Board of Directors
Members of BIRAD's Board of Directors have many years of experience in corporate governance, financial markets, and prudent company management.
Dr. Ehud Shapira
Chairman of BIRAD’s Board of Directors
Dr. Ehud Shapira is also chairman of the Board of Directors of Psagot Investment House Ltd, Israel's largest investment house, as well as its subsidiaries: Psagot Securities Ltd. and Psagot Mutual Funds Ltd. Dr. Shapira has served as Chairman of the Board of Phoenix Holding Ltd. He has been on the Board of Directors of Bank Leumi, as well as holding a number of senior management positions for the Bank Leumi Group, including Senior Deputy CEO, Acting CEO, Head of Corporate and International Banking and the Risk Manager. In this last capacity, Dr. Shapira directed the Bank Leumi Group's Corporate Banking division, the Real-Estate & Construction Division, the International Division and the Credit Risks Division. Dr. Shapira is a member of the Board of Trustees and Finance Committee of the Tel Aviv Museum of Art and also serves on the Executive and Finance Committees of Bar Ilan University. Dr. Shapira holds a Ph.D. from New York University, an MSc from the Technion, and a BA from Tel Aviv University.
Dr. Arie Zaban
Vice President for Research
Dr. Arie Zaban is Bar-Ilan University's Vice President for Research. Arie Zaban was born in Israel in 1961. He earned a B.Sc. in Chemistry (summa cum laude) and a Ph.D. in Electrochemistry (with the highest distinction) at Bar-Ilan University (1987-1995). After a 2-year postdoctoral stint at the US National Renewable Energy Laboratory (Denver, CO), he was appointed to the senior faculty at Bar-Ilan (1998), where he is currently a Full Professor of Chemistry and the Vice President for Research.
Dr. Arie Zaban, the founding director of Bar-Ilan Institute of Nanotechnology and Advanced Materials, has published 160 papers in refereed journals (h-index = 55), 5 book chapters and over 70 invited lectures. He is the entrepreneur of four start-up companies that utilize 8 of his patents; all papers and patents are energy related (photovoltaics, batteries, materials for energy conversion and storage). Prof. Zaban has been awarded several prizes and fellowships such as the ICS Prize for Outstanding Young Scientist, the Michael Landau Research Prize in Renewable Energy, the IVS Research Excellence Prize, and the Israel Chemical Society Prize of Excellence.
Dr. Lipa Meir
Founding Partner of Lipa Meir & Co., Law Firm
The firm was founded by Lipa in 1987 and today it is one of the largest and most prestigious law firms in Israel, with more than 80 lawyers. Following his admission to the Israel Bar Association in 1974, Dr. Lipa Meir began working as an associate at the law firm of Herzog, Fox & Neeman and in 1978 became a partner in the firm and continued to work there until 1987. Dr Meir received his Ph.D. from the University of Toronto, Canada in 1984. His doctoral thesis is in the area of Law and Economics, and focuses on the involvement of commercial banks in securities activities, and includes comparative study in this matter in regards to United States, Canada, Israel, Britain and Germany. In addition to his practice of law, Dr Meir is a member in the Board of Trustees of Bar-Ilan University and the
Chairman of the Council of Trustees and the Permanent Committee of the University. Dr Meir is also a member of the Board of Trustees of Netanya Academic College and the Chairman of the Steering Committee of the law school program for outstanding students at the College. and serves as a judge in the supreme court of the World Zionist Organization
Dr. David Aviezer
Chief Executive Officer and Director of Protalix Ltd
Dr. David Aviezer has served as Chief Executive Officer and Director of Protalix Ltd. – a publicly traded biopharmaceutical company that, among other products, markets an FDA-approved medication for Gaucher's Disease – 2002-2014. Holder of a Ph.D. in Molecular Biology and Biochemistry from the Weizmann Institute of Science and an MBA from Bar-Ilan University, Dr. Aviezer has over 15 years’ experience in biotechnology management, advancing products from early-stage research up to their regulatory approval and commercialization. From 1997 to 2002, he served as general manager of ProChon Biotech Ltd., an Israeli company focused on orthopedic disorders. A recipient both of the Clore Foundation Award and the J.F. Kennedy Scientific Award, Dr. Aviezer was a visiting scientist at the Medical Research Division of Cyanamid – now a division of Pfizer Pharmaceuticals. Actively involved in the creation of science-related public policy, Dr. Aviezer has served on national committees both in the Ministry of Science and in the MAGNET program of Israel's Chief Scientist's Office.
Sanford T. Colb
Founder of Sanford T. Colb & Co.
He is licensed to practice before the Israel Patent Office and the US Patent and Trademark Office and is a licensed attorney in Israel and in the US. Mr. Colb is a member of the American Patent Law Association, International Law Committee, Israel Association of Patent Attorneys, AIPPI, Licensing Executives Society, American Arbitration Association, International Trademark Association, Pharmaceutical Trade Marks Group, and American Bar Association. He has been a lecturer in Intellectual Property Law at Bar-Ilan University and Netanya Academic College. Mr. Colb has an MA (honors) from Cambridge University and a BA (magna cum laude) and MSc in Physics from the University of Pennsylvania. He was awarded the Silver Medal of the Royal Society of Arts, London, and was a Thouron Scholar at Cambridge University. Sanford T. Colb holds a JD degree from Harvard Law School.
Menachem Greenblum
Bar-Ilan University's Director General
Mr. Greenblum is a Certified Public Accountant who has served in management positions at commercial companies affiliated with the Tambour Group and as a director of public companies. In 1997 he was appointed director general of GES (Tambour Ecology) and Chairman of the Executive Council of its subsidiaries. In 2009, Mr. Greenblum was appointed Director General of the Ministry and served in this post until 2013.
Tal Fuhrer
Vice President of Business and Corporate Development at the Neopharm Group since 2008
Founded in 1941 with 700 employees and turnover of approx 400 Million $US. Neopharm's roots are vested in the sale and marketing of novel biopharmaceuticals and healthcare products in Israel, where it is positioned as the partner-of-choice and one-stop-shop for multinational biopharmaceutical and medical corporations seeking to enter or expand their business in the Israeli biopharma and healthcare markets. Tal has been involved in the transformation of Neopharm into a rapidly-growing commercial-stage global specially-care biotech company that brings hope to patients suffering from rare, life-threatening diseases with unmet medical needs with revenues generated in over 50 countries, diversified pipeline of late and early stage novel therapies and offices in multiple continents via numerous licensing, business development and M&A transactions, including the acquisition of Fresenius Biotech (now called: Neovii) and the establishment of Orphan Technologies. Prior to Neopharm, Tal worked at Wyeth in New Jersey where he gained experience in business development and marketing. Tal is a graduate of MBA and M.Sc studies in Biotechnology at Tel Aviv University and of the Israeli Military Computing and Information Systems Institute.