Katie Jacobs Stanton has accepted the role of chief marketing officer at genomics startup Color. The former Twitter exec left her role at Twitter in February and considered a number of options before landing at the genetics services company.
Color was founded by early Twitter veterans Elad Gil and Othman Laraki to bring the cost of gene cancer screening down, particularly for two breast cancer genes BRCA1 and BRCA2.
The co-founders asked Stanton to help out on a few projects after she announced she was leaving Twitter – including work on free genetic testing for underserved populations. Stanton says the project helped her realize she wanted more of a role in precision medicine, according to her Medium post announcing the new role today.
“…the more time I spent with the team, the more captivated I became. I quickly realized I didn’t want to sit on the sidelines anymore. I wanted to join something bigger than myself and importantly, make my kids and family proud,” Stanton said.
Biotech and precision medicine are hard areas in the startup space, and the pressure is on more than ever to get the tech right and not make wild claims. But Stanton says she’s “drawn to mission-driven technologies that democratize access to information so I jumped at the opportunity.”
The move was also a personal one – both her grandfathers died of cancer and Stanton said she’s had several family members and friends battle the disease. “Cancer touches all of us,” she wrote.
Stanton will formally join the company full-time in August.