President and Chief Executive Officer
Cytokinetics

Robert was appointed President and Chief Executive Officer and has been a member of our board of directors since January, 2007. Previously he served as Cytokinetics’ President and held other senior level positions at the company overseeing research & development, finance, corporate development, legal, commercial operations and business development at various times since taking part in the launch of company operations in 1998.

Prior to Cytokinetics, Robert held senior positions in Business Development and Marketing at COR Therapeutics from 1991-1998. Previously, he performed roles of increasing responsibility in sales, marketing and other pharmaceutical business functions at Marion Laboratories and Syntex Corporation from 1981.

Robert serves on the Board of BayBio and is on faculty at the Center for BioEntrepreneurship at UC San Francisco where he has taught a corporate finance course to graduate students. He co-chaired the BIO Business Development Committee and is a frequent lecturer on matters of business development and finance in the biopharmaceutical industry.

He currently serves on the National Board of the American Committee of the Weizmann Institute of Science and established the Blum Family Venture Philanthropy Fund to propel basic science discoveries at the Institute with potential to benefit the Israeli life sciences economy. In addition, he established the Tikkun Olam Youth Science Prizes for Bay Area middle and high schools designed to further science education and exploration in the spirit of repairing the world. Robert serves on the Board of the Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco and founded and chaired its Business Leadership Council. He has also served on the Boards of San Francisco's Contemporary Jewish Museum and the Anti-Defamation League.

Robert was recently named a Henry Crown Fellow of the Aspen Institute in recognition of his leadership in corporate and civic responsibilities. Mr. Blum received B.A. degrees in Human Biology and Economics from Stanford University and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.