Research interview with Peter Meldrum

2026-03-05T14:18:54-05:00

Peter Meldrum was born in Salt Lake City, Utah. He attended the University of Utah, where he received his bachelor’s in chemical engineering. After graduating, Meldrum joined the army, where he was a lieutenant in the Chemical Corps, specializing in radiological nuclear warfare. While serving in the army, Meldrum read James Watson’s The Double Helix, which inspired him to begin pursuing a career in biology and genetics. He received his master’s in business administration from the University of Utah, after which he joined the agricultural biotechnology company NPI. Meldrum left NPI in 1990 to start the venture capital group Founders Fund, which focused on investing in new life science companies. After attending the Alta Conference, Meldrum wanted to enter the genetics field and met with Mark Skolnick at the University of Utah. With Meldrum’s experience in raising capital and Skolnick’s work in genetics, the two founded Myriad Genetics, with Meldrum being the company’s CEO. As CEO, Meldrum wanted Myriad Genetics to focus their attention on common adult-onset diseases. The company’s breakthrough discovery was that of the breast-cancer-causing BRCA1 gene; though they were late-comers in the race to find the gene, their utilization of the University of Utah’s genealogy database helped them narrow it down before any other institutions in the summer of 1994. One year later, the company also discovered the BRCA2 gene. Meldrum and Myriad Genetics faced difficulties, though, when the ACLU challenged their patent on the BRCA genes. The case bounced between the Federal Circuit Court and the Supreme Court until the Supreme Court ultimately ruled that genes found in nature could not be patented. Outside of the work with the BRCA genes, Meldrum has facilitated partnerships between Myriad Genetics and Novartis, Bayer, and Schering-Plough. Outside of his work, Meldrum is an active outdoorsman, enjoying hiking and kayaking.