Karen Harris
Executive Director, Mission-Related Investing and Finance, Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation
Karen Harris is Executive Director of Mission-Related Investing and Finance at the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation, where she leads the ADDF’s venture-based investment strategy and has structured and stewarded dozens of investments across the foundation’s portfolio.
She came to the nonprofit world after more than two decades in finance. She was Global COO of global equity capital markets at UBS, and a director and investment banker at Merrill Lynch focused on biotech and healthcare. Before joining the ADDF she served as CFO of the East Harlem Tutorial Program and Director of Development at the Mount Sinai Adolescent Health Center.
She holds an MBA in Finance from Stanford Graduate School of Business, where she graduated first in her class, and a BA in Economics from Columbia University.
Frequently Asked Questions About Karen Harris
Who is Karen Harris?
Karen Harris is Executive Director of Mission-Related Investing and Finance at the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation, where she leads the foundation’s venture-based investment strategy. She has structured and stewarded dozens of investments across the ADDF portfolio. She came to nonprofit work after more than two decades in finance. She holds an MBA in Finance from Stanford Graduate School of Business, where she graduated first in her class, and a BA in Economics from Columbia University.
What does Karen Harris invest in at the ADDF?
Karen Harris leads the venture-based investment strategy at the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation, a New York nonprofit that funds Alzheimer’s drug development through that model. She has said on Open Door Salon that the foundation invests primarily from the IND enabling phase through phase 2A, and that it views venture capital as complementary to that work.
What did Karen Harris do before joining the ADDF?
Karen Harris spent more than two decades in finance. She was Global COO of global equity capital markets at UBS, and a director and investment banker at Merrill Lynch, where she focused on biotech and healthcare. She then served as CFO of the East Harlem Tutorial Program and Director of Development at the Mount Sinai Adolescent Health Center before joining the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation.
What does Karen Harris look for in a founder?
Karen Harris looks for scientific founders who treat the company as a commercial venture. She said on Open Door Salon that “What I like to see most is a scientist who also understands that this has to be a commercial venture as well.” She has also said she can tell who is going to be a good CEO from the way a founder handles those negotiations. She has observed that with Alzheimer’s, commercialization is so far away that the commercial question is easy to forget.
On Open Door Salon
“Karen Harris and Mahesh Narayanan on Why Alzheimer's Startups Still Struggle to Raise Money”
Karen Harris & Mahesh Narayanan · August 12, 2026
Episode page & show notes on Open Door Salon
In this episode
- Why neuroscience became the hardest early-stage money to raise
- What changed: approvals, payer literacy, and neuroscientists becoming investors
- The payer and prescriber conversation founders start far too late
- Anthem covers a blood-based biomarker, and why that matters
- NIH, DARPA, ARPA-H, and the dual-use advantage in brain health
- Where private equity actually fits, and where it does not
- Venture philanthropy and venture capital: convergence and divergence
- What each investor needs to see from a founder
- Red flags: part-time CEOs and founders who will not be coached
- The caddie test
- What neuro founders should be doing right now and are not
Topics
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