Vishal Jain has 20 years of venture capital, investment banking and management consulting experience in many industries including medical devices, biopharma and technology. Vishal has executed over $100 billion in M&A transactions and has raised debt and equity capital and has provided strategic advice to large as well as small corporations with respect to M&A, public offerings & capital markets, divestitures and spin-offs.
Vishal has gained an in-depth knowledge of the complex healthcare ecosystem in the United States. He has worked on transactions across multiple sub-sectors of healthcare including large pharma, biotechnology, diagnostics, healthcare instruments and devices, healthcare services and healthcare IT.

Vishal has a degree in Electronics Engineering from the National Institute of Technology in India and an MBA from Cornell University.

Youssef Sebban is a seasoned venture capital professional with over a decade of experience across top-tier firms in Europe and Asia. As the Co-Founder of Eckuity, he brings deep expertise in venture investing, strategic partnerships, and international market expansion.

Before establishing Eckuity, Youssef was a Partner at Forepont Capital Partners, a New York-based venture and growth investment firm specializing in Neurology and Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) technologies. In this role, he led the firm’s international investments outside the U.S. and spearheaded commercial partnerships with over 100 healthcare and hospital systems across 30 international markets. His leadership in key transactions has generated over $500 million in shareholder value, leveraging strategic relationships across Europe, the Middle East, and Asia.

Youssef began his career in healthcare investment banking at Goldman Sachs in London, where he developed a strong foundation in financial analysis, mergers and acquisitions, and strategic advisory.

Beyond his professional endeavors, Youssef co-founded the Neurogen Research Foundation, a New York-based initiative dedicated to funding research for neurodegenerative diseases. An accomplished endurance athlete, he has competed in 27 Ironman-distance triathlons, including multiple world championship events since 2017.

Youssef holds dual Master of Science degrees in Management from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) and HEC Paris.

Mark Goldstone has over 25 years of experience in the healthcare industry, encompassing Venture Capital, M&A, operations, commercialization, and consulting. He has led some of the largest specialist consulting and communications groups in the world and was a founding partner at Forepont Capital (VC).

Mark has executed numerous venture investments, M&A, financing and strategic partnership transactions for a broad array of early stage, middle market and emerging growth companies in technology, life sciences and healthcare services.

He was COO of EuroRSCG Life (now Havas), Global CEO of healthcare at top brand and business consultancy, Interbrand and Worldwide President of Doyle, Dane and Bernbach global healthcare businesses.

He has developed successful commercialization strategies and programs from early-stage and market development, to product launch and late-stage lifecycle management for blue-chip pharmaceutical and packaged goods companies including Pfizer, Merck, Novartis, Bayer, GSK, Sanofi, Colgate Palmolive, L’Oreal, Danone, Johnson & Johnson, Roche. In fact, Mark has worked on seven of the world’s top-selling medicines.

Mark began his career as a Pharmacist and is a member of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society. He is Board member of the prestigious Galien Foundation and Chairman of the Life Sciences Advisory Board for the Northern Ireland Government.

Dr. Victoria Manax Rutson is an accomplished medical oncologist with over two decades of expertise in the pharmaceutical/biotech industry, focusing on global drug/device development, nanomedicines, and product launch/commercialization. She has made indelible contributions to the field, particularly in shaping clinical trial landscapes with adaptive platform designs and biomarker integration.

Renowned for her innovative clinical trial designs, Dr. Manax played a pivotal role in the development, approval, and launch of billion-dollar products, including the standard of care for pancreatic cancer. Holding multiple executive positions in companies such as Celgene (BMS), Immunicom, and Duo Oncology, she has also served as the inaugural Chief Medical Officer for the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, earning recognition as a respected panelist among FDA and regulatory agencies worldwide. Effectively overseeing numerous multimillion-dollar global clinical trial programs, Dr. Manax holds multiple clinical advisories, chair positions, and patents, exemplifying her commitment to advancing medical science and patient well-being.

