David Lawrence, MD, MPH
David M. Lawrence, MD, MPH, is a Venture Partner at Physic Ventures, concentrating on innovative investments in the consumer health ecosystem. Dave serves on the Boards of Agilent Technologies, McKesson Corporation, Raffles Medical Group (Singapore), and Proventys, Inc. He is special advisor to Proteus Biomedical, SomaLogic Inc., and to the founders of MedExpert Inc. Dave serves as a member of the RAND Health Advisory Board and as a member of the Advisory Board for the RAND COMPARE study on national health reform. He is a founding member of the Lucien Leape Institute of the National Patient Safety Foundation, and serves on the Advisory Board to the California Prison Health System. Dave is the author of From Chaos to Care: The Promise of Team-Based Medicine (Perseus Press, 2002).
From 1991 until his retirement in December, 2002, Dr. Lawrence was Chief Executive Officer of Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc. and Kaiser Foundation Hospitals, and Chairman of the Board from 1992 until his retirement. Dr. Lawrence served KFHP/KFH as Vice Chairman of the Board and Chief Operating Officer (1990-91); Senior Vice President and Regional Manager for Northern California (1988-89); Vice President and Regional Manager in Colorado (1985-88). He was Vice President and Area Medical Director for Northwest Permanente in Portland, Oregon (1981-85).
Prior to joining Kaiser Permanente, Dr. Lawrence served as Health Officer and Director of Human Services in Multnomah County, Oregon; on the faculty of Department of Health Services and Director of MEDEX in the School of Public Health and Community Medicine, University of Washington; as Advisor to the Ministry of Health of Chile; and as Peace Corps Physician in the Dominican Republic and Washington, DC, and Director of the Office of Medical Programs for the Peace Corps.
Dr. Lawrence is a graduate of Amherst College (BA), the University of Kentucky (MD), and the University of Washington (MPH). He is Board Certified in General Preventive Medicine (Johns Hopkins and University of Washington). He is a member of Alpha Omega Alpha (Medical Honorary Society) and the Institute of Medicine (National Academy of Sciences).
Dr. Lawrence has been recognized as the Outstanding Alumnus of the School of Public Health and Community Medicine, University of Washington (1980); and The Outstanding Alumnus, College of Medicine, University of Kentucky (1995). He was inducted into the Hall of Distinguished Alumni, University of Kentucky (1995); and has received Honorary Degrees from Amherst College (Doctor of Science, 1994), Colgate University (Doctor of Letters, 1995), and the University of Kentucky (Doctor of Science, 1997). He was named Distinguished Advisor to the National Patient Safety Foundation in 2005.
