Dr. Ari S. Kellen, M.D. – Director
Medical Doctor, University of Witwatersrand | MBA, University of Witwatersrand
Dr. Ari Kellen is an experienced senior executive with over three decades of healthcare industry experience. After practicing medicine and running a large segment of the Johannesburg Hospital in South Africa, Dr. Kellen was recruited to McKinsey & Company where he spent 22 years as a strategic advisor to boards of directors and CEOs of major health care clients across the globe.
In 2014 Dr. Kellen was recruited to Valeant Pharmaceuticals. Running US Bausch + Lomb, R&D, Latin America and Dermatology, he helped lead the company through a challenging period involving a change in leadership and business strategy, and was subsequently promoted by the new CEO and Board to the global segment leader of Bausch + Lomb.
Since 2017 Dr. Kellen has been serving as a strategic advisor and investor to early-stage innovative healthcare companies in the US, Europe, and Israel. He serves on the boards of Theraclion and Vaxil Bio, and is a strategic advisor to several other companies including BioNanoSim and Nouri Life. Dr Kellen is a graduate of the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa where he received his Medical and MBA degrees with distinction
Dr. Shawn Langer, M.D., Director
Medical Doctor, University of Toronto
Dr. Shawn Langer brings over two decades of healthcare industry experience. Dr. Langer was Senior Partner at McKinsey & Company, where he was the leader of its Healthcare Private Equity Group.
During his 15 years with McKinsey & Company, Dr. Langer served healthcare clients across pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, medical devices, and healthcare services.
Most recently Dr. Langer has spent nearly 5 years investing in innovative healthcare companies in his capacity as a portfolio manager at healthcare private equity investment firm BMHS Investments.
Dr. Langer holds an MD from the University of Toronto.
YUVAL AVNIR, PHD – Chief Executive Officer
Dr. Yuval Avnir is a translational scientist with expertise in the fields of immunology, infectious diseases, and cancer who has successfully led numerous novel immunological therapeutics scientific projects. He is an author of peer reviewed scientific papers and co-inventor of patents that encompass diverse scientific fields and detail his broad technical knowhow. He did his postdoctoral training at the Harvard University-affiliated Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and his PhD studies were carried out at the Department of Biochemistry at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Dr. Riva Kovjazin, M.D. – Senior Scientist
M.D., Perm State School of Medicine | Immunology Research Fellow, Rostov Research Institute | Research Fellow, Center for Clinical Immunology, Moscow School of Medicine
Dr. Riva Kovjazin is an expert in the field of immunology with over 25 years of experience in cellular immunology. She obtained her M.D. from the Perm State University School of Medicine, one of the oldest universities in Russia. Dr. Kovjazin then specialized in the advanced study of immunology and epidemiology of conventional infectious diseases at the Rostov Research Institute. In addition, she was a project leader at the Center for clinical immunology, University of Medicine, Moscow, Russia where she studied Clinical immunology and diagnosis aspects of HIV. From 1997 until 2007, Dr. Kovjazin held various positions at XTL Biopharmaceutical
Mr. Gadi Levin, C.A. B.Comm – Chairman of the Board, CFO
Masters of Science (MSc) in Accounting and B.Commerce | Chartered Accountant | MBA
Mr. Levin is an accountant with clinical-stage biotech experience. Mr. Levin served as Chief Financial Officer of Labstyle Innovations Ltd, a biotechnology company focused on diabetes. Mr. Levin served as the Vice President of Finance and Chief Financial Officer for two Israeli investment houses in the fields of private equity, hedge funds and real estate. More recently, Mr. Levin served as Chief Financial Officer of BriaCell Therapeutics Corp. developing an immunotherapy for late stage cancer patients.
Mr. Levin began his career at the former “Big Five” accounting firm Arthur Andersen, where he worked in the Cape Town, London, and Tel Aviv offices for nearly ten years. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree in Accounting and Information Systems from the University of the Cape Town, South Africa, and a Post-Grad in Accounting from the University of South Africa. He received his Chartered Accountant designation in South Africa and has an MBA from Bar Ilan University in Israel.