Stella Paffenholz
VC Associate at Nextech Invest
Living in Boston, United States
Stella is currently an Associate at Nextech Invest, a precision medicine focused venture capital group. Prior to Nextech, Stella gained experience in venture creation at Apollo Health Ventures, management consulting at McKinsey, and in-house consulting at Merck KGaA. Stella holds a B.S. in Molecular Biomedicine from the University of Bonn, a M.S. in Molecular Biosciences from the German Cancer Research Center in Heidelberg as a Helmholtz Fellow, and a Ph.D. from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. With her research, Stella aimed to improve the treatment options for ovarian cancer, the deadliest cancer affecting women. Throughout her studies, Stella was supported by a fellowship from the German Academic Scholarship Foundation.
During her studies, Stella acted as co-director of the Women in Science Club to promote gender equality in science. As president of the Tri-Institutional Biotech Club, Stella was engaged in the life science ecosystem and fosters the connection of academia and biotech. Her professional goal is to leverage her deep scientific expertise and leadership skills to enable the transfer of scientific innovation into tangible assets that benefit society.
Stella is an avid runner and triathlete. She is fascinated by the diversity of nature and its versatility in extreme environments. She enjoys exploring nature either on foot, hiking in the forests, on her skis and snowboard or underwater while scuba diving.
