Robert previously was one of the initial employees at COR Therapeutics (NASDAQ: CORR) and held senior business development and marketing positions prior to the sale of the company. He has worked in various business functions for emerging pharmaceutical companies since 1982 and is an active investor and advisor to life sciences firms engaged in pharmaceutical discovery, development and commercialization. Robert serves on the Board of BayBio, a trade association serving the life sciences industry in Northern California. Robert is on faculty at the Center for BioEntrepreneurship at UC San Francisco where he teaches a corporate finance course to graduate students. Mr. Blum co-chaired the BIO Business Development Committee and is a frequent lecturer on matters of business development and finance in the biopharmaceutical industry.
Robert 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 and funds the Tikkun Olam Youth Science Prizes for Bay Area Jewish day schools 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, the Peninsula, Marin & Sonoma Counties (JCF), for which he also is a member of the Capital Planning Committee. Prior to this, he founded and chaired JCF’s Business Leadership Council. Robert previously served on the Board of San Francisco's Contemporary Jewish Museum and the Anti-Defamation League and has served other San Francisco philanthropies including the Exploratorium and Brandeis Hillel Day School, particularly in matters related to finance, marketing and development. Robert was recently named a Henry Crown Fellow of the Aspen Institute in recognition of his leadership in corporate and civic responsibilities.