Life Sciences Foundation (LSF) was a San Francisco-based nonprofit organization that was established in 2011 to collect, preserve, interpret, and promote the history of biotechnology.

[7] The idea for a foundation that would collect and share the history of biotechnology came about at a meeting in early January 2009 in San Francisco attended by G. Steven Burrill of Burrill & Company, Dennis Gillings of Quintiles in Durham, NC, John Lechleiter of Eli Lilly and Company, Henri Termeer, then CEO of Genzyme and Arnold Thackray, founding President and CEO of the Chemical Heritage Foundation (CHF)[1][8][9] Five years ago, G. Steven Burrill was part of a small group of biotech leaders who came together to discuss the importance of capturing the great stories and lessons of the biotech pioneers for future generations.

[12] The Life Sciences Foundation conducted oral history interviews with scientists, entrepreneurs, executives, policy makers, and leaders of thought in the biotechnology industry.

These works are intended for multiple audiences and focused on the emergence and evolution of biotechnologies in pharmaceutical discovery and development, agriculture, energy production, and environmental remediation.

[8] In October 2011, the University of Chicago Press released Genentech: The Beginnings of Biotech by Life Sciences Foundation historian Sally Smith Hughes.

[2][13] Founding partners of the Life Sciences Foundation include Burrill, Celgene, John Lechleiter, Genentech, Henri Termeer, Merck & Co., Millennium, Pfizer, Quintiles, and Thermo Fisher.

The Board also includes Brook Byers of Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers in Menlo Park, California, Carl B. Feldbaum of Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO)[15][16][17] in Washington, DC who replaced Burrill, Frederick Frank of EVOLUTION Life Science Partners in New York, NY, Gillings in Durham, NC, Lechleiter[18][19][20][21][22][23][24] in Indianapolis, IN, Scott Morrison from San Francisco, CA, Ivor Royston, MD, of Forward Ventures in San Diego, CA, Phillip Sharp from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, MA and Henri Termeer in Cambridge, MA.