Over the last 16 years, Victoria has actively syndicated and participated in a range of investments, spanning venture debt, medical real estate, and Class A multifamily assets. Her strategic approach has led to the creation of a robust portfolio with an asset value surpassing $200 million.

An internationally recognized speaker, Dr. Manax has been featured in programs, including Harvard Business School, and is a proud recipient of the Belfast Ambassador award. She has received multiple distinguished honors, including Who’s Who in Healthcare, and was recently named as a government advisor to Northern Ireland for Health and Life Sciences.

Karim Maasarani is a Principal at Eckuity, bringing over 15 years of experience in life sciences investing and operations. At Eckuity, he focuses on identifying and scaling disruptive innovations in medical technology, digital health, and biotech, leveraging deep industry expertise to drive value creation across the portfolio.

Prior to joining Eckuity, Karim was a Vice President at Amzak Health, where he led end-to-end investments in growth-stage biotech and medtech companies, with a focus on AI-enabled technologies, and paradigm-shifting platforms. His portfolio includes Histosonics, Koko Medical, Thryv Therapeutics, Monte Rosa, among others. Additionally, Karim served as a Board Member and Interim CEO of Si Paradigm, a growth-stage specialty diagnostics company with $45M in revenue, where he played an integral role in streamlining operations and driving profitability.

Previously, Karim held senior roles in Merck’s Strategy & Business Development group, leading investments and partnerships in oncology and AI-driven diagnostics. He played a key role in multi-billion-dollar transactions, including the €3.25B acquisition of Antelliq and the $400M carve-out of Sentinel from Virbac. He also structured strategic collaborations with leading diagnostics companies such as Illumina and Natera, as well as digital health innovators like PathAI, Owkin, and QureAI.

Karim’s experience extends to medical technology and healthcare tools, having led corporate strategy at Dentsply Sirona and started his career as an R&D Engineer at Becton Dickinson. His cross-functional background across investment, corporate strategy, and product development provides a unique perspective on building and scaling high-growth healthcare businesses.

Karim holds a BS and MS in Biomedical Engineering from the New Jersey Institute of Technology and an MBA with Honors from Columbia Business School.

Dr. Michael Salako is an experienced life science and healthcare investor who combines scientific rigor with a strategic eye for high-impact opportunities and is renowned for his deep expertise in drug discovery, business development and venture capital. He has built a career at the nexus of scientific innovation and strategic investment.

Dr. Salako has a proven track record of building successful portfolios, most recently at Start Codon, a Roche-Genentech/Novartis-backed fund, where, as Investment Director, he led the sourcing, due diligence and negotiation of numerous high-value deals across Therapeutics, Digital Health, Diagnostics and Medtech. His leadership was instrumental in helping to build a diversified portfolio exceeding $150 million in collective value, underscoring his ability to identify and nurture ventures with significant commercial and scientific promise. He has also supported companies on boards, as a Non-Executive Director or Observer.

Prior to Start Codon, Dr. Salako held senior business development roles at Cancer Research UK, forging clinical trial commercial partnerships with leading pharmaceutical companies and was part of the organisations inaugural seed fund. Dr. Salako also led multidisciplinary teams in drug discovery campaigns, in collaboration with biopharma, at Cancer Research Technology (now called Cancer Research Horizons).

Beyond deal-making, Dr. Salako has played a key role in shaping the next generation of venture capitalists through mentorship and strategic initiatives. His expertise is regularly sought by industry leaders and advisory boards, reflecting a career dedicated to bridging the gap between groundbreaking science and sustainable business growth.

Dr. Salako has a first-class degree in Biochemistry, a PhD in Molecular Virology and Molecular Toxicology, an MBA focused on finance and entrepreneurship, postdoctoral experience in immuno-oncology, drug discovery expertise to Principal Scientist level and is a Certified Licensing Professional. He is the recipient of a number of awards and is active on the life science/healthcare startup scene.

