/ People /
OUR TEAM
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GIL GURFINKELManaging Partner -
DR. YAEL GRUENBAUM-COHENGeneral Manager -
DR. MATAN OFIRDirector -
Dr. Maria Jessa JablonskaManager -
DR. ASSI TSURPortfolio Manager -
Dr. Yoav BaumanInnovation Manager -
Dr. Shiri RonAnalyst -
Dr. Michael SantosuossoAnalyst -
Dr. Ahuvit DavidAnalyst -
Dr. Niv MazkerethAnalyst -
Dr. Maayan AvneonAnalyst -
Dr. Matan SollAnalyst -
Dr. Jana PolakovaAnalyst
GIL GURFINKEL
Managing Partner
As Managing Partner of Medison Ventures and as VP of Corporate development for the Medison Group, Gil applies his vast experience in business strategy, consulting, corporate finance, private equity and capital markets, gained from his time as Vice President of Shamrock, a private equity fund, and as board member of several Israeli and international companies. Gil holds an MBA from the Recanati Business School at Tel Aviv University and a BSc from the Technion.
DR. YAEL GRUENBAUM-COHEN
General Manager
Prior to joining Medison Ventures Yael spent four years as Medical Manager of Medison’s Rare Disease Division, where she supported over 17 products and pre-launched seven. Yael completed her DMD and Ph.D. at the Hebrew University where she studied mesenchymal stem cells migration before joining as postdoctoral fellow to the Weizmann Institute of Science to investigate the underlying molecular genetics of muscle stem cell fusion.
DR. MATAN OFIR
Director
Prior to joining Medison Ventures Matan was part of the business development team of Cold Genesys, a US-based clinical stage biotech company. Matan holds a Ph.D. in biology from Bar-Ilan University where he studied transcription mechanisms and later he completed a postdoctoral fellowship looking at the role of long non-coding RNAs in the innate immune response at City of Hope National Medical Center in California. Matan also holds a Post-doctoral Professional Masters in Bioscience Management from the Keck Graduate Institute.
Dr. Maria Jessa Jablonska
Manager
Before joining Medison Ventures, Maria worked as a market access lead in CEE Region at AveXis, dedicated to developing and commercializing gene therapies for patients devastated by rare and life-threatening neurological genetic diseases. She also held country and global medical and market access roles in Ipsen and Sanofi. Physician by education, Maria obtained a Ph.D. in neuropsychopharmacology from the Warsaw Medical University and a postdoctoral fellowship from Lundbeck, Copenhagen, in the field of preclinical anxiety and depression research.
DR. ASSI TSUR
Portfolio Manager
Assi is the Portfolio Manager of Medison’s healthcare-focused hedge fund. Before joining Medison, Assi was an equity analyst at Nexthera Capital, a New-York based biotech-focused Hedge Fund. Prior to that, Assi served as a Biotech Consultant at L1 Capital, New York, and as a Biotech Analyst at Natalitix. Assi holds a Ph.D. from Tel Aviv University where he studied the role of the SUMO pathway in epidermal morphogenesis.
Dr. Yoav Bauman
Innovation Manager
Prior to joining Medison Ventures, Yoav was the co-founder and CEO of two start-up companies that developed licensing platforms for life-sciences technologies.
Yoav has deep expertise in strategic collaborations and innovative technology scouting. He holds a Ph.D. in biology from the Hebrew University in the fields of immunology and cancer research.
Prior to his role as the innovation team manager, Yoav served as Hemato-Oncology Analyst, leading investment and licensing deals in this space.
Dr. Shiri Ron
Analyst
Prior to joining Medison, Shiri was the Senior Scientist at several biotech companies developing digital health solutions for Mental health disorders and was a Scientific Consultant at the Weizmann Institute of Science. She also served as Scientific Editor at Vikki Academy; a company focused on building bidirectional connections between academia and relevant stakeholders. Shiri holds a Ph.D. in Neurobiology from the Weizmann Institute, where she developed a novel method for decoding real-time neuronal activity from genetically defined populations in the brain.
Dr. Michael Santosuosso
Analyst
Prior to joining Medison Ventures, Michael worked as a Senior MSL at Sunovion Pharmaceuticals Canada in Infectious Diseases. He has also held Medical Affairs roles at Biogen Canada and Janssen Canada, working in diverse therapeutic areas such as, neurology and autoimmune diseases. Michael obtained his PhD in molecular immunology from McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario Canada and earned his postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital.
Dr. Ahuvit David
Analyst
Prior to joining Medison Ventures, Ahuvit worked as a senior scientist at the FutuRx biotech incubator accelerator program focusing on future drug-discovery research. Ahuvit completed her Ph.D. in cell and developmental biology at the Sheba Cancer Research Center where she studied centrosome physiology during embryogenesis and a postdoctoral fellowship in the Netherlands Cancer Institute and TAU, looking at the non-coding genome regulating mammalian eye development.
Dr. Niv Mazkereth
Analyst
Niv joined Medison Ventures following his role as a Medical Affairs Manager at Medison Pharma, where he worked in the solid tumor oncology therapeutic area, focusing mainly on renal cell carcinoma, hepatocellular carcinoma, melanoma and non-small cell lung cancer.
Prior to joining Medison, Niv completed his Ph.D. studies at Tel-Aviv University, in the Medical sciences field, studying cancer and immunology by implementation of high-end imaging techniques, collaborating with the Laser-Laboratorium Göttingen e.V. in Germany. Throughout his years in the academy, Niv held several academic instructor positions, tutoring B.Sc. and MS.C. students within the life-sciences and medical-sciences faculties, in several courses.
Dr. Maayan Avneon
Analyst
Before joining Medison Ventures, Maayan worked as a business development manager at Elminda, a brain-tech company, where she led strategic collaborations with industry and academic groups. Prior to that, Maayan worked as a non-dilutive funding expert at Sunrise Projects, assisting biotech start-ups to secure funds from governmental and private foundations. Maayan holds a Ph.D. in cognitive neuroscience from Tel-Aviv university and an MBA from Ben-Gurion University.
Dr. Matan Soll
Analyst
Prior to joining Medison Ventures, Matan led and founded a venture, developing innovative ultrasound activated nanoparticles for the treatment of late-stage prostate cancer and pancreatic cancer. Additionally, Matan led another venture in the development of a small molecular entity for the treatment of ALS. Matan holds a PhD in In-Organic Chemistry and nanotechnology (PhD), an MBA in business administration with focus on Start-UP management from the Technion Institute of Technology.
Dr. Jana Polakova
Analyst
Prior to joining Medison Ventures, Jana worked as a Regional Medical Director in CEE at Swedish Orphan Biovitrum, dedicated to rare diseases area. She also covered a regulatory, compliance, quality and PV responsibilities throughout her career. Jana also held country medical role in Abbvie and Janssen working with monoclonal antibodies and anti HCV drugs. Physician by education, Jana worked as an internal medicine physician before she moved to pharma in 1997.