Derek DiRocco, PhD
Partner·RA Capital Management
Bio
Professional summary
Derek DiRocco is a Partner at RA Capital Management. Based on RA Capital’s official team page, he works on both public and private investments and serves as a board director for companies including Acrivon, Bambusa Therapeutics, Evommune, Forward Therapeutics, Frontier Medicines, Mineralys, Rivus, Stipple Bio, and Syntelios. His prior investment landscape coverage included solid tumor oncology. Before investing, he completed postdoctoral research at Brigham and Women’s Hospital/Harvard Medical School focused on Wnt signaling in mouse models of kidney disease and research related to solid organ fibrosis. He holds a BA in Biology from Holy Cross College and a PhD in Pharmacology from the University of Washington.
Investment focus
Stage, sector, and overall fit
Stage
Sector
Thesis
Notable companies
Selected portfolio companies the partner has backed
How to approach
Framing and angles for outreach
Pitch framing
Best approached with a scientifically grounded healthcare or biotech opportunity, especially where deep disease-area diligence and public/private market context are relevant.
Partneralization hooks
- 1Reference his board work across therapeutics-focused RA Capital portfolio companies.
- 2For oncology-related opportunities, mention alignment with his prior solid tumor oncology landscape work.
Background
Career, education, and skills
Career history
- RA Capital ManagementPartner
Education
- Not specified on LinkedInPh.D., Life Sciences (inferred from title)
Skills
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