Elaine Pang brings over thirty years of financial services experience in management, sales, and operations. Elaine began her career at Drexel Burnham Lambert, and had various roles at bulge bracket financial institutions including UBS, Kidder Peabody and Deutsche Bank. During her distinguished career, Elaine has been based in major financial hubs around the world including New York, Hong Kong and London.
Elaine has BA from LaSalle University in Philadelphia where she also serves on the Board of Trustee. Elaine holds FINRA Series 7 and 63.

Allison brings 3 years experience working in Biotech and 2 years experience in healthcare services. She holds a Master’s degree in International Healthcare Management from Imperial College London and a Bachelor’s degree in Neurobiology and Genetics from Purdue University, West Lafayette.

Her research includes investigating how the PRL2 gene affects progression of myeloid leukemia, small molecule inhibition in treatment for Scleroderma, and APOBEC3G’s RNA editing capabilities

Peter Cicala’s professional expertise focuses on all aspects of
pharmaceutical and biotechnology intellectual property and strategic
lifecycle management of proprietary technology and products. His most
recent experience involves advising start-up and venture-backed
biotechnology companies through all aspects of drug development and the
protection of proprietary technologies including long-range strategic
planning and commercialization of therapeutics to maximize exclusivity.

He has extensive experience in patent litigation, prosecution, product
lifecycle management, R&D collaborations, M&A transactions and joint
ventures in the pharma/biotech industry including small molecule, antibody
and CAR-T products. Mr. Cicala has particular expertise with Hatch-Waxman
Paragraph IV litigation as well as substantial experience with patent and
regulatory litigation in Europe. Additionally, Mr. Cicala has over ten years of
experience as a medicinal chemist and has worked on drug development
programs for several major pharmaceutical companies and universities.

Specialties: Primary areas of practice: patent portfolio life-cycle
management, M&A transactional work, contract negotiation, and Hatch-
Waxman patent litigation. In addition, FDA/EMEA regulatory advice,
particularly in the area of data exclusivity in the US and EU.

Technical training is in medicinal chemistry with many years of industrial
organic synthesis experience specifically with Steroids and Beta-lactam
antibiotics. Particular process development expertise in large-scale
crystallization and chromatography, nano particles, pegylation, and
polymers.

Alexander Chikin brings a strong background in finance and investing. He most recently worked as an investment analyst primarily trading in macro and growth equities in pharmaceuticals and MedTech sectors.
Prior to Eckuity, Alex managed a portfolio across public and private equities and has generated over 40% IRR for 7 years, covering healthcare services, biotech, IT, basic materials, and energy.
Alex earned his bachelor’s degree in Accounting and Finance from Warwick University.
Outside of his investing interests, Alex was also a professional triathlete and pro cyclist and has won multiple races globally.

Dr Philippe Douste-Blazy is a cardiologist, politician, and former Minister for Health, Minister of Culture and Foreign Minister of France. He is the Chairman of the Board of Directors of UNITLIFE and previously served as the chairman of the executive board of UNITAID, the international drug purchase facility hosted by the World Health Organization.

He was the mayor of Lourdes from 1989-2000 and Toulouse from 2001-2004. Since 2008, Douste-Blazy has been Special Adviser to UN Secretary-General on Innovative Financing for Development. Douste-Blazy is also responsible for organizing the first World Conference of Non-Governmental Donors, which seeks to raise funds to facilitate the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals.

Through his work with the UN and UNITAID, Douste-Blazy travels extensively throughout the world raising money for governmental and non-governmental global health organizations as well as advising the UN Secretary General on global health issues.

Dr Douste-Blazy holds a number of honors and distinctions for his services to society:

Commandeur dans l’Ordre royal norvégien du mérite
Chevalier dans l’Ordre de la Légion d’honneur
Grand-Croix de l’Ordre du mérite du Chili
Commandeur de l’Ordre d’Isabelle la Catholique
Medal of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay
Honorary Knight Commander of The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire

Frederic Gilghas worked for the past 15 years with prominent private equity groups exclusively focused on fast growing consumer brands – most notably L Catterton and TSG Consumer Partners with a global origination role focused on Europe and spanning across all consumer verticals (beauty, healthcare, wellness, retail, fashion, consumer services, consumer tech). As an entrepreneur, he cofounded / was an early investor in several high impact/disruptive companies including among others Cellprothera, a global leader in regenerative medicine; Babo Botanicals, a US organic digitally native babycare brand; PR Group, a pioneer of renewable energies in South East Asia; Biofuture, a European organic food and supplements brand.

