Scientist · Founder · Advisor · Convener

Science, venture, and the art of living.

Helen Chen, Ph.D., works across biotechnology, company building, and ideas that connect science with culture and human experience.
She works with founders, investors, and institutions—bringing scientific depth, venture perspective, and an instinct for connections others may miss.
Explore the work Start a conversation
Black-and-white portrait of Helen Chen
Recent Salon · San Francisco

Fragrance:
The Invisible Signature

A heavily oversubscribed interdisciplinary salon bringing together perfumery, medicine, wearable technology, venture, design, and molecular biology to explore scent, identity, and wellbeing.

Host & Moderator · Helen Chen
Featured by LumaIn its guide to San Francisco’s hottest events
Event Details →
Helen Chen moderating the Fragrance salon panel
Audience participation at the Fragrance salon
Perfume bottles at Fragrance: The Invisible Signature
“These are the kinds of rooms where innovation gets started.”Kadambari Sahu, an International multi-award-winning Designer and a Leader, working as SVP-Design at ValueLabs.
Work with Helen

Three ways to engage.

From a global stage to a private founder table, each engagement is shaped around the people and questions in the room.

Helen Chen speaking on stage
01

Speaking, Programs & Coaching

Speaking, founder education, workshops, and focused coaching for companies, universities, accelerators, and international programs.

Explore speaking & coaching →
Figs and cookies prepared for an interdisciplinary salon
02

Curated Experiences

Original interdisciplinary salons bringing together science, technology, culture, design, and the human experience.

Explore curated experiences →
Two chairs overlooking the landscape at Sonoma Table
03

Sonoma Table

A private half-day founder retreat exploring instinct, judgment, and leadership in the AI era.

Discover Sonoma Table →
Selected institutions, programs, and communities
YaleUC San DiegoY CombinatorStanford StartXIndieBioUC BerkeleyUSCTaipei TechOutsomeDigitalBridge YaleUC San DiegoY CombinatorStanford StartXIndieBioUC BerkeleyUSCTaipei TechOutsomeDigitalBridge
“The room resonated and vibrated—you did that!”
Participant reflection · Fragrance: The Invisible Signature
Selected Appearances

Upcoming &
recent.

A selective view of public events, invited programs, workshops, and private engagements.

Biomedical Entrepreneurship BootcampTaipei · Taipei Tech
Curated SalonNew York City · Details coming soon
Founder Mindset and Pitch Deck Storytelling WorkshopSan Francisco · Private program
Fragrance: The Invisible SignatureSan Francisco · Salon host and moderator
New Paths for Global Innovation in Life Science StartupSan Francisco · Panelist
About Helen

Scientist by training. Builder by practice. Interdisciplinary by nature.

Helen Chen, Ph.D., is an experienced drug hunter with more than fifteen years of drug discovery experience in the biotech industry. She is the co-founder and CEO of Alixia, developing new therapeutics for cancer and age-related diseases. Before becoming a biopharma operator, she was a project analyst at Beachhead Consulting, a strategy firm specializing in drug-discovery tools.

An award-winning scientist and entrepreneur, Helen is part of the Y Combinator, Stanford StartX, and UCSF QB3 communities. In 2016, Springboard BioHub selected her as one of the top ten women biotech entrepreneurs in the United States.

She is a frequent speaker and mentor at the University of Southern California and UC Berkeley’s Sutardja Center for Entrepreneurship & Technology. She has also served on boards at the University of California, Riverside, and California Baptist University.

Helen received her Ph.D. in biomedical sciences from the University of California, San Diego, and her B.S. from Yale University.

For ideas that deserve a deeper conversation.

Helen welcomes selected advisory projects, speaking invitations, institutional programs, interdisciplinary collaborations, and curated experiences.

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