Dr. Virginia Tusher earned her BSE in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering with a certificate in Biology in 1993 at Princeton. After graduation, she worked as an engineer at Affymetrix, where she developed the fluidics cartridge for the company's original GeneChip product.
She earned a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Stanford University. Her thesis work focused on developing the Significance Analysis of Microarrays (SAM), a microarray data analysis tool.
Following graduate school, Dr. Tusher worked at 5AM Ventures, an early-stage life sciences venture capital firm. At the firm, Dr. Tusher worked across life sciences and medical device sectors, from roles in due-diligence to serving in an operating role at a 5AM portfolio company.
Dr. Tusher is an enthusiastic supporter of interdisciplinary research and science education. She is a member of the SEAS Leadership Council at Princeton and a Trustee of the California Academy of Sciences, where she currently serves as the Board's Secretary. She also serves on the Stanford Interdisciplinary Life Sciences Council, which helps support the Bio-X, CHEM-H, and the Wu Tsai Neuroscience Institute. She lives in Marin County, CA with her husband and three children.
Virginia Tusher will serve as a judge for the 2021 Innovation Forum STEM track.