# Alec Ford

> Alec Ford is the chief executive of Karius, a Redwood City genomics-diagnostics company that reads microbial cell-free DNA from a single tube of blood to identify more than a thousand pathogens. He took the job in October 2020 and led the company through a $100M Series C in May 2024.

- **Role:** Chief Executive Officer at Karius, Inc.
- **Organizations:** Karius, Myriad Genetics, Novartis, Sanofi-Aventis, Nektar Therapeutics, Pfizer, BioUtah
- **From:** Chicago, Illinois, United States
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** Organizational Development, New York University
- **Known for:** Closed $100M Series C for Karius in May 2024 (total funding ~$345M), Scaled commercial diagnostic product lines at Myriad Genetics across four therapeutic areas, Founding board member of BioUtah

## Career timeline

- **pre-2010s** — Leadership positions at Pfizer, Sanofi-Aventis, Nektar Therapeutics and Novartis
- **2010s** — Chief Operating Officer at Myriad Genetics; launched products in Women's Health, Oncology, Urology and Prenatal screening
- **2010s** — Founding board member of BioUtah, the state's life-sciences trade association
- **2020-10-06** — Announced as CEO of Karius, succeeding co-founder Mickey Kertesz
- **2024-05-02** — Closed $100M Series C co-led by Khosla Ventures, 5AM Ventures and Gilde Healthcare

## Achievements

- Closed $100M Series C for Karius in May 2024 (total funding ~$345M)
- Scaled commercial diagnostic product lines at Myriad Genetics across four therapeutic areas
- Founding board member of BioUtah
- Brought Karius's pathogen blood test into broader hospital and transplant-center adoption

## Latest updates

- **2024-05** — Karius announced a $100M Series C co-led by Khosla Ventures, 5AM Ventures and Gilde Healthcare; three new board members joined.

## Links

- Website: https://kariusdx.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alec-ford-b578003/
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/kariusinc
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/kariustest/

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/alec-ford
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-05-15