Nava Swersky Sofer

Ms. Nava Swersky Sofer is the Managing Director of IDCBeyond at Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya. She is employed at Genopole ® and Genopole 1er Jour, SCR. She founded Columbine Ventures in 2000 and served as its Managing Director. She served as Vice President of Novartis AG. Ms. Sofer also served as the President and Chief Executive Officer at Yissum Group from December 2005 to December 29, 2008. In 1999, Ms. Sofer Founded Columbine Capital and served as its Managing Director until the end of 2000. From 1995 to 1998, Ms. Sofer was a partner of Sanderling Ventures. She served as the Head of Pharma Policy at Ciba-Geigy AG. She served as Managing Director of AG-Tech Fund at Nessuah Zannex Venture Capital Management Ltd. She serves as the Chairman of Atox Bio. She served as the Chairman of Aderis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. She serves as a Director of Proneuron Biotechnologies, Inc. and Optonol, Inc. She served as a Director of EGM International, Inc. (alternate name, World Diagnostics Inc.) since December 2000. She served as a Director of X Technologies, Dynavax Technologies Corporation, Echo Therapeutics, Inc., BioCancell Therapeutics, Inc. and Harmonia Medical Technologies, Inc. She served as a Member of Supervisory Board at Novagali Pharma S.A. Ms. Sofer received her LLB from Tel Aviv University and her MBA from IMD International as well as diplomas from the Sorbonne, the Instituto Trentino and the Goethe Institute.

Vassilis Tsakalos

Vassilis Tsakalos is the Director General of the Research Promotion Foundation (RPF), the National Funding Agency for Research and Innovation in Cyprus, since January 2011. Before this appointment, Vassilis was for 12 years the Head of PRAXI (HELP-FORWARD) Network, a Technology Transfer, Research, Innovation and Entrepreneurship Promotion Agency in Greece belonging to the Foundation for Research and Technology – HELLAS (FORTH) and operating under the auspices of the Hellenic Federation of Enterprises (SEV) and the General Secretariat of Research and Technology (GSRT).

Nathan Zeldes

Nