David A. Pearce

Sanford Health’s president of innovation, research and Sanford World Clinic, David A. Pearce, PhD, oversees the organization’s research activities and global clinic initiative. He is responsible for 450 researchers, eight research centers, more than 300 ongoing clinical trials and the commercialization of select research strategies. Pearce also leads Sanford World Clinic and manages Sanford Health’s international relationships.

Pearce heads the leading lab studying juvenile Batten disease, and his research has led to the first clinical trial for children with this disease. He also manages a national registry for rare diseases known as the Coordination of Rare Diseases at Sanford, or CoRDS.

Pearce completed his bachelor’s degree with honors in biological sciences at Wolverhampton Polytechnic. He holds a doctorate from the University of Bath and did postdoctoral training at the University of Rochester and Oxford University.

He and his wife, Suzanne, have three children.