Salk Institute welcomes venture capitalist and inventor Andrew Senyei to Board of Trustees

December 15, 2025

Salk Institute welcomes venture capitalist and inventor Andrew Senyei to Board of Trustees

December 15, 2025

LA JOLLA—Physician, inventor, and venture capitalist Andrew “Drew” Senyei, MD, has been newly appointed to the Salk Institute’s Board of Trustees. He will work alongside business and nonprofit leaders from around the world to advance Salk’s foundational and innovative biology research.

Senyei has worked in the healthcare and emerging technology industries for over 30 years and is credited with more than 30 patents and 45 peer-reviewed publications. He has also served on the boards of more than 30 private and public companies.

“Drew understands the value of early-stage science and has been critical to the development of numerous cutting-edge medical technologies,” says Salk President Gerald Joyce, MD, PhD. “His wealth of experience advising scientific institutions will be a great resource to us, and we look forward to working with him.”

Senyei earned his medical degree at Northwestern University and completed his residency training at the University of California, Irvine, where he served on the faculty before cofounding Enterprise Partners Venture Capital in 1986. The firm invested in early-stage disruptive technologies and services in healthcare, biotechnology, and information technology. He continues to be active in early-stage technology investing and is now a senior advisor to private equity fund Healthpoint Capital.

Early in his career, Senyei invented the first FDA-approved test to predict preterm birth, which has now been used by more than 8 million women worldwide. He was also the founding investor of Nuvasive, one of the largest orthopedic companies in the US, until it was acquired by Globus Medical in 2023. Senyei served as executive chairman of NeoSeq Ltd., a company specializing in advanced genetic testing for cancer and other diseases. He is a life trustee for Northwestern University, former chair of the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering Advisory Council, and a current member of the UC San Diego Foundation Board.

“Salk’s long-standing tradition of world-class, curiosity-driven basic biological research has consistently produced transformative discoveries, many of which began as unexpected findings and became the basis for new ways to prevent and treat disease. I am honored to join the board and assist in translating this extraordinary science into real-world impact,” Senyei says.