Healthcare Innovation Summit

Professor Ronni Gamzu (born 1966) is the CEO of The Tel Aviv   Sourasky Medical Center   since 2015. Prof. Gamzu began his medical career in the hospital 30 years ago when he was 3rd year medical student. He is a professor for Gynecology as well as associate professor in Public Health and Health & Business administration, all graduated from the Tel Aviv University. He co-chairs the ‘Physicians for Management Leadership’ program at the business school at the Tel Aviv University. Prof. Gamzu holds in addition to MD, PhD degree in health science research and two Master degrees, one in Business and one in health Administration, as well as a bachelor degree in Law. He has completed two medical residencies, in Obstetrics and Gynecology and in Healthcare Administration. Since 2002 he is part of the Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center management, first as a deputy director for health Economics and later in 2008 became the Director of the General Hospital. In 2010 Prof Gamzu was appointed as the Director General of the Israeli Ministry of Health, where he served for four years. In 2014 he was appointed to be a Senior Health Policy Analyst in the OECD in Paris. From 2014 he is a board member of The Citizens' Empowerment Center in Israel (CECI). In recent months, Prof. Gamzu has served as the director of the Israel Corona Virus Project within the Ministry of Health.

Dr. Racheli Kreisberg serves since January 2016 as the Innovation Attaché of the Holland Innovation Network, Ministry of Economic Affairs, at the Netherlands Embassy in Israel. She is responsible for developing R&D and business collaborations between Dutch and Israeli companies, Universities and research institutions. Her work is focused on the High-Tech Systems and Materials (HTSM) top-sector, i.e., photonics, robotics, cyber, agro-tech as well as the Life Science and Agro&Food top sectors. Prior to this position she managed her own consultancy company that specialized in the initiation and management of collaborative EU research projects and she serves as an evaluator of the EU. Dr. Kreisberg was the Head of the Bioinformatics Unit of Tel Aviv University between 1998-2005. Dr. Kreisberg holds a PhD in Biotechnology and Molecular Microbiology from Tel Aviv University (TAU), an Executive MBA from TAU, an MSc in Chemistry (summa cum laude) from the Technion Israel Institute of Technology.

Mr. Assaf Barnea is a seasoned entrepreneur and venture professional, with extensive, multidisciplinary experience in building innovation platforms and leading commercialization processes in healthcare. He leads Sanara Ventures, a healthcare innovation fund backed by Phillips and Teva. In addition to leading Sanara, Mr. Barnea chairs the Life Science Advisory Board at The Israel Export Institute, on behalf of the Israeli government, promoting and advancing the export of Israeli technologies in the medical, biotech, pharma and digital fields in global markets. A valued consultant, Mr. Barnea also advises the World Bank’s IFC venture capital team and is a co-founder of the IFC’s Tech Emerge initiative; a unique acceleration platform that connects healthcare startups from around the world with leading corporations and hospitals in emerging economies. Formerly, Mr. Barnea was one of the founders of CardioSense, a medtech startup company that developed a probe for early shock detection in various medical settings. Before lending his multidisciplinary acumen to Sanara Ventures, Assaf served as head of business development at Mekorot and CEO of Kinrot Ventures.

After his study at Nyenrode Business University, he obtained his MBA from the KU in Leuven, Belgium. Nearly 25 years he has worked for the pharmaceutical company Organon/ Schering-Plough, mainly abroad: Germany, India, Finland, México and France. He held several senior managerial positions in those countries. Also he lead a team responsible for the development and worldwide commercialization of new fertility products. Thereafter he switched to the cure and care market in the Netherlands with consultancy and interim-management activities (e.g. elderly care, palliative care). Currently Erik is the Director of Business Operations at RegMed XB. In addition he is examiner/ supervisor International Business at the HAN, University of Applied Sciences in Arnhem, the Netherlands.

After Harmen completed the study molecular sciences at Wageningen University & Research, he obtained his PhD in Biochemistry/Biophysics at Utrecht University. Afterwards he followed post-docs at Université Libre de Bruxelles and University of Oxford. Thereafter he worked as an assistant professor at the Centre for Protein Technology, Wageningen University. Also he worked for 18+ years as project leader and senior scientist at TI Food and Nutrition. Currently Harmen is senior program manager Biomedical Engineering at Eindhoven University of Technology and owner of ProtIn Consultancy.

Janny van den Eijnden-van Raaij is managing director of hDMT, the Netherlands Organ-on-Chip Consortium. She obtained her PhD as a biochemist at Radboud UMC Nijmegen in 1985. She then became group leader at the Hubrecht Institute Utrecht focusing on stem cells and growth factors in embryonic/ tumour development. In 2003 she became managing director of the Comprehensive Cancer Center South Eindhoven. Under her regime the cancer registry and epidemiological research department developed to the European leader in this field. In 2014 she switched to Organs-on-Chip (OoC) and established hDMT in 2015, a national OoC Consortium, consisting of the hDMT foundation and 14 partner organizations, including technical universities, medical centers and knowledge institutes.

