BIO
Sam Blackman, MD, PhD
Entrepreneur-in-residence at Google Ventures and Founder/Former Head of R&D at Day One Biopharmaceuticals
- Joined Google Ventures as Entrepreneur-in-residence on March 31, 2025
- Prior to founding Day One, held roles of increasing responsibility in various setting, ranging from large global pharmaceutical companies (Merck, GlaxoSmithKline) to small venture-backed startups (Mavupharma, Silverback).
- His career has enabled him to drive and oversee the development of novel cancer therapeutics in pediatric and adult oncology, across a range of mechanisms of activity, and has deep experience in small molecule targeted therapies, antibody-drug conjugates, CAR-T cells, and novel immunooncology agents.
- Industry experience includes the development and execution of proof-of-biology studies in oncology; the development, validation and implementation of transcriptional and imaging biomarker programs to support oncology drug development; and the evaluation and development of new biomarker platforms, using human experimental models, to facilitate early go/no-go decisions in oncology drug development.
- Clinical background is in pediatric hematology/oncology, with subspeciality training in pediatric neuro-oncology. My laboratory work was primarily in cell biology, in particular the identification of thromboxane A2 receptors in oligodendrocytes, and work to examine the role of Sonic hedgehog signaling in high-grade gliomas. In addition to my cancer drug development work, I am an a
- Avid writer and storyteller, having performed multiple times in solo storytelling shows, as well as on stage at The Moth, and won two Moth GrandSLAM slams.
- Board Member of Bonum Therapeutics, CureSearch for Children's Cancer, and Presage Biosciences, Inc.