Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), a division of First Citizens Bank, has announced a bold expansion of its Life Science and Healthcare team. The bank added six new experts across key markets, reinforcing its position as the preferred financial partner for companies driving innovation in healthcare. This move signals a clear, strategic commitment to the sector at a time when biotech, healthtech, and diagnostics companies need specialized banking support more than ever.
SVB Strengthens Its Life Science Commitment
SVB’s Life Science and Healthcare practice serves as a nationwide platform built for the innovation economy. Through this practice, the bank delivers specialized banking services, debt-financing solutions, a broad professional network, and deep sector insights. Its clients include companies and investors across healthtech, biotech, diagnostics, and medical tools.
Why This Expansion Matters Now
The healthcare sector grows more complex each year. Companies navigating clinical development, regulatory hurdles, and capital markets need more than a generic bank. They need partners with direct industry experience. SVB recognized this need and responded by recruiting talent with clinical backgrounds, venture expertise, and private credit knowledge.
“Our new team members bring diverse expertise to our clients,” said Megan Scheffel, Head of Life Science and Healthcare at Silicon Valley Bank, a division of First Citizens Bank. “By adding deep clinical and venture expertise, as well as experience in the private credit sector, we give our clients more specialized support and access to financial solutions that help them succeed in an increasingly complex healthcare landscape.”
Consequently, this expansion is not just about headcount. Instead, it reflects a deliberate investment in the quality and depth of service SVB provides across the country.
Meet the Six New Hires
SVB’s latest additions span a range of roles, geographies, and functional specialties. Together, they strengthen the bank’s coverage from both coasts.
East Coast Leadership
Bill Burkoth joins as Senior Managing Director for the Life Science and Healthcare team’s East Region, based in New York. His appointment strengthens SVB’s presence among East Coast biotech and healthcare companies, many of which are scaling toward commercialization and need capital solutions tailored to their stage.
Ries McQuillan joins as Director for Life Science and Healthcare Startup Banking, based in Boston. Boston remains one of the most active life science ecosystems in the world, and McQuillan’s role ensures that emerging companies in that market receive dedicated startup banking expertise from day one.
West Coast Reinforcement
Bryce Bewley joins as Managing Director for Life Science and Healthcare, based in San Francisco. His appointment adds senior leadership capacity to SVB’s core market and supports client relationships across the innovation spectrum.
Ryan Martin steps in as Director for the NorCal Biotechnology, Diagnostics, and Tools Relationship Management Team, also based in San Francisco. Martin focuses specifically on the tools and diagnostics segment, an area of rapid growth as companies build new platforms for genomic analysis, disease detection, and laboratory automation.
Gibson Cooper joins as Vice President for the NorCal HealthTech and MedTech Credit Solutions Team, based in San Francisco. His role centers on credit solutions for healthtech and medtech clients, areas where capital structure and financing timing can be decisive to a company’s trajectory.
Wendy Chan joins as Director for Life Science and Healthcare Startup Banking, based in San Francisco. She supports early-stage companies navigating their first major banking relationships, making sure founders and management teams connect with the right financial resources from the outset.
What This Expansion Means for Clients
This hiring wave reflects broader momentum in life science banking. As funding environments shift and healthcare innovation accelerates, companies require financial partners who understand the clinical, regulatory, and commercial dynamics of the sector. SVB’s model — combining sector expertise with a nationwide network — positions it well to meet that demand.
Furthermore, the bank’s expansion comes alongside an important institutional milestone. SVB recently announced plans to rebrand as First Citizens Innovation Banking in Q4 2026. Despite this change, the Life Science and Healthcare practice remains fully dedicated to its clients and continues to serve the sector with the same depth of expertise.
For investors, founders, and established healthcare companies alike, SVB’s growing team represents expanded access to specialized financial guidance, industry connections, and tailored credit solutions.
About Silicon Valley Bank
Silicon Valley Bank, a division of First Citizens Bank, serves some of the world’s most innovative companies and investors. The bank provides commercial banking to technology, life science, healthcare, private equity, and venture capital firms. SVB operates across major U.S. innovation hubs. Its parent company, First Citizens BancShares, Inc. (NASDAQ: FCNCA), ranks among the top 20 U.S. financial institutions, with more than $225 billion in assets. First Citizens Bank, Member FDIC. Learn more at svb.com.
