Venture Partner, Viva BioInnovator
President, Tharton Consulting
Dr. Cynthia Cai is an executive and investor with more than twenty-five years of experience in the healthcare and life sciences industry. She has deep expertise in equity investment, board governance, marketing, and business development. Widely recognized for her ability to bridge collaboration between scientists and businesses globally, Dr. Cai brings an in-depth understanding of the biotech and life sciences ecosystem.
She is the founder and president of Tharton Consulting, which provides investment and management advisory services, and a venture partner at Viva BioInnovator, an equity investor in biotech innovation across multiple therapeutic areas. Previously, she served as senior advisor to Northern Light Venture Capital on its U.S. healthcare investments. Earlier in her career, Dr. Cai held progressive leadership roles at Agilent Technologies, where, as global associate vice president of marketing, she oversaw its billion-dollar Chromatography, Automation, and Mass Spectrometry business.
Dr. Cai serves on the boards of both public and private biotech companies, including Spectral AI (NASDAQ: MDAI), Arthrosi Therapeutics, Amberstone Biosciences, HAYA Therapeutics, Basking Biosciences, Acelink Therapeutics, and f5 Therapeutics, as well as on non-profit boards such as the Science History Institute in Philadelphia.
She earned a B.A. and M.Eng. from Tsinghua University in Beijing, a Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Massachusetts, and an MBA from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. A frequent speaker at leading healthcare investment conferences—including the BIO International Convention, RESI, China Focus on J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference, SAPA Annual Conference, and the Wharton China Business Forum—Dr. Cai also serves as a long-time career advisor for Tsinghua Global MBA and Wharton Executive MBA students, and as a mentor to entrepreneurs through several organizations.
