Walter Drimer, President and Chief Executive Officer
Walter Drimer is a successful entrepreneur and business development expert with extensive experience in building management and technical teams. He is responsible for more than $500 million in transactions over a 30-year period.  Throughout his career, Walter has founded several companies and new ventures in both the for profit and not for profit arenas, including Genesis Search Group, Inc., an executive search company specializing in biotech and health care; Innovation Plus LLC, a smart fastener technology company; and American Private Investors Group, an angels club that matches entrepreneurs with private investors. Walter’s most recent project was the co-founding of Bright Source Energy/LUZ II, a solar energy and clean fuel technology enterprise. Bright Source has recently completed its third round of funding for a total of more than $70 million of Equity and Debt. The company has offices in Israel and the US.

Dr. Harvey Kasdan, PhD, Chief Technical Officer
Dr. Harvey Kasdan is a SBEE and SMEE in Electrical Engineering from MIT, with a PhD in Engineering from the University of California at Los Angeles. Continuing his academic pursuits at UCLA, he completed courses in artificial intelligence, LISP, expert systems and artificial artificial neural systems. His professional career has been devoted to developing complex systems that include electrooptical, electronic, mechanical and material or specimen handling subsystems controlled by embedded or PC-based software. In addition to partnering with GGI in medical and health care field-related projects, he serves as a consultant to Iris Diagnostics, a division of IRIS International, Inc. Previous to consulting, Harvey was the Chief Scientist for the division. He has had a major role in the development of every IRIS instrument – more than 1,500 are in use today worldwide and producing an annual revenue stream of over $60 million. Additionally, he has been named inventor or co-inventor on the issuance of 24 US patents, with another one pending.

Julien Meissonnier, Strategic Partnering & Acquisitions
Julien Meissonnier has 20 years of international business experience in product development, technical service, marketing, business development and consulting.
His current activities include: contributing to the development of selected start-ups, with a focus on strategic, business development and raising capital; assisting entrepreneurs in company formation; locating Israeli technology and start-ups for foreign companies and institutions.
He is currently the manager of R.O.I. Consulting, a business development consulting firm which he founded in 2001.  He serves as Director of Business Development for Evogene, an agro-biotechnology company, since its inception in 2001 through to its recent IPO on the Tel Aviv stock exchange.  He also serves as Chief Financial Officer of Pigmentan, a specialty chemicals development stage company, which is commercializing an innovative line of environmentally friendly anti-corrosion additives. He has held a variety of senior level positions in business development and strategic marketing management throughout Europe and Israel. Julien holds a Diplôme d'Ingénieur degree in Physics of Materials from the Institut National des Sciences Appliquées de Lyon, an M.S.E degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Washington, Seattle and an MBA from INSEAD, France. 

Arlene Ratzabi, Research and Candidate Development
Arlene Ratzabi has been in executive search for over twenty years after spending several years as a Research Librarian with The National Agricultural Library of Israel. Arlene served as Research Associate for two international retained executive search firms. In 1984 she joined MSL International as a Research Associate. She became Research Director at Paul Stafford Associates in 1987 and subsequently joined Gould, McCoy & Chadick in 1988 where she became Vice President in 1995. In 1999, Arlene formed her own company, CSS Creative Search Solutions, and has since worked as an independent consultant.
Arlene’s forte and considerable experience lies in candidate development with senior level searches in the areas of general management, human resources & compensation, marketing, operations, research and information technology. Arlene has performed searches in healthcare, lodging and hospitality, consumer products, financial services, not-for-profit, information technology, and industrial products. Arlene received her B.A. in History from Elmira College and her M.S. in Library Science from Columbia University.

Mika Sullivan, Office Manager and Director of Research and Marketing

Our Advisory Board

Ian E. Kibblewhite
Ian E. Kibblewhite is the founder of Innovation Plus, and serves as Chairman of the Board and CEO. When originally founded in 1990, Innovation Plus specialized in the development of innovative electronic products for the medical and industrial instrumentation markets. Innovation Plus was awarded a Benjamin Franklin Innovation Seed Grant and a NASA contract to prove feasibility of a novel patented ultrasonic technique for measuring the clamp load in fasteners. Mr. Kibblewhite founded Ultrafast in 1991 to commercialize this technology, having recognized the global potential of the technology and secured the patent protection at an early stage. Earlier in his career, Mr. Kibblewhite spent over 13 years at SPS Technologies, a $450 million multinational corporation that manufactures aerospace and industrial fasteners and electronic assembly equipment for the automotive market. At SPS, he held a number of engineering and managerial positions including Manager of the New Products Department in which he headed the strategic team managing the new product process from idea exploration to product commercialization. Mr. Kibblewhite received his Bachelors and Masters Degrees in Electrical Engineering from the University of Canterbury, New Zealand. Mr. Kibblewhite is both a seasoned entrepreneur/executive with broad business experience and an innovative achiever, with 12 US patents in this field and a strong technology background spanning a range of high-technology disciplines.

