Former Pfizer chairman and chief executive Jeff Kindler has joined venture capital firm Lux Capital as a venture partner.

Kindler (pictured) will help identify new healthcare investment opportunities and work with Lux portfolio companies.

He joins other recent venture partner additions Jim Woolsey (former CIA director) and Richard Foster (former McKinsey senior partner).

"With tremendous leadership experience in the healthcare industry, Jeff has an appreciation for the intersection of novel science, product development and commercial transactions," says Robert Paull, managing partner at Lux Capital. "As Lux continues to make new investments at the cutting edge of healthcare and as our life sciences portfolio matures, Jeff will prove to be an invaluable resource."

"I have great respect for the work Lux Capital is doing to build and back companies addressing some of healthcare's biggest challenges," says Kindler. "It's a great group, and I look forward to being actively involved across the portfolio."

In addition to his role as venture partner at Lux Capital, Kindler is senior adviser to Paragon Pharmaceuticals, a global investment firm that builds and manages innovative pharmaceutical companies. He also serves on the boards of AgaMatrix, a developer and manufacturer of diabetes products; Intrexon, a synthetic biology company; Sheridan Healthcare, a provider of healthcare solutions to physicians, hospitals, and outpatient centres; PPD, a global contract drug discovery and development research organisation; Tufts University; the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University; and the Manhattan Theatre Club.

He is a member of President Obama's Management Advisory Board and a director at Starboard Capital Partners, a Connecticut-based private equity firm.