Improving lives with spidersilk

Dr. Shen has over 20 years of experience in business development executive management roles and R&D at startup and late-stage companies in the life science industry. She has been responsible for advancing products from early-stage research to late-stage development and licensing deals with strategic partners in the US, Europe and Japan. Prior to founding Seevix, Dr. Shen served as CEO of MedAware Ltd., an Israeli healthcare IT company, and as CEO of Fluonic Inc., a US-based medical device company. She advised Israeli and US-based venture capital funds, and performed due diligence related to biotechnology and medical device technologies. Dr. Shen holds a PhD in Biology from Bar-Ilan University and an MBA from Tel Aviv University.

Dr. Hadar is in charge of the day-to-day operations at Seevix. She graduated a two-year, full-time, fellowship program at the Mandel School for Educational Leadership and has strong management skills involving strategic planning, product design and development, and regulatory planning and processes. Prior to joining Seevix, she led regulatory affairs from bench to FDA & CE approvals at Enzysurge. Dr. Hadar holds a BSc in Chemical Engineering and Biology from Ben-Gurion University and an MSc and PhD in Biotechnology from Tel Aviv University.

Dr. Meir guides the technology and research efforts at Seevix. Over the last 18 years he has held different roles in research and product development at several biotech companies, leading groups of up to 20 researchers. Such efforts have yielded commercialized products, more than 20 research papers, and several patents authored by him in the fields of pharmaceuticals and R&D products. Dr. Meir holds a PhD in physiology from the Hebrew University and a postdoc from University College London (UCL) in pharmacology of neurons and their receptors.

Dr. Sklan oversees Seevix’s biology team, which is developing optimization processes, bioassays and 3-dimensional culturing techniques. She has extensive experience in the fields of biology, protein expression, in vitro diagnostics and enzymatic tests. Prior to joining Seevix, she worked as a senior scientist in the in vitro diagnostics field and gained much experience in test development in diverse fields, including virology, microbiology, and cardiovascular systems. She holds a PhD in biochemistry from the Hebrew University.

Dr. Karakouz leads our chemists and material engineers who are developing new materials and products by integrating SVX into various polymers. Over the past six years prior to joining Seevix, she worked at a biomedical device company as a polymers and materials expert in charge of R&D for new products and technologies involving polymers and nanomaterials. Dr. Karakouz holds a PhD in Chemistry from the Weizmann Institute and a postdoc from École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in Switzerland in biophysical research.

Mr. Grossman is a former Skadden Arps attorney with extensive legal, financial, regulatory and life science startup advisory expertise. In Israel, Mr. Grossman has worked inter alia for Bank Leumi, the Israel Securities Authority, and the National Fraud Investigations Unit of the Israel Police.

Dr. Shen has over 20 years of experience in business development, executive management and R&D roles at startup and late-stage companies in the life science industry. She has been responsible for advancing products from early-stage research to late-stage development and licensing deals with strategic partners in the US, Europe and Japan. Prior to founding Seevix, Dr. Shen served as CEO of MedAware Ltd., an Israeli healthcare IT company, and as CEO of Fluonic Inc., a US-based medical device company. She advised Israeli and US-based venture capital funds, and performed due diligence related to biotechnology and medical device technologies.  Dr. Shen holds a Ph.D. in Biology from Bar-Ilan University and an MBA from Tel Aviv University.

Mr. Stark retired in 2018 as President of Bed Bath & Beyond after over 40 years with the company. During his tenure, Bed Bath & Beyond became a multi-channel retail conglomerate with annual revenue of $12 billion and with 1,500 locations and 60,000 employees in all 50 states plus Canada and Mexico. Mr. Stark is Founder and Chairman of Stark Enterprises LLC, a strategic advisory and venture capital practice advising the founders and CEOs of a broad range of companies concerning business development, market positioning, organizational design, strategy and funding. In addition, Mr. Stark serves on the Senior Advisory Board of Jefferies, the global investment bank, as well as that of Vintage Partners, a VC fund of funds with close to $3 billion under management. Mr. Stark served as Chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations from 2018 until 2021.

Mr. Gilboa is a CPA with 20 years of experience as a member of the board of directors of startup companies, including 10 years as a director of Mobileye Vision Technologies, which was acquired by Intel in 2017. Mr. Gilboa has extensive knowledge and expertise involving the raising of capital, business strategy, business development, financial management, auditing, budget control, and marketing and sales.

