Israel Brain Technologies

Dr. Rafi Gidron – Founder and Chairman, Israel Brain Technologies

Dr. Rafi Gidron is an entrepreneur who founded and managed technology companies in multiple disciplines including fields such as telecommunications, nanotechnology, neurotechnology and cleantech. Most notably, Gidron was involved in one of the most successful exits in Israel’s hi-tech industry: the acquisition of Chromatis Networks by Lucent in 2000.

Gidron serves as the founder and chairman of Israel Brain Technologies. He’s also an active angel investor in various technology startups.

Gidron holds a BSc from Tel Aviv University and a Ph.D. from Columbia University, where he also served as an associate director of NSF’s Center for Telecommunications Research. 

Miri Polachek – Executive Director, Israel Brain Technologies

Miri Polachek is a veteran of the life sciences industry, with 17 years of international experience. She held financial management positions at Teva Pharmaceuticals in Israel, where her responsibilities included leading the company’s annual global operating plan consolidation, and at Pfizer in New York, where her assignments included management of a billion-dollar budget. Most recently she served as Vice President of Finance at IntegraMed America, a publicly listed specialty healthcare services firm.

Polachek has been with Israel Brain Technologies since its inception. She manages operations, fundraising, strategic planning and all programming aimed at promoting Israel’s neurotechnology industry and establishing Israel as a global brain-technology hub. 

She holds a Masters in Health Economics from Boston University and an MBA from New York University.

We have a team of dedicated life scientists and entrepreneurs who volunteer their relevant skills and experience to contribute to the success of the IBT mission.
 

Dr. Amir Konigsberg

Amir has held various management and advisory positions in early stage ventures and start-ups as well as multi-national corporations such as Google and General Motors. He has authored several patents and scientific publications.

Amir holds a PhD from the Center for the Study of Rationality and Interactive Decision Theory at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, and has also been a research scientist at Princeton University and the Free University in Berlin.

Dr. Ofir Levi

Ofir is a seasoned entrepreneur in the life science arena with 10 years of experience. He is the founder of Bioassociate and serves as its CEO. Ofir was the founder and served as Chief Executive Officer of Radmor Biocap LLC, an Investment Company with a wide portfolio ranging from medical devices to new chemical entities and agro-tech. He was the founder and Chief Executive officer of EZQuant, a company dedicated to the development of software for life science research labs.

Ofir has extensive experience in licensing and forming collaborations with multinational companies. He holds a PhD degree in Neurobiochemistry from Tel Aviv University, and is the author of several published articles in leading scientific journals.

Meir Weinstein

Dr. Weinstein served for over 25 years in the Israeli Ministry of Defense as part of the Directorate of Defense Research and Development (MAFAT). From 1992 until 2002 he was Director of Research and Technology Base for MAFAT.  Meir Weinstein is currently Operations Manager for the Israel National Nanotechnology Initiative (INNI) and Secretary of the Board of Directors at INNI. 

From 1969 to 1975, Dr. Weinstein was a Research Scientist in the Department of Structural Chemistry at the Weizmann Institute of Science. He received his Ph.D. in Chemistry in 1965 from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. 

Anya Eldan

Anya Eldan has over 25 years executive experience in managing high-tech companies and venture capital funds. During the last 10 years Ms. Eldan was involved in the medical diagnostic markets and has a strong interest in the development of advanced diagnostic tools for brain disorders.  Ms. Eldan serves as President & CEO of WideMed Ltd, specializing in sleep disorder diagnostics. She holds an MBA and BSc in Computer Sciences from Tel Aviv University. 

Ruthy Kaidar

Ruthy Kaidar is an entrepreneur and business development executive with 15 years of experience in the medical devices, telecommunications, and investment industries. A computer science engineer, she worked in the telecom industry for several years, and then turned to Brain Research pursuing a Master’s degree with a thesis focusing on Brain Computer Interface – using brain signals to operate robots. She held key R&D, product management, and business development executive positions in various medical device companies, was involved in the establishment of several medical initiatives, and spent a year as an Entrepreneur In Residence at Carmel Ventures, focusing on digital health opportunities.

