Director, CRI Venture Fund and Clinical Accelerator
Vanessa M. Lucey, Ph.D., MBA, is the Director of CRI’s flagship program, the Clinical Accelerator and Venture Fund—a unique global collaboration of more than 90 of the field’s top clinical researchers and over 20 top biopharma companies designed to identify novel combinations of cancer immunotherapies that may hold transformational promise for patients. Vanessa leads and manages the program’s scientific and investment strategy for $110M+ evergreen venture fund. She also oversees and coordinates activities between our clinical trials management delivery partners, as well as various academic and biopharma stakeholders. Additionally, Vanessa manages the CRI IO Landscape, a drug and clinical trial database to track the evolving field of immunotherapy.
Vanessa has 18 years of experience in the field of immunology and immunotherapy. She first joined CRI in 2014 after 12 years as a research scientist. She received her B.S. in biology from Fordham University, her Ph.D. from Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and completed her postdoctoral fellowship at NYU School of Medicine. Vanessa also holds an M.B.A. in Management/Finance from Mercy College School of Business. She has published 33+ peer-reviewed papers in top tier journals.