Ms. Tzipi Livni is a Former Vice Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of Justice of Israel. In addition, she was Israel’s chief negotiator during the last two rounds of peace negotiations with the Palestinians. Other positions have included Minister of Regional Cooperation, Minister of Immigration, Minister of Housing and Construction, Minister of Agriculture, and Leader of the Opposition. Ms. Livni also served as a member of the Israeli National Security Cabinet and the “security trio”.

In 2007 Ms. Livni was recognized by TIME magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world.

Ms. Livni was the leader of Israeli centrist parties, including the largest party in Israel. She is known for preserving the values of the State of Israel as a Jewish-Democratic state and is a leading supporter of peace between Israel and the Palestinians.

Ms. Livni holds a law degree and practiced law for over a decade at her law firm, specializing in commercial, constitutional and real-estate law. As a former Director General of the Government Companies Authority, she opened markets to competition and privatized government-owned companies.

Since leaving politics in 2019, Ms. Livni provides strategic consulting services and is a member of corporate advisory boards.

Vice Admiral (Ret.) Yedidia Yaari is the former President & CEO of RAFAEL Advanced Defense Systems Ltd., a leader in the research, development, production, marketing and sales of defense systems in Israel and around the globe. Mr. Yaari joined RAFAEL in 2004 following his retirement as Commander in Chief of the Israel Navy, a position he held since 2000. During his military service, Mr. Yaari served inter alia as Deputy Commander in Chief of the Israel Navy, Commander of the Haifa Naval Base, and Head of Naval Intelligence Command.

During his 11 years as CEO and President of RAFAEL, Mr. Yaari led the company to the development of such systems as “Iron Dome,” “David’s Sling” and “Trophy,” while tripling revenues, profits and backlog. Retiring from RAFAEL in 2016, Mr. Yaari consulted for and became chairman of several startups. In 2018 he became Chairman of the Board of Aeronautics Ltd.

Mr. Yaari holds an MPA from the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, a BA in Middle East History from Haifa University, and is a graduate of the Israel Navy Command Course and the US Naval War College.

Mr. Shalit OAM (Medal of the Order of Australia) is a businessman recognized for his services to the community and the construction industry. Mr. Shalit is a past chairman of the United Israel Appeal in Australia and a past president of the Australian Friends of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He was also a member of the Board of Governors of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He is a part owner of Construction Engineering Holdings, a commercial construction contractor in Australia, and a part owner of Re/Max Israel, Re/Max Germany and Muhni Mortgage Consultants in Israel.

Dr. Samet is a surgeon in the vascular surgery department at Shaare Zedek Medical Center, and previously worked at the Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem. 

Dr. Samet has 20 years of experience as a senior expert in general and vascular surgery. He works with several startup companies in the field of medical devices and biotechnology, and heads the clinical applications forum of Seevix’s advisory board.

Professor Emeritus of Applied Chemistry at the Hebrew University. Prof. Marom’s research is focused on composite materials and hybrids, nanocomposites, polymers and biomedical composites. Prof. Marom has published over 250 peer-reviewed articles, books and proceedings chapters in his field of research.

Professor Zussman is the Winograd Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. He holds a DSc degree from the Technion in mechanical engineering. Since joining the faculty of the Technion in 1994, he has served as Director of the Nanoengineering Group. Prof. Zussman’s research is in the area of molecular engineering of soft matter, particularly the development of process-structure-property relationships through simulation and experiment, and the development of functional electrospun fibers. His research group is active in biomedical applications to develop sponges, biodegradable extracellular matrices, and drug delivery systems. He has published more than 200 publications (peer-review journals).

Dr. Danieli is the head of the Protein Expression Facility at the Hebrew University, a Biotechnology Consultant, and the Director of the BioGiv Excubator, a new platform for supporting early-stage startups. She published in top-tier journals and acquired a reputation in her field. Dr. Danieli has extensive experience in protein production, specializing in the interface between industry and academic research. She has over 20 years of experience participating in numerous projects and collaborations and supports many biotech companies.

Dr. Uri Gat is a staff faculty member in the Department of Developmental Biology at the Hebrew University. Dr. Gat has 20 years of experience in hair follicle research and over 10 years of research in spider silk fiber formation with many publications and an international reputation in these fields.