About the America-Israel Chamber of Commerce

Dr. Pradip K. Banerjee

President & CEO, The Science Center

Dr. Banerjee has more than 25 years experience in the global pharmaceutical industry. Before joining the Science Center , an entrepreneurial hub providing facilities and technical support of life sciences and technology companies, Dr. Banerjee was the Partner-in-Charge of the pharmaceutical Research & Development unit of Accenture, the leading management and technology consulting company where he led various strategic and operational R&D management consulting projects in genomics, bio-informatics, discovery, pre-clinical and clinical development, and R&D IT activities for a number of major pharmaceutical companies. He has also directed the creation of several new businesses in the discovery and development fields and was essential in providing integrated solutions to the pharmaceutical companies, which expedited the R&D processes. Dr. Banerjee is a Senior Fellow at the Wharton School of Business of the University of Pennsylvania where he is assisting with the Biosciences Management Initiative.

Carole S. Ben-Maimon, M.D.

Dr. Ben-Maimon received her M.D. in 1985 and is board certified in Internal Medicine. She has worked for a number of large number of pharmaceutical companies including Teva Pharmaceuticals USA and Barr Pharmaceuticals, Inc. where she has been responsible for various aspects of research and clinical testing, regulatory matters, drug development and product integration in both the brand and generic sides of the business.

Mark S. Berger, M.D.

Group Director, Medicine Development Centre - Oncology, GlaxoSmithKline

Since graduating from medical school in 1980, Dr. Berger enjoyed extensive post-doctoral training in oncology before joining the teaching staff at the University of Pennsylvania. In 1996, Dr. Berger joined the clinical research team at Wyeth-Ayerst where he managed clinical trials in oncology. Since 2002, Dr. Berger has been a Group Director in the Clinical Oncology division of GlaxoSmithKline where he is responsible for clinical research and development of several new oncology drugs.

Matthew Handel

Senior Director of Business Analysis, Shire Pharmaceuticals

Mr. Handel leads a global team that provides revenue forecasts and market analytics for all of Shire's in-line and developmental products and for business development opportunities. Prior to working at Shire, Mr. Handel was employed by Merck, where he worked in a number of therapeutic areas, including cardiovascular, respiratory, and diabetes.

David S. Krause MD

Principal, Delta Pharmaceutical Consulting

A consultant to the pharmaceutical industry, Dr. Krause began his career in internal medicine, then spent 12 years at GlaxoSmithKline in a variety of roles of increasing responsibility. There he led the successful clinical development of hepatitis A vaccine and several other products. He has served as a consultant to the Department of Defense on infectious disease and vaccine-related issues. In 2002 he joined Vicuron Pharmaceuticals and served as Chief Medical Officer prior to its acquisition by Pfizer.

Rivka Riven Kreitman, PhD.

Vice President Innovative R & D, Teva Neuroscience
Head of Global Clinical Operations, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, Inc.

Dr. Kreitman received her PhD from the Weizmann Institute in Israel and completed research fellowships at Princeton and Tel Aviv University before joining the Innovative Research and Development team at Teva Pharmaceuticals, Inc. in Israel in 1993. Through the years she served in various roles, including search for new projects, leading pharmacological research projects, research evaluation and Project leadership/ management. In 2001, she joined the staff of Teva Neuroscience, Inc. in Horsham PA where Dr. Kreitman is responsible for the development of new drugs in neurological, autoimmune, oncology and pulmonary fields. She was recently appointed also as the head of Global Clinical Operations for Teva's IR&D.

RoseAnn B. Rosenthal

President & CEO, Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern PA

Ben Franklin Technology Partners (BFTP), formed in 1982, provides risk capital and technical and business expertise to emerging technology enterprises in the region as part of a statewide network of Ben Franklin Technology Partners. Ms. Rosenthal is an experienced professional in regional economic development, serves on the Boards of the World Trade Center of Greater Philadelphia, the Pennsylvania Biotechnology Associationand is an Ambassador for the Governor's Team Pennsylvania Foundation. Under Ms. Rosenthal's leadership, BFTP co-founded the Nanotechnology Institute, a publicly-funded, multi-institutional initiative to advance nanotechnology in bioscience applications. Mrs. Rosenthal serves on NTI's three-member Oversight Committee. She is also an External Advisory Board member of the NanoBio Interface Center, an NSF- funded National Science and Engineering Center at the University of Pennsylvania; and led the tri-state effort to form the federally-funded Mid Atlantic Nanotechnology Alliance, the nation's first tri-state consortium for nanotechnology. She serves on review panels for the National Science Foundation, and has been a member of national policy task forces, She has also served as a board member of several emerging technology companies in the region.

Gary Charlestein

CEO, Premier Dental/Medical Products

Worldwide manufacturer and distributor of dental and medical products.