrad and Hollywood actress

Courtney Thorne-Smith Courtney Thorne-Smith (born November 8, 1967) is an American actress. She is known for her starring roles as Alison Parker on ''Melrose Place'', Georgia Thomas on '' Ally McBeal'', Cheryl Mabel in ''According to Jim'' and her recurring role on ...

impulsively got married but the two split 7 months later. At an art auction in Lānaʻi, Conrad met

David H. Murdock David Howard Murdock (born April 11, 1923) is an American billionaire businessman, plant-based diet advocate and philanthropist. Early career Murdock was born on April 11, 1923, in Kansas City, Missouri. His father was a traveling salesman; his ...

, chairman and owner of

Dole Food Company Dole plc (previously named Dole Food Company, Standard Fruit Company) is an Irish agricultural multinational corporation headquartered in Dublin, Ireland. The company is among the world's largest producers of fruit and vegetables, operating wit ...

, and also owner of Lānaʻi island. Murdock came to trust Conrad and eventually gave him board membership on companies he controlled:

Castle & Cooke Castle & Cooke, Inc., is a Los Angeles-based company that was once part of the Big Five companies in territorial Hawaii. The company at one time did most of its business in agriculture, including becoming, through mergers with the modern Dole F ...

, Dole Food Company and NovaRx. Conrad invested his money with Murdock and his son, Justin. In 2005, Conrad helped set up the

North Carolina Research Campus The North Carolina Research Campus (NCRC) is a public-private research center in Kannapolis, North Carolina, United States. The Campus was envisioned by David H. Murdock, owner of Dole Food Company and Castle and Cooke, Inc., as a center for imp ...

(NCRC), a life sciences research center in

Kannapolis, North Carolina Kannapolis () is a city in Cabarrus and Rowan counties, in the U.S. state of North Carolina, northwest of Concord and northeast of Charlotte and is a suburb in the Charlotte metropolitan area. The city of Kannapolis was incorporated in 1984. Th ...

. Murdock donated $700 million to NCRC as its founder. As its chief scientific advisor, Conrad attracted prominent scientists and companies to NCRC to develop products focused on agriculture, food, nutrition, and health. In November 2006 Conrad founded the California Health and Longevity Institute inside the Four Seasons

Westlake Village, California Westlake Village is a city in Los Angeles County on its western border with Ventura County. The City of Westlake Village incorporated in 1981 becoming the 82nd municipality of Los Angeles County.Baker, Pam (2002). ''Thousand Oaks Westlake Vil ...

in partnership with Murdock and Wellpoint. In March 2013 Conrad joined the life sciences unit of

Google X X Development LLC (formerly Google X) is an American semi-secret research and development facility and organization founded by Google in January 2010, which now operates as a subsidiary of Alphabet Inc. X has its headquarters about a mile and a ...

after 22 years at NGI. In June 2013 Murdock started the process to take the Dole Food Company private and appointed Conrad at the head of a four-person special committee of independent directors to approve a deal. Murdock initially offered $12 a share in cash, a price that the committee found too low. Murdock ultimately closed the deal at $13.50 but shareholders sued anyway. In 2015 they were awarded $148 million in damages while Conrad was found to have acted with integrity, and was not held liable. In August 2015 the life sciences unit of Google X was spun out as its own company under the Alphabet Inc. with Conrad as its CEO. In December 2015, the company changed its name from Google Life Sciences to

. In January 2023, Stephen Gillett became the new CEO of

, while Conrad shifted roles to become the executive chairman amid a corporate restructuring.

Awards

Conrad was named one of the ''Top 25 Most Influential People in Biopharma 2015'' by FierceBiotech.

Publications

Conrad has more than eighty-five publications in scientific and medical journals.

Personal life

Conrad is an avid surfer and has a casual dressing style. He is married to Haylynn Cohen, a model, with whom he has two children.

References

External links

* Andrew Conrad speaks at th
WSJD Live conference
{{DEFAULTSORT:Conrad, Andrew Living people 1964 births People from Los Angeles University of California, Los Angeles alumni American geneticists Google people Alphabet Inc. people American technology chief executives People from Malibu, California Scientists from California