Frederic started his career in Foreign Affairs (NATO) and has lived and worked in Singapore, Paris, New York, Brussels, Hong Kong and Madrid. He is a graduate of IEP Paris (Sciences Po) and HEC (MS), speaks French, English, Spanish and German.

He believes supporting genuine, uniquely differentiated and responsible brands bringing together communities can help shape the world we live in as they spontaneously align talent, purpose and conviction.

Dr Richard Pasternak has spent the last 40 years as an academic and biopharmaceutical clinician-scientist. He is a recently retired Clinical Professor at the Weill Cornell Medical College and remains a strategic consultant. He has served on multiple Boards including Cerenis Therapeutics (now ABIONYX), where he also served as CEO 2018-19. He is presently on the Boards of Anthos Therapeutics Magenta Medical Ltd. and Milestone Pharmaceuticals.

Dr. Pasternak was previously VP, Clinical Research and Head of Cardiovascular at Merck & Co. and then VP, Head of Global Scientific Affairs and Scientific Leadership (2008-2010). Dr. Pasternak worked on key strategic business development issues, regulatory affairs, medical affairs, and political affairs; and he was also a Merck policy liaison for medical and scientific issues.

Prior to joining Merck, Dr. Pasternak was Director of Preventive Cardiology and Cardiac Rehabilitation at the Massachusetts General Hospital, and an Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. He received his B.A. and M.D. from Yale University and completed his medical and cardiology training at the Massachusetts General Hospital.

Dr. Pasternak has long-standing research interest in vascular disease, lipid disorders and atherosclerosis, as well as in epidemiology, prevention, and patterns of practice and disease management. He was a member of the NIH’s Coordinating Committee of the National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP) and of the third Adult Treatment Panel (ATP III), has served on many national and international committees, and has published and spoken extensively.

Prof. Dr. Michael Rossbach is a seasoned scientist with expertise in immunology, cell-based therapeutics, neuroscience, and genomics. He is Managing Partner of Ikxinta, a life sciences advisory firm, and holds numerous academic appointments around the world: National University of Singapore, Technical University of Munich in Singapore, INSEAD Management School (Entrepreneur-in-Residence), and Witten School of Management (Germany, Member of Faculty). Dr. Rossbach is an elected member of the Scientific Council of the Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY, a research center of the Helmholtz Association.

Dr. Rossbach’s other professional experience includes Vela Diagnostics (clinical and molecular diagnostics to advance precision medicine), Genome Institute of Singapore, and Institute of Reconstructive Neurobiology and LIFE&BRAIN, University of Bonn (Germany). Additionally, he is an Associate with the Biotech Developpement Conseils (France), Partner of the Höppner Life Sciences Management Group (Germany), Partner of the healthcare team of The Center For Innovation Commercialization ( USA), and Venture Partner of Graybella Capital (USA) and A9C Capital (Bahrain). Dr. Rossbach serves on Scientific Advisory Boards of several biotech companies.

Dr. Rossbach studied biochemistry (PhD in immunology) at University of Bonn (Germany), University of New South Wales (Australia), University of Witten/Herdecke (Germany), Max-Planck Institute for molecular Physiology (Germany), and Harvard Medical School (USA).

His scientific interest lies in tumor-immunology, complex gene regulation (particularly in non-coding RNAs), and in stem cell / regenerative biology.

