# Alice Zhang

> Alice Zhang is the CEO and co-founder of Verge Genomics (now Verge Labs), a San Francisco biotech she started in 2015 after walking away from an MD/PhD program at UCLA. She built a company that pairs machine learning with one of the largest collections of human brain tissue to find drug targets for diseases like ALS, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's. A Princeton molecular biology graduate, Soros Fellow and Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree, Zhang turned her inexperience into what she calls a 'superpower,' raising more than $130 million and partnering with Eli Lilly and AstraZeneca before pivoting the company toward selling its data and insights to pharma in 2025.

- **Role:** CEO & Co-founder at Verge Genomics (Verge Labs)
- **Organizations:** Verge Genomics, Verge Labs
- **From:** Maryland, United States
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** BA, Molecular Biology (honors), Princeton University, MD/PhD program, Integrative Genomics & Neuroscience (left before completing), University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)
- **Known for:** Co-founded and leads Verge Genomics, raising more than $130 million in venture funding, Built one of the largest proprietary collections of human brain tissue (6,800+ samples) via partnerships with two dozen universities and brain banks, Advanced an AI-discovered ALS candidate (VRG50635, targeting PIKFYVE) from research to clinic in roughly four years

## Career timeline

- **2012** — Awarded the Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowship for New Americans to pursue her MD at UCLA
- **2015** — Co-founded Verge Genomics after leaving her MD/PhD program at UCLA
- **2017** — Named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 class
- **2022** — Named to Fortune's 40 Under 40 and Fierce Biotech's Fiercest Women in Life Sciences; Verge advanced VRG50635 (PIKFYVE) into clinical trials
- **2025** — VRG50635 ALS trial failed to show benefit; company rebranded as Verge Labs, laid off ~90% of staff and shifted to a data-and-insights model for pharma partners

## Achievements

- Co-founded and leads Verge Genomics, raising more than $130 million in venture funding
- Built one of the largest proprietary collections of human brain tissue (6,800+ samples) via partnerships with two dozen universities and brain banks
- Advanced an AI-discovered ALS candidate (VRG50635, targeting PIKFYVE) from research to clinic in roughly four years
- Forbes 30 Under 30 (2017)
- Fortune 40 Under 40 (2022)
- Fierce Biotech Fiercest Women in Life Sciences (2022)
- Paul & Daisy Soros Fellow (2012)
- Established UCLA's first clinic providing medical evaluations for asylum seekers
- Founded a Princeton chapter of Physicians for Human Rights

## Latest updates

- **2025-12** — Verge's experimental ALS drug VRG50635 failed to show benefit in an early-stage trial.
- **2025-12** — The company rebranded from Verge Genomics to Verge Labs, laid off roughly 90% of staff, and pivoted to monetizing its datasets and insights for pharma and biotech partners.

## Links

- Website: https://vergegenomics.com
- LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/alice-zhang-2087862b
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/vergegenomics

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/alice-zhang
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-06-14