Joshua Kennedy-Smith

Joshua Kennedy-Smith is a Partner at RTW Investments, LP, based in New York, where he specializes in the chemistry of small and large molecules and leads research efforts in targeted disease and technology areas such as immunology and inflammation. At RTW, he plays a key role in investment strategy and portfolio management, providing scientific leadership across the biopharmaceutical sector, with particular expertise in intellectual property and drug discovery for diseases involving autoimmune and inflammatory pathways.

Before becoming Partner, Joshua joined RTW as a Research Analyst and rose to Managing Director, building on a prior industry career that included leadership roles at Schrödinger—where he was Principal Scientist and Head of Externalization—and as a medicinal chemist at Roche, contributing to the discovery of the HIV drug Elpida (elsulfavirine). His global experience spans work sites in the US, Switzerland, and India.

Joshua holds a Ph.D. in Chemistry (Synthetic Organic Chemistry) from the University of California, Berkeley, and a B.S. in Chemistry from the University of California, Santa Cruz. He is credited as an author and inventor on over 35 publications and patents, and has significantly advanced the application of scientific research in investment decisions in life sciences and healthcare asset classes.