Elaine V. Jones PhD

Elaine V. Jones, Ph.D., is a seasoned biopharmaceutical executive with over 20 years of life science investing experience.
She has served on more than 35 life science company boards, bringing both research and business development expertise.
Currently, she serves on the boards of CytomX, HBM Healthcare Investments, NextCure, and is the Chair of Gritstone bio and Miriond.
She also serves as a Director of Myeloid Therapeutics and on the advisory board of the Novartis Venture Fund, as well as the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) Product Development Review Council.
Until April 2019, Dr. Jones was Vice President, Venture Capital, at Pfizer Ventures.  She joined the team in 2008 and was responsible for making and managing strategic venture investments across many therapeutic areas of interest to Pfizer. Previously, Dr. Jones was a General Partner with the $250M venture fund, EuclidSR Partners.  ESR was focused on the life sciences and technology sectors, as well as in areas where those industries converge to enhance drug discovery, development and marketing.  There, Dr. Jones was responsible for the fund’s investments in Acurian, Fluidigm, InnaPhase, and Targacept. 

Dr. Jones began her private equity career in 1999 at SR One, GlaxoSmithKline’s corporate venture fund, where she managed investments including Adolor, Avantium, Cogent Neurosciences, Descartes Therapeutics, Message Pharmaceuticals, Nucleonics, Scynexis, Therion Biologics, and Vicuron. 

Prior to SR One, Dr. Jones was a Director of Scientific Licensing for SmithKline Beecham, where she focused on licensing opportunities in arthritis, bone disease, urology, and cancer. In her research career at SmithKline Beecham, Dr. Jones applied her virology and biotechnology background to animal health vaccine development.  She has published numerous scientific articles and was a named inventor on five patents / patent applications. Dr. Jones holds a Ph.D. in Microbiology from the University of Pittsburgh and conducted post-doctoral research at the National Institutes of Health.