Dr. Dan J. Gelvan, Chairman and Director.
Dr. Gelvan is Managing Director-Life Sciences, Aurum Ventures MKI Ltd. Dr. Gelvan is a seasoned life-science executive who before joining Aurum Ventures managed GammaCan International, Inc. (OTCBB: GCAN), a development-stage pharmaceutical company. Prior to that, Dr. Gelvan founded and managed Zetiq Technologies, a drug discovery company specializing in cell-based high-throughput screening for novel anti-cancer drugs. Dr. Gelvan founded Zetiq after leaving a senior position in Clal (Israel) Ltd., one of Israel's largest holding conglomerates. Dr. Gelvan holds a Ph.D. in Business Economics from RUC in Denmark and he is an experienced lecturer of corporate finance and entrepreneurship. Dr. Gelvan is a member of Israel's National Committee for Biotechnology.

Frank A. Farnesi
Frank A. Farnesi is the Chief Executive Officer of Augustine Associates LLC, a private holding company. He was formerly the Partner in Charge of the Pennsylvania Tax Practice for KPMG, LLP, an international accounting firm. While at KPMG he worked with new and emerging businesses in the technology and biotechnology fields. He also served as Partner in Charge - Tax Compliance. In this role he served as the project leader in the redesign of how the Firm renders tax compliance services to its clients, a $250 million business. This project required the development of processes and technologies and the training of over 3,000 employees nationwide over an eighteen month period. He currently serves on the Advisory Board for several start up companies.

James S. Jandrlich
James S. Jandrlich is President of Dictor Capital Corporation, a successful regional merger and acquisition firm founded in 1974. He has been a partner and officer in Dictor Capital since 1990 and is one of four principals and three associates in the firm. Dictor Capital is primarily engaged in the sale of privately held manufacturing and distribution businesses with revenues of $2 to $50 million. In the early part of this century, Dictor has been very active in the Mid-Atlantic Region, completing the sale of fifteen businesses with combined revenues of over $100 million in one year. Dictor is also an affiliate with The Geneva Companies, a worldwide middle-market M & A firm.
After college and service in the U. S. Air Force, Mr. Jandrlich was an engineer, manager and director at six major computer hardware and software development corporations during the sixties and seventies. He left corporate life in 1976 to co-found several successful automotive aftermarket manufacturing and distribution companies, including ANA, Inc. and AutoCraft Automotive Products, Inc. Having successfully divested his business interests in 1986, Mr. Jandrlich founded a business consulting, merger, and acquisition firm, Universal Management Services, Inc. and left in 1990 to join Dictor Capital Corporation. He was involved as a mentor for several small start-up high technology development companies and was Screening Committee Chairman of the Penn State Technology Development Center, a business incubator. Mr. Jandrlich is also active in the Pennsylvania Innovation Network, the Technology Council of Greater Philadelphia, the Entrepreneurs Forum of the Delaware Valley, the Association for Corporate Growth, and writes and lectures frequently on a variety of business topics.

Lawrence Glass, PhD.
Dr. Glass most recently served as Senior VP for Corporate Development at Panacea and, before that, as Exec. VP for Corporate Development & Scientific Affairs at Virco Lab, Inc., the U.S. subsidiary of Virco Group, an international diagnostic company. He spent 20 years at SRA Life Sciences, Inc., a subsidiary of a NYSE company (SRA was acquired by Virco in late 2000), serving as President and CEO for the last four years. He was the principal architect of SRA's biomedical research and diagnostics business and built an internationally recognized scientific team conducting pharmacogenomic and drug resistance research and clinical diagnostics, working with NIH, the Army Medical R&D Command and many of the top pharmaceutical and biotech companies in the world. Prior to SRA, Dr. Glass held research positions at various institutions including the National Institute for Advanced Studies, the University of Minnesota College of Medicine, and the Minneapolis Children's Hospital and Health Center. His graduate training at the University of Minnesota was in epidemiology and biostatistics.

