Phyllis Gardner (clinical pharmacologist)

Gardner was born on July 7, 1950, in Ames, Iowa to parents Frank Gardner and Opal Gardner, (née Van Winkle). The Gardner family in Virginia were mainly farmers. She enjoyed her time studying at Harvard Medical School, where she lived in the graduate student housing on campus, Vanderbilt Hall. She chose the path of pursuing the chief resident track at Stanford after her initial residency in internal medicine at Mass General, due to her interest in continuing to focus on academic medicine. She completed both research fellowships at Columbia University and the University College of London. ==Career==

Academic research Gardner joined Stanford University in 1984. Her initial role upon hiring in 1984 was as assistant professor of medicine and pharmacology. Gardner was appointed Senior Associate Dean for Education and Student Affairs at Stanford University. She was a professor of clinical pharmacology. Her role as Senior Associate Dean for Education and Student Affairs at Stanford University covered multiple responsibilities, with oversight into: all medical students, graduate students, and postdoctoral researchers; the campus library and lecture halls; and student services including admissions, and financial aid. She felt she encountered unfavorable treatment by male management at Stanford due to being a woman physician. 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 was published in multiple peer-reviewed scientific journals including Nature, Science, and The Lancet. She carried out research in 2013 while at Stanford, into the relationship between extracellular calcium upon t-cell receptor signaling. Gardner served on the Board of Fellows of the Harvard Medical School. Entrepreneurship After spending ten years in academia, Gardner became interested in research and development and entrepreneurship. She gained experience in companies seeking out venture capital funding. Gardner was involved with several start-ups in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries. She was an adjunct partner at Essex Woodlands Health Ventures, from 1999 until 2015. She was appointed to the board of directors of Ventaira Pharmaceuticals in 2006. Holmes proposed her idea for a microfluidic device that could detect and treat infectious diseases. 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. Gardner did not permit Holmes to visit the Stanford campus and called for her to be sent to prison. ==Personal life and death==

Gardner was married in 1984 to Andrew Perlman, Jay's positive experiences and comments about the support and resources at USC motivated his father to become a member of the USC Dornsife's Board of Councilors (BOC). ==In media==

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, Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup. This relationship was investigated further in the 2019 Alex Gibney documentary, The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley. 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, portrayed by Laurie Metcalf. ==Awards and honors==