Gary Applebaum, M.D., Chairman: Partner, Nobska Ventures. Dr. Applebaum is a Director of Nobska Ventures a venture capital fund focusing on early-stage investments in Israeli and Mid-Atlantic healthcare & technology companies. Before joining Nobska, he was the Founding Chief Medical Officer and Executive Vice President of Erickson Retirement Communities and continues to serve as Special Advisor to the Chairman for Health Policy. Over 16 years, Dr. Applebaum was responsible for growing a one–physician practice into the Erickson Health system of care that currently provides comprehensive health and wellness services to 20,000 seniors residing in 20 Erickson communities in 11 states. Dr. Applebaum received his Bachelor of Arts and Doctor of Medicine from the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia and did his residency in Internal Medicine and fellowship in Geriatrics Medicine at the Johns Hopkins University.
Jonathan Cohen, CEO and President, 20/20 Gene Systems. Mr. Cohen has been CEO of 20/20 GeneSystems since founding the company in early 2000. Since then he has spearheaded to company's launch of its successful BioCheck product which raised over $4 million in equity investments, and nearly $1.5 million in funding from government and corporate sources. Mr. Cohen also leads 20/20's homeland security unit, 20/20 BioResponse. In that capacity he draws on his previous experience as a former volunteer firefighter and Emergency Medical Technician. Before starting 20/20, Mr. Cohen was patent and general counsel for two publicly traded diagnostics companies: Ventana Medical Systems Inc. and Oncor Inc. Mr. Cohen is a registered patent attorney with over 14 years experience in biotechnology patents and licensing matters. He has a Master of Science degree in Biotechnology from Johns Hopkins University in addition to a law degree from American University.
Steve Dubin, CEO, Martek Biosciences Corporation, a leader in the innovation and development of omega-3 DHA products that promote health and wellness through every stage of life. The Company produces life'sDHA(TM), a vegetarian source of the omega-3 fatty acid DHA (docosahexaenoic acid), for use in foods, infant formula and supplements, and ARA (arachidonic acid), an omega-6 fatty acid, for use in infant formula. Mr. Dubin's experience also includes working with and financing a variety of early-stage technology companies and spending twelve years in various positions at Suburban Bank. He graduated from the University of Maryland, College Park in 1974, where he studied business and accounting. He received his Juris Doctor Degree in 1980 from the National Law Center at the George Washington University in Washington, D.C. Mr. Dubin is a licensed CPA and a member of the Maryland Bar.
Jeff Hamet, Controller, Martek Biosciences Corporation, a certified public accountant, has spent the last 20 years practicing Finance and Accounting in the Baltimore/Washington D.C. area. Currently, he is the Vice President and Corporate Controller of Martek Biosciences Corporation, a $300 million biotechnology company involved in the innovation and development of omega-3 fatty acid products from microalgae. Prior to joining Martek, Mr. Hamet served in Senior Finance positions at IGEN International (a public medical diagnostics company), ARBROS Communications (a private voice/data telecommunications company) and Youth Services International (a public youth corrections company). Prior to this, Mr. Hamet spent nine years at Arthur Andersen LLP where he provided audit and business advisory services to large as well as startup companies primarily in the high-technology, biotechnology, venture capital and hospitality industries. Through his experiences, Mr. Hamet has, among other things, developed an expertise in the overall financial and fiscal management of companies large and small (i.e. – accounting, budgeting, taxation, payroll, etc.), in the rules and regulations which govern publicly-held companies (i.e. – SEC, NASDAQ and Sarbanes-Oxley Act), in risk management and insurance matters, and in business strategies and fundraising techniques. Having spent the last 20 years in the Baltimore/Washington D.C. corridor, Mr. Hamet has relationships and contacts in this region with other senior level high tech/biotech professionals as well as with individuals in “Big 4” public accounting (audit, tax, consulting) and members of the legal, insurance, banking and venture capital communities.
Tom Moran, CEO of Access Therapeutics, which specializes in clinical development, regulatory and public policy counsel, and commercialization strategies. Mr. Moran is an experienced senior executive, having served for 25 years as the CEO for a number of prominent national health foundations and consulting organizations focused on expanding medical knowledge and guiding new therapies from development through clinical trials to licensure and successful commercialization. On behalf of the organizations he has led, Mr. Moran has worked with Congress and the NIH to establish multi-year and multi-center medical research programs and consortia. Mr. Moran’s therapeutic experience includes plasma derivatives (e.g. IGIV, clotting factors, and hyperimmunes), transgenic and biotech proteins, and novel gene therapy approaches. Mr. Moran holds a BA in Economics from Boston College. He currently serves on the National Corporate Advisory Council for The Neuropathy Association and is an Officer and Treasurer for the Board of Directors of the Beth Tfiloh Community Day School.