She is now the co-founder of a startup in the digital health and neuro-tech space; mentors student-entrepreneurs; and consults companies on business development and strategy.

Dr. Rafi Gidron – Founder and Chairman, Israel Brain Technologies

Dr. Rafi Gidron is an entrepreneur who founded and managed technology companies in multiple disciplines including fields such as telecommunications, nanotechnology, neurotechnology and cleantech. Most notably, Gidron was involved in one of the most successful exits in Israel’s hi-tech industry: the acquisition of Chromatis Networks by Lucent in 2000.

Gidron serves as the founder and chairman of Israel Brain Technologies. He’s also an active angel investor in various technology startups.

Gidron holds a BSc from Tel Aviv University and a Ph.D. from Columbia University, where he also served as an associate director of NSF’s Center for Telecommunications Research. 

Prof. Yadin Dudai – Director, I-CORE in Cognitive Sciences, Weizmann Institute

Professor Dudai is the Sara and Michael Sela Chair in Neurobiology at the Weizmann Institute and the Albert and Blanche Willner Family Global Distinguished Visiting Professor of Neural Science at New York University.

Professor Dudai started his career as a journalist and news editor for an Israeli newspaper, but then decided to study Biochemistry and Genetics at the Hebrew University. He received his Ph.D. in Biophysics from the Weizmann Institute of Science, and conducted his postdoctoral studies at the California Institute of Technology. He has been a visiting professor at the National Institutes of Health (where he was also a scholar in residence), Columbia University, Harvard University, University of Edinburgh, Collège de France, Boston University, and New York University.

Professor Dudai has over 200 professional publications in the field of brain and memory. He is primarily known for his work on memory, but was also a founder of the field of neurogenetics when he was on Seymour Benzer’s team at the California Institute of Technology. He has served on various high-rank administrative and scientific roles in Israel, including previously a member of VATAT, Dean of Biology of Weizmann, Chair of the Department of Neurobiology and the centers for brain research at the Weizmann Institute, and member of the Governmental committee for assessment of the national security policy.

Prof. Michal Beeri – Director, Sagol Neuroscience Research Center, Chaim Sheba Medical Center

Professor Michal Schnaider Beeri is the Director of the Joseph Sagol Neuroscience Research Center.  She returned to the Sheba Medical Center after spending over 10 years at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, where she keeps an academic affiliation.

Professor Beeri received her Ph.D. in rehabilitation psychology from Bar Ilan University in 2000.  She won the Brookdale Institute of Gerontology and Human Development, the Gonda Foundation, the International College of Geriatric Psychoneuropharmacology Young Investigator, and the Mount Sinai Academic Excellence Faculty Council awards. She has over 70 peer-reviewed publications.

Specializing in geriatric psychology, her career has been fully devoted to the study of cognitive impairment, Alzheimer’s disease (AD), and dementia.

Dr. Daniel Gold – Brigadier General (Res.), Former Head of Research and Development, Israel Ministry of Defense and Israel Defense Forces

Awarded the 2012 Israel Defense Prize, Dr. Gold was responsible for the State of Israel’s military research and development policy. He oversaw all R&D projects and budgets across a wide variety of fields, including electronics, communications, information technology, robotics, and many others. Under his leadership, the IDF R&D unit was awarded the Israel Defense Prize seven times, and Israel attained global leadership and independence in a large number of technological fields and systems.

In his role, Dr. Gold developed an unprecedented number of R&D collaborations with a large number of countries and organizations. One of his most noted projects, which he invented and managed, is Iron Dome, the mobile air-defense system that addresses the short-range rocket threats to populated areas in Israel.

Dr. Gold holds a Ph.D. in Electronic Engineering, specializing in communications and signal processing, and a Ph.D. in Business Management, with specialty in technology management.