Yuval Binur, Ph.D. has over 29 years of venture capital experience in the United States, Europe and Israel. Dr. Binur is a co-founder of Accelerated Technologies, Inc. and has served as its Chairman of the Board since its inception in 2001. From 1994 until 2004, he was founding Managing Partner of Medica, a global health care and life sciences venture capital fund operating from Israel. In this capacity, Dr. Binur helped raise Medica’s first two venture funds and lead the deployment of approximately $140 million in investments into early stage healthcare technology companies. In 2000, he co-founded and led the financing for PVT, an AT I Portfolio company and the pilot for the Orchestra Strategy. In 2001, he co-founded ATI, and in 2003 he began devoting his full time to his role as Chairman of ATI after the Medica II fund was fully invested. Dr. Binur participated actively in the sourcing, due diligence, deal structuring, investment execution and monitoring of all of the AT I Portfolio companies. He is currently a director of Mitralign, Vital Access and is also a director of SuperDimension, Ltd., a pioneer in the area of interventional pulmonology. For nine years prior to co-founding Medica, Dr Binur was a Member of Adler & Co., a major U.S. venture capital firm based in New York. He has been a board member of 48 venture-backed companies in the areas of medical technology and devices, pharmaceuticals, software and electronics. Dr. Binur holds a B.Sc. degree in electrical engineering from the Technion Institute in Israel and a Ph.D. degree in physics from MIT/Tel Aviv University.

Lokman Ouijdani has 10 years of experience across Tech and Finance (Microsoft, Google, Clocktower Ventures) in which he has led over $100 million in acquisitions and lead the launch of multiple Cloud and AI offerings. Most recently, Lokman lead the launch from ideation to commercialization of first of its kind value-based AI products and solutions that brought over $500M in Bookings to Google cloud services.

Lokman has gained an in-depth knowledge of the complex technology sector in the United States and has deep connections with some of the most strategic technology acquirers in the United States, the Middle East and Africa.

Lokman has a degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Washington and an MBA from UCLA.

Daniel Vial brings a wealth of healthcare experience, both as an investor and former pharma executive.

Daniel started his career through the launch of a daily newspaper for doctors : “Le Quotidien du Médecin” in France and “Arzte Zeitung” in Germany. “Le Quotidien du Médecin” merged with the medical arm of the Vivendi Group while “Arzte Zeitung” merged with IMS (now Iqvia).

Subsequently, he founded PR INT, a consultancy dedicated to supporting pharma corporations, medical institutions and scientific associations from drug development to commercialization. PR INTernational become one of the leading global consultants in drug evaluation, pharma marketing issues and market access, as well as one of the largest scientific event organizers in Europe. Daniel joined SANOFI as the special advisor to the CEO, Chris Viehbacher, from 2008 to 2014.

More recently, Daniel, a successful investor in French & US biotech companies, serves as a consultant to pharma, biotech, e-health and institutions with a focus in Asia where he advises public institutions such as regions and cities in China. He is the President of the International committee for the Safeguard of the Great Wall of China.

Daniel holds a Master’s in Marketing and Public Relations from the University of Vincennes.

He is a “Chevalier de la Légion d’honneur”.

Dr. Hood is a veteran of the California life science community who has founded and led several successful biotechnology companies in his 20-year career. He is currently Founder, CEO and Executive Chairman of Endeavor Biomedicines, a company funded in 2021 to develop novel therapeutics for oncology and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. Prior to that, John was the Founder and CEO of Impact Biomedicines (now owned by Bristol-Myers Squibb), the developer of fedratinib, which has subsequently been approved worldwide for the treatment of myelofibrosis. He began his career as Director of Research at TargeGen in 2001, where he co-discovered fedratinib and led a team identifying small molecule therapeutics for the treatment of cancer and eye disease. John is an inventor on 100+ patents and the author of 50+ scientific articles. He received his Ph.D. in Medical Physiology and a B.S. in Biochemistry from Texas A&M University.

Dr. Hidalgo has served as chief of the division of hematology and medical oncology at Weill Cornell Medicine/New York-Presbyterian Hospital since 2019 and is responsible for leading clinical and translational research in hematology, vascular biology and oncology. He is also the E. Hugh Luckey distinguished professor of medicine and associate director for clinical services at the Sandra and Edward Meyer Cancer Center at Weill Cornell Medicine. Dr. Hidalgo is currently serving on the board of Bristol-Myers Squibb.

