Olivia Tournay Flatto

Biography

Olivia Tournay Flatto, PhD, is the President of The Pershing Square Foundation. She leads the Foundation’s efforts to deliver social impact by promoting exceptional leaders and innovative ideas in the areas of health and medicine, economic development, social justice, education, and the arts. In 2013, Dr. Tournay Flatto co-founded the Pershing Square Sohn Cancer Research Alliance. She continues to lead the implementation of its mission to enable the pursuit of the most innovative and advanced cancer research by facilitating collaborations between science and business.
Prior to joining the Alliance, Olivia spent a decade as President of the Emerald Foundation, an independently funded private medical research foundation based in New York City. She also served as Director of External Affairs at the New York Stem Cell Foundation (NYSCF). She started her research for her Ph.D. at the Wistar Institute in Philadelphia, PA in the laboratory of Dr. Frank Rauscher. Olivia completed her research in Dr. Robert Benezra’s laboratory at the Sloan-Kettering Institute in New York City where she worked on the Id gene and its role in the molecular mechanism of mammalian cell differentiation.
A native of France, Olivia received her Master’s Degree from L’Université de Montpellier in Parasitology and Microbiology and her Ph.D. in Molecular Biology and Genetics from the University of Pennsylvania. She serves as President and on the Advisory Board of The Pershing Square Foundation. She is also on the boards of the Paris Opera and Ballet (chair) and the Institute of International Education, as well as a member of the Women’s Forum of New York, The Economic Club of New York, and the President’s Circle of the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.
The French Government awarded her the title of “Chevalier de l’Ordre National du Mėrite” in 2008 and the title of “Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres” in 2013