Dan Moskowitz, Former Chairman, Healthcare Industry Distributors Association. Mr. Moskowitz has over twenty years of experience of progressive management in a customer driven health care products and services company and is currently an industry consultant. He has participated in the growth and leadership of local entrepreneurial pharmacy and medical supply company into a national Long Term Care and Home Care service provider with $1.1 billion in annual revenue. He received his MS in Physiology from Georgetown University in 1986, his MA in Mathematics from the University of Maryland in 1980 and had further studies in PhD program between1980 – 1982. Finally, he earned his BA in both Mathematics and Theater from Earlham College in 1978 in Richmond, Indiana. He also graduated from the Wharton School of Business, University of Pennsylvania in April 1998 from their management program on “Implementing Strategy.”
Marcia Nusgart, R.Ph., CEO, Nusgart Consulting. Ms. Nusgart is the founder, executive director and lobbyist for three coalitions of medical device manufacturers: Coalition of Respiratory Care Manufacturers, Coalition of Seating and Positioning Manufacturers, and Coalition of Wound Care Manufacturers. She is responsible for developing, planning and executing each coalitions’ work plan, providing legislative and regulatory expertise, and serving as a consultant to medical device companies regarding Medicare coverage, coding and payment issues. Prior to establishing Nusgart Consulting, she was the associate vice president at the Advanced Medical Technology Association. A frequent speaker in Medicare and insurance reimbursement issues, Ms. Nusgart holds a bachelor of science in pharmacy from Ohio State University.
Dror Paley, M.D., Director of the Rubin Institute for Advanced Orthopedics and is Co-Director of the International Center for Limb Lengthening of Sinai Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland. His expertise is in Orthopedic Surgery, specializing in upper and lower limb surgery in children and adults. He also works with products devised for trauma, deformity correction and limb lengthening surgery. He welcomes the opportunity to help Israeli companies maneuver through the US medical device arena and is very familiar with the US regulatory process (FDA) and has many contacts in US Orthopedic Industries. He is fluent in English, French, Hebrew, Italian, Russian and Spanish. Dr. Paley received an undergraduate degree in Arts and Sciences from the University of Toronto and his MD from the University Of Toronto School Of Medicine.
Albert Perry , CEO, Kirkegaard and Perry Laboratories (KPL)
Rami Scharf, Ph.D., Senior Director, The Weinberg Group
Lynn Shapiro Snyder, Senior partner, Epstein Becker & Green, the largest law firm in the US that specializes in representing companies doing business in the U.S. health care industry. Lynn's particular area of expertise is in helping companies with new drugs and new devices to become successfully commercialized in the United States with the issues such as coding, coverage and payment by government health care programs. Ms. Snyder has almost thirty years of experience advising clients about federal, state and international health law issues, including Medicare, Medicaid, TRICARE, compliance, and managed care issues. She is a frequent speaker and publishes extensively. She earned a B.A. in Economics from Franklin & Marshall College in 1976 and her J.D. from the George Washington University National Law Center in 1979. Ms. Snyder joined the firm in 1979 and is admitted to practice law in the District of Columbia, the State of Florida, and before the United States Supreme Court.
Larry Tamarkin, Ph.D., CEO, CytImmune Sciences. Prior to co-founding the company in 1988, Dr. Tamarkin was Chief of the Psychoneuroimmunology Program at the National Institute of Mental Health. Dr. Tamarkin also held research scientist positions in the NCI and the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. He also was an Associate Research Professor of veterinary medicine at the University of Maryland, College Park. His publications include articles in the areas of cancer, pediatrics, and psychiatry, using ELISA technology, radioimmunoassays, biochemistry, cell biology, physiology, and molecular biology. Dr. Tamarkin led CytImmune from its founding focus as a diagnostic company to a therapeutic company. In 1996 Dr. Tamarkin started channeling some of the revenue from the sale of kits to support to CytImmune’s therapeutic research efforts, in effect re-inventing CytImmune. Dr. Tamarkin graduated from S.U.N.Y at Stony Brook and received his Ph.D. from the University of Connecticut.
Yonaton Zohar, Ph.D., Professor Zohar is the Director of the Center of Marine Biotechnology (COMB), University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute (UMBI), where he leads a comprehensive multidisciplinary research and development program that applies the tools of modern biology and biotechnology to study, protect and enhance marine resources. Under Dr. Zohar’s leadership, COMB became internationally known for its work covering marine functional and meta-genomics, microbial oceanography and extremophiles, marine environmental biotechnology and bioremediation, marine natural products, and aquaculture and fisheries biotechnology. Dr. Zohar’s own basic and applied research focuses on the physiology, endocrinology and molecular biology of reproduction, using both zebrafish and commercially important fish species as models. He is considered one of the world's leading authorities in the field of comparative endocrinology and is widely recognized for his achievements in applying basic hormonal concepts to develop technologies for reproduction control and hatchery production in commercially important marine species. Dr. Zohar received his B.Sc. in Biology and M.Sc. in Oceanography/Marine Biology from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel. He received his Ph.D. in Comparative Endocrinology in 1982 from the University of Paris.