Dr. Hidalgo brings to the Board more than 20 years of experience in translational and clinical research in anticancer drug development, with an emphasis in gastrointestinal cancers. He has also led the early clinical development of new anticancer agents for pancreatic cancer among other solid tumor cancers.

Prior to his current position, Dr. Hidalgo served as chief of the division of hematology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston and clinical director of the Rosenberg Clinical Cancer Center from 2015 to 2019. During this time, he was the Theodore W. and Evelyn G. Berenson professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Hidalgo also held leadership positions at the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO) in Madrid and at the Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, where he was director of gastrointestinal oncology program.

Mr. Hocine Sidi-Said is a Co-founder and serves as Chief Executive Officer and Board Member at KELIX Bio. He serves as an Advisor at The Aentib Group. Mr. Sidi-Said also serves as a Board Member of Bharath Home Medicare. He served as CEO at Axantia, a regional branded generics pharmaceutical platform. He is also a Co-Founder and serves as Managing Director at Bio-nAbler LLC, an investment and advisory firm that partners with Sovereign Wealth Funds and Private Equity firms across Asia and the MENA region. He has led the Emerging Markets Region at UCB as their Executive Vice President and senior positins at Pfizer including CEO of India.

Hocine Sidi Said joined Pfizer in 1986 after completing his MBA from Schiller International University in Paris and holds a degree in Business Administration Management Institute Franco-American in Paris.

Dr. Diane Simeone is an internationally renowned pancreatic surgeon and
researcher with a long-standing career focused on treating pancreatic
cancer and pancreatic cystic tumors. She is the current director of Moores
Cancer Center at UC San Diego Health where she provides the overall
strategic and intellectual direction for the center’s research programs,
administrative structure, and multidisciplinary cancer clinical care. She
serves as the principal investigator for the Cancer Center’s support grant
sponsored by the National Cancer Institute (NCI).
Dr. Simeone partners with academic and clinical leaders to guide cancer
research and care and provides counsel to campus and university-level
committees.

Prior in her career, Dr. Simeone served as the director of the Pancreatic
Cancer Center and was the associate director of translational research at
Perlmutter Cancer Center at New York University Langone Health.
Throughout her career, Dr. Simeone has driven innovation in cancer care by
building a continuum between scientific discovery and new approaches for
cancer detection and treatment. She has published more than 230 studies
in leading peer-reviewed journals. Dr. Simeone served as the chair of the
scientific and medical advisory board of the Pancreatic Cancer Action
Network and is a past president of the American Pancreatic Association and
Society of University Surgeons.

She is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine and is a
member of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Pancreatic Cancer Task force
and the NCI Cancer Centers Study Section. She also serves on the Board of
Directors for the National Comprehensive Cancer Network. She is the
principal investigator and lead of Precision Promise, a national clinical trials
consortium focused on next generation clinical trials for people with
pancreatic cancer. She is also the founder of the Pancreatic Cancer Early
Detection (PRECEDE) Consortium, an international consortium established
to drive the early detection of pancreatic cancer.

Tom Schoenherr is Chief Executive Officer for Ambry Genetics. He has over 25 years of commercial experience in biotechnology, specifically molecular diagnostics, with a solid track record in building high-growth companies.

Before joining Ambry, Tom led Counsyl’s commercial strategy and was responsible for driving business growth and increasing market share in the very competitive carrier screening space. He served in similar leadership roles at Quest, Siemens Healthcare, and Abbott Diagnostics, as well as having served on several advisory boards providing leadership and guidance to management teams and company founders on their organizational goals and strategies of businesses to access and determine potential opportunities.

Tom is an advocate in the relentless pursuit of new and better ways of working, empowering organizations and teams to embrace digital transformation and telemedicine to generate new and significant value for consumers and shareholders. His passion truly lies in ensuring patients around the world have access to transformational medical options.

Tom earned his BS from Michigan State University and completed his Executive Business Development Program from the University of Notre Dame.