| Phyllis Gardner | |
| Native Name: | Phyllis I. Gardner |
| Nationality: | American |
| Years Active: | 1976-present |
| Known For: | First skeptic of Elizabeth Holmes Ion channel biophysics |
| Notable Students: | Elizabeth Holmes |
| Spouse: | Andrew Perlman |
| Awards: | Judith Pool Award |
Phyllis I. Gardner (born July 7, 1950) is a Professor of Medicine at the Stanford University School of Medicine, and former Dean of Education. Gardner was one of the first people to be publicly skeptical of Elizabeth Holmes, the founder of blood testing company Theranos, who was later found guilty of investor fraud.
Gardner completed her bachelor's degree at the University of Illinois, where she specialized in biology. She studied at Harvard Medical School and graduated in 1976. She has held a license to practice medicine in California since 1979. She completed research fellowships at Columbia University and University College London. She was a postdoctoral fellow at University College London in 1982.[1] Gardner trained in internal medicine at the Massachusetts General Hospital. She was a Chief Resident at the Stanford School of Medicine. In 2002 Gardner argued against a merger of University College London and Imperial College London. Gardner is married to Andrew Perlman. Perlman is an executive within the biotechnology sector in the United States. He briefly served on an advisory board for Theranos for a few months before the panel was shut down. Perlman learned that Theranos was a significant buyer of laboratory diagnostic testing equipment from the company Siemens.
Gardner joined Stanford University in 1984. Her initial role upon hiring in 1984 was as assistant professor of medicine and pharmacology. Gardner works on cardiac arrhythmias and cystic fibrosis pathogenesis. Gardner was appointed Senior Associate Dean for Education and Student Affairs at Stanford University. She is a Professor of Clinical Pharmacology. She led a laboratory that focused on ion channel biophysics. In 2003, Gardner testified to the United States House of Representatives on the subject matter of applications of biotechnology research in the United States. Gardner's medical and scientific research has been published in multiple peer-reviewed scientific journals including Nature, Science, and The Lancet.
After spending ten years in academia, Gardner became interested in research and development and entrepreneurship. She mentored women interested in pursuit of the field of science. She gained experience within the of companies seeking out venture capital funding. She developed several forms of slow released medication, including an adaptation for retention in the stomach. Gardner has been involved with several start-ups in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries. From 1996 to 1998 Gardner served as Vice President of Research and Head of the Technology Institute at the Alza Corporation. Gardner served as Director of the biopharmaceutical company Revance Therapeutics from 2007 to 2018. She is an adjunct partner at Essex Woodlands Health Ventures. She founded several companies, including the Genomics Collaborative, SKOLAR and the CambriaTech Holding Co. She was appointed to the Board Of Directors of Ventaira Pharmaceuticals in 2006. Gardner serves on the Board of Fellows of the Harvard Medical School. She was appointed to the Board of Directors of CohBar, a clinical stage biotechnology company, in 2019.
In 2002, Elizabeth Holmes visited Gardner at Stanford University. Holmes proposed her idea for a microfluidic device that could detect and treat infectious diseases. Gardner was critical of the proposal, and told Holmes she did not think her invention would be successful. She explained to Holmes that it is not possible to use antibiotics on such a small scale. Holmes dropped out of Stanford a few months later, but Gardner followed the evolution of Theranos. Very briefly, both Gardner and Holmes served on the Harvard Medical School Board of Fellows after Holmes was given an invitation to join. Gardner did not permit Holmes to visit the Stanford campus and called for her to be sent to prison. Holmes was ultimately found guilty of criminal fraud, in the federal case, United States v. Elizabeth A. Holmes, et al. - which was brought by the United States against her and Theranos former president and COO Sunny Balwani.
The Wall Street Journal investigative journalist John Carreyrou delved into the manner in which Elizabeth Holmes failed to convince Gardner to involve herself in her company Theranos; he recounted this in-depth in his 2018 book, . This relationship was investigated further in the 2019 Alex Gibney documentary, . Rebecca Jarvis delved into the early background between Gardner and Holmes, in her 2019 podcast about Theranos, The Dropout. In the 2022 show, The Dropout, based on the Jarvis podcast of the same name, Gardner appeared as a character in the show, portrayed by Laurie Metcalf in the series.