Abba David Poliakoff
Abba David Poliakoff is Chairman of the Business Law Department of Gordon, Feinblatt, Rothman, Hoffberger & Hollander, LLC, in Baltimore, Maryland.  Mr. Poliakoff's practice focuses primarily on technology and biotech, representing developing companies as well as venture capital groups and investors.  With his background in corporate and securities law and financing, his practice includes public offerings, private placements, mergers and acquisitions, and corporate representation, together with general legal and business consulting.
Mr. Poliakoff is currently a member of the Maryland State Bar Association's Business Law Section and former Chair of its Committee on Securities. In addition, he is a member of the American Bar Association's Small Business Committee and Business Law Committee.  He has been listed in Chambers USA, Leading Business Lawyers since its inception in 2003.  Mr. Poliakoff is a member of the Board of Directors of the Greater Baltimore Technology Council (GBTC) and Chair of its Legislative Committee. He is a former Chair of the Maryland Business & Technology Coalition, a member of the Technology Council of Maryland, and a member of the MIT Enterprise Forum.  In his community work, he is President of the Jewish Arbitration and Mediation Board of Baltimore and on the Board of Directors of the Baltimore Jewish Council and The Baltimore Jewish Federation.  Mr. Poliakoff is currently the Chairman of the Maryland Israel Development Center.  In 2002, Mr. Poliakoff was appointed by Maryland Governor Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr. to the Governor's Transition Committee.
Mr. Poliakoff received his JD degree, magna cum laude, in 1977 from the University of Baltimore Law School, where he was an editor of the University of Baltimore Law Review and Associate Editor of The Forum Law Journal.  Mr. Poliakoff was a senior attorney on the staff of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in Washington, D.C., Division of Corporation Finance. 

Bruce Sholk
Bruce Sholk’s efforts for the past 20 years have been directed at identifying emerging growth companies for personal investment. Bruce has been actively involved at the start-up stages of a large number of companies that have eventually successfully exited through sale or initial public stock offerings. Bruce’s role has ranged from board member to active involvement in all aspects of the day-to-day development of the businesses.
Since 1996, with his founding of Greenspring Ventures, a private venture capital partnership, Bruce has invested in multiple businesses, including Alpine Medical, PCS Software, Mid-American Waste Systems, and The Harris Group. In 2001, he co-founded a second venture capital firm, through which he invested in such large-scale successes as Virtual Supply Chain Engineering, Modern Engineering and Recovercare. Today, Bruce serves on numerous local and international boards including The Associated Jewish Community Federation of Baltimore; Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life; and The Jewish Agency for Israel. He holds a BS in Advertising and Management from the University of Florida, and an MBA from Carnegie Mellon University.

David Sidransky, M.D.
Dr. Sidransky is currently Professor of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, Oncology, Pathology, Urology, and Cellular and Molecular Medicine, and is Director of Head and Neck Cancer Research Laboratory at the Johns Hopkins University. His laboratory includes approximately 20 members and is actively engaged in the elucidation of molecular genetic changes that drive the progression of various types of cancer.
Dr. Sidransky is perhaps best known for his pioneering efforts in molecular detection approaches based on the identification of clonal genetic changes in many bodily fluids including urine, saliva, stool, and blood. Several major recent innovations in this area have been pioneered by the Sidransky laboratory. Throughout his career, Dr. Sidransky has tried to bridge basic research into the clinical setting.
Dr. Sidransky currently serves as Senior or Associate Editor of four major cancer research journals and is on the board of scientific counselors for the NIDCR at the NIH. Dr. Sidransky joined the Johns Hopkins faculty in 1992 and was promoted to his current position in 1998. He has published over 250 scholarly works including over 170 journal articles and many reviews and commentaries. Recent awards include the Sarstedt International Research Prize (German Society of Clinical Chemistry 1997) and The Alton Ochsner Award Relating Smoking and Health (American College of Chest Physicians 1998).
Dr. Sidransky received his medical degree in 1984 from Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, where he also completed an internal medicine residency. In 1988, he pursued a clinical oncology fellowship at Johns Hopkins University and then completed a research fellowship under Dr. Bert Vogelstein.

Shoshana Katz Drimer, Esq.
Ms. Drimer is a former partner at one of Baltimore's largest law firms. She is a highly experienced attorney, having represented clients for more than 15 years, primarily in the area of commercial law.
Ms. Drimer has also prepared numerous appellate briefs and participated in appeals to the United States. District Court of Maryland, the United States Courts of Appeals for the Fourth and Sixth Circuits, and the Court of Special Appeals of Maryland.
In addition to her years in private practice, Ms. Drimer has held the position of general counsel in the corporate arena and served a judicial clerkship for The Honorable Paul E. Alpert, Court of Special Appeals of Maryland. She is a frequent lecturer in the areas of commercial transactions and creditors' rights issues.
A significant part of Ms. Drimer's early practice involved representation of national real estate companies in bankruptcy cases. During that time, on behalf of a group of landlords, Ms. Drimer co-authored several winning briefs in the Merry-Go-Round Enterprises, Inc. cases, saving her clients millions of dollars.