David Kaufman '94

David Kaufman ’94 is a partner at Third Rock Ventures, a health care venture firm that works to build innovative companies creating products that make a difference in patients’ lives. Before joining Third Rock Ventures in 2020, Kaufman was chief medical officer and head of translational development at the Bill and Melinda Gates Medical Research Institute, a biotech arm of the Gates Foundation developing drugs and vaccines for diseases of global health burden. He has also worked at Merck Research Laboratories, where he was most recently  head of translational oncology, and for Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School. Kaufman is a director ex officio of the Society for the Immunotherapy of Cancer and Action Wellness, and a scientific advisor for Stand Up to Cancer. 

Kaufman graduated from Swarthmore in 1994 with a major in biology and minor in sociology & anthropology. He earned a Ph.D. in immunology and molecular virology from The Rockefeller University in 2002 and an M.D. at the Cornell University School of Medicine in 2003. Kaufman trained in internal medicine and infectious diseases at the University of California, San Francisco and Massachusetts General Hospital. 

Over the years, Kaufman has given his time to the College in various ways, including as a member of the Alumni Council, a SwatTalk presenter, an Extern Program volunteer, a member of the Natural Sciences and Engineering (NSE) alumni panel, and an Admissions interviewer.