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Nina Kjellson is a general partner at Canaan, where she invests in early-stage biopharma and digital health companies that transform clinical outcomes and access to care for patients. In her eighteen years in venture capital, Nina has led more than a dozen investments and seen numerous exits via IPO or acquisition. Nina is a leader of Canaan’s Women of Venture program and a vocal advocate for women entrepreneurs and investors. She serves as a mentor to Springboard Life Sciences, an accelerator for health care companies led by women entrepreneurs. She is also an advisor to Oliver Wyman's Health Innovation Center; serves on the board of Essential Access Health, a not-for-profit championing sexual and reproductive health access; and is a member of the California Leadership Council for the Nature Conservancy. Prior to Canaan, Nina was a general partner at InterWest Partners, an investment manager at Bay City Capital, and a research associate at Oracle Partners, a healthcare hedge fund. Current investments include Dauntless, Lycera, PACT Pharma, Tizona, Vineti, and WellTok, where she also serves on their boards. Her previous investments include Ocera (OCRX; acquired by Mallinckrodt), Labrys (acquired by Teva), Alt12 (acquired by Honest Company), Trius (TSRX; acquired by Cubist), CNS Therapeutics (acquired by Covidien), NovaCardia (acquired by Merck), and Aspreva (ASPV; acquired by Galenica). She received a BA in human biology from Stanford University. Nina was born in Scandinavia and grew up in the Northeast. She and her husband live in Sausalito, CA. Nina is a Fellow of the fourth class of the Health Innovators Fellowship and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network.
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