Fokko has 30 years of MedTech experience and is the (co)inventor of 17 granted patents. He was with Rijnstate Hospital Arnhem (clinical physics department) during 1987–1997. In 1997, he moved to TNO to perform CE-marking of medical devices as well as technology-related troubleshooting, mediation, and incident investigations in hospitals. He is specialized in general safety aspects of medical technology, and interactions of electricity and light with the human body. He received his PhD degree in biomedical photonics from Erasmus MC Rotterdam in 2007. He is currently a Principal Scientist within IMEC's connected health R&D in Eindhoven. Fokko is currently leading the KidneyX portable artificial kidney. IMEC is already working with John Stooker, the CFO of NeoKidney/NextKidney, to develop a portable artificial kidney and bring it to market. The North Brabant located company of Cosun is working on upscaling technologies for the production of sorbent cartridges.

Prof. Benjamin Dekel (MD, PhD) is the Director of the Pediatric Stem Cell Research Institute and the Chief of Pediatric Nephrology at the Edmond and Lily Safra Children's Hospital, Chaim Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer. He is a Professor of Pediatrics, Human Genetics and Biochemistry and the incumbent of the Pearl and Dr. (MD) Yechezkiel Klayman Chair of Nephro-Urology at the Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University. He also serves as the President of the Israel Stem cell Society and the Director of the newly established Sagol Center for Regenerative Medicine at Tel Aviv University.
Benjamin Dekel received a BSc and MD degrees from the Technion and a PhD from the Weizmann Institute of Science, all with highest honors. He completed a Pediatric Residency at Sheba, Post-Doctoral fellowship in stem cell biology at the Weizmann and a Pediatric Nephrology Fellowship at the Schneider Medical Center. Prof. Dekel served as a visiting Professor at the Institute of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, Stanford University.

Pieter Debrauwer studied aerospace engineering in Delft, the Netherlands. After completing his studies he started working on flow mechanics in different fields from lab-on-chip to 3D printing. Afterwards Pieter continued as project manager at TNO in the field of 3D printing and food processing and was involved with various international research studies. Later Pieter became research manager focusing on 3D Food and Pharma printing at TNO eFAM 3D Food and Pharma Printing. Pieter is specialised in creating complete systems for the production of complex structures that can contain encapsulation as well as fast-release technologies.

Prof. Samer Srouji is a double qualified DMD, PhD Head of the Galilee College of Dental Sciences and the Chief of Oral and Maxillofacial Department at Galilee Medical Center, Israel. In charge of Maxillofacial reconstruction surgery, endoscopic surgery, and treatment of Facial malformation. He conducts clinical research in the Maxillofacial surgery field and clinical Trials in bone regeneration. In addition to his clinical duties, he is Associate Professor and the Chief Innovation Officer (CINO) at the Galilee Medical Faculty Bar-Ilan University. Prof. Samer Srouji introduced the New Technique of TMJ Arthroscopy, the O.S.C.A technique (Operative Single Cannula Arthroscopy) includes developing special equipment and instruments for minimal Invasive TMJ Arthroscopy. He set up a 3D Point-of-Care at OMS Department, 3D Printing and 3D Designing pioneer LAB. He conducts collaborative international and national research.

Dr. Solomon Dadia took his medical degree in the Technion University Israel Institute of Technology, followed by a post-graduate degree in trauma and orthopaedics in Kaplan Medical Center, Israel. He also completed a 2-year fellowship in orthopaedic oncology and arthroplasty in Birmingham UK. Later Solomon started working as Deputy Director of Orthopedic Oncology and Department Director of Pediatric Orthopedic Oncology Service at the National Unit of Orthopedic Oncology, Sourasky Medical Center. In addition, he is the head of Surgical Innovation and 3D Printing Unit at Sourasky Medical Center.

Ashok has a Master’s degree in production technologies from The Aachen University of Technology in Germany and a PhD in printed electronics from the University of Twente in the Netherlands. Afterwards, Ashok completed an executive MBA from the TIAS School of Business and Society in the Netherlands. Since 2010, Ashok has worked in various techno-commercial roles in the field of flexible printed electronics and 3D printing at different companies. In 2019, he also setup the first fully integrated printed electronics manufacturing facility in India. Currently, Ashok is responsible for the business development of TNO Holst Centre’s wearables, smart clothing and sensors portfolio. Additionally, he is involved in the creation of start-up companies from TNO Holst Centre.