Amanda Cashin, Co-Founder & VP, Illumina Accelerator
Amanda Cashin, Ph.D. is Co-Founder and VP, Illumina Accelerator, a leading company creation engine and investment vehicle focused on building genomics-driven startups. Founded in Fall 2014 in San Francisco, Illumina Accelerator has invested in over 29 startups advancing breakthrough applications in genomics, including applications in therapeutics, women’s health, cancer diagnostics, consumer nutrition, agriculture, synthetic biology, advanced materials, and skin microbiome.
Previously, Amanda was Senior Vice President of Alexandria Venture Investments at Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. In her role, she helped lead Alexandria Venture Investments, which has over $250 million in capital deployed and committed to breakthrough life science and technology companies and leading venture capital funds. Amanda also led a team of life science professionals with strong science and business expertise responsible for industry research, company analysis, business development, and thought leadership activities to help position Alexandria at the forefront of the industry.
She earned a Ph.D. in Chemical Biology from the California Institute of Technology and graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor’s degree in Physical Organic Chemistry from the University of Colorado, Boulder. Her scientific expertise and peer-reviewed publications are in the fields of biochemistry, organic chemistry, physical chemistry, pharmacology, electrophysiology, and neuroscience.