Dr. Jonathan Kolodny – Director, McKinsey & Company

Jonathan Kolodny is a Director (Senior Partner) of McKinsey & Company and the founder of McKinsey’s Israel office. Jonathan formerly worked in the London and Boston offices of McKinsey, primarily on strategy development, operations transformation, and organizational redesign for clients in a wide range of sectors, with a particular focus on financial services and telecommunications. He also led McKinsey’s recent work with the Office of the President to develop the strategy for transforming Israel into a global leader in neurotechnology.

Prior to joining McKinsey, Jonathan worked as a postdoctoral research scholar in the Applied Psychology Unit of the Medical Research Council in Cambridge, England. Jonathan has a B.A. summa cum laude in Computer Science from Harvard University and a Ph.D. in Cognitive Neuroscience as a Marshall Scholar at Cambridge University.

Jonathan Adiri – Global Strategic Initiatives, Better Place

Jonathan Adiri is a member of the global strategy team at Better Place, the world’s first electric vehicle network provider. From 2008 to 2011, Adiri served as Chief Technology Officer to the President of Israel, where he was the architect of an innovative diplomatic strategy driven by scientific and technological advancements. In recognition of his achievements in this role, Adiri was among an exclusive group of 30 leaders selected to the inaugural class of NASA’s Singularity University, where he co-founded www.getaround.com. The company won the prestigious 2011 TechCrunch Disrupt award.

Adiri started his career as a combat zone negotiator between the Israel Defense Forces and the ICRC. He holds an MA in Counter Terrorism and Law from Northwestern University.

Prof. Eric Kandel, 2000 Nobel Prize Laureate in Physiology or Medicine – Professor, Columbia University

Professor Eric Kandel began his academic career at Harvard Medical School where he was an instructor in the Department of Psychiatry. He later moved to New York University as an associate professor, where he was a member of the first group in the country that was devoted to both cellular neurobiology and behavior. In 1974 he was recruited to Columbia University, where he became the founding director of the Center for Neurobiology and Behavior, and later a professor. He went on to become a senior investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Research Institute at Columbia.

Professor Kandel is a member of the National Academy of Sciences USA, as well as those in Germany and France. He is also a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Pjilosophical Society, the National Institute of Medicine, and Germany’s Orden Pour Le Mérite für Wissenschaften und Künste.

Kandel has a B.A. in History and Literature from Harvard University and an M.D. from New York University Medical School. He has received numerous awards for his work spanning over 30 years, as well as honorary degrees from nine universities. He was a recipient of the 2000 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his research on the physiological basis of memory storage in neurons.

Prof. Daniel Kahneman, 2002 Nobel Prize Laureate in Economics – Professor, Princeton University

Kahneman is currently Professor Emeritus of Psychology and Public Affairs at Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School. He is a founding partner of The Greatest Good, a business and philanthropy consulting company. He is a fellow at Hebrew University and a Gallup Senior Scientist.

Professor Kahneman began his work in psychology after his undergraduate degree when he worked for the Israeli Defence Force evaluating candidates for officer training, and later devising an interview system that was to be used for many years to come. He began his academic career as a lecturer in psychology at the Hebrew University. He was also a visiting scientist at the University of Michigan and the Applied Psychological Research Unit in Cambridge. He was a fellow at the Center for Cognitive Studies and a psychology lecturer at Harvard University.

Kahneman enjoyed a lengthy collaboration with psychologist Amos Tversky that culminated in the publication of their prospect theory in 1979. It was his work on prospect theory for which Kahneman was awarded the 2002 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics.

Professor Kahneman attained his B.Sc. in Psychology with a minor in Mathematics from Hebrew University, and his Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of California, Berkeley.

Baroness Susan Greenfield – Professor, Oxford University

Susan Greenfield is a neuroscientist at the University of Oxford and has been awarded 30 Honorary Degrees from British and foreign universities. She heads a multi-disciplinary research group exploring novel brain mechanisms linked to neurodegenerative diseases. In addition, she has published a neuroscientific theory of consciousness: The Private Life of the Brain (2003) and developed an interest in the impact of 21st Century technologies on how young people think and feel, as discussed in her book ID: The Quest for Identity in the 21st Century (2008). She further explores the neurobiological approach to identity in her latest book “You and Me: The Neuroscience of Identity” (2011).

In 1998, Susan received the Michael Faraday Medal from the Royal Society. She was awarded a CBE in the Millennium New Year’s Honours List, and a non-political Life Peerage in 2001. Susan recently served as the Chancellor of Heriot Watt University (2005-2012).  In 2000 she was elected to an Honorary Fellowship of the Royal College of Physicians and in 2007 to an Honorary Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. Further recognition of her work includes L’Ordre National de la Légion d’Honneur and the American Academy of Achievement Golden Plate Award, both received in 2003, as well as the Australian Medical Research Society Medal, awarded in 2010. In 2011 she joined the Advisory Board of the Kusuma School of Biological Sciences at the Indian Institute for Technology and in 2012 she became a Governor of The Florey Institute for Neuroscience and Mental Health.

Prof. Wolf Singer – Director, Max Planck Institute for Brain Research

Prof. Wolf Singer is Director emeritus at the Max Planck Institute for Brain Research in Frankfurt and Founding Director both of the Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies (FIAS) and of the Ernst Strüngmann Institute for Brain Research (ESI) for Neuroscience in Cooperation with Max Planck Society. His research is focused on the neuronal substrate of higher cognitive functions, and especially on the question of how the distributed sub-processes in the brain are coordinated and bound together in order to give rise to coherent perception and action.

Prof. Singer studied Medicine in Munich and Paris, obtained his MD from the Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich, and his PhD from the Technical University in Munich.

IBT’s Scientific Advisory Board is composed of representatives from Israel’s leading academic brain research and healthcare campuses.

Prof. Alon Friedman
Director, Zlotowski Center for Neurosciences, Ben Gurion University

Prof. Moshe Bar
Director, Gonda Multidisciplinary Brain Research Center, Bar Ilan University

Prof. Michal Beeri
Director, Sagol Center for Neuroscience Research, Chaim Sheba Medical Center

Prof. Tamir Ben Hur
Director, Department of Neurology, Hadassah University Hospital

Prof. Yadin Dudai
Director, I-CORE Cognitive Sciences, Weizmann Institute

Prof. Nir Giladi
Director, Neurology Department, Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center

Prof. Ilana Gozes
Director, Adams Super Center for Brain Studies, Tel Aviv University

Prof. Shimon Marom
Science and Engineering of Neural Systems, Rappaport Faculty of Medicine and The Network Biology Research Laboratories in the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Technion – Israel Institute of Technology

Prof. Gal Richter-Levin
Head of Haifa Forum for Brain and Behavior, and Co-Director of the Institute for the Study of Affective Neuroscience (ISAN), University of Haifa 

Prof. Eilon Vaadia
Director, Edmond & Lily Safra Center for Brain Sciences, Hebrew University

Prof. David Yarnitzky
Director, Department of Neurology, RAMBAM Healthcare Campus
 

Katzenell Dimant Law Office
Katzenell Dimant, Law Offices has provided legal counseling for IBT since its establishment, and takes an active role in the formation and ongoing activities of IBT.

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d&a Visual Insights
d&a Visual Insights™ has developed and maintained the Israel Brain Map and Ecosystem for IBT’s Israel Brain Hub on www.israelbrain.org.

d&a Visual Insights™ is the leading provider of ecosystem intelligence solutions. It applies best-practice intelligence methodologies and uses advanced technologies that enable decision makers to take action.  d&a’s approach is two-fold:  it provides a broad ecosystem overview of the selected industry as well as an intricately detailed view on each player within that specific industry’s ecosystem.  Together, d&a delivers the latest business discoveries relevant to its clients and offer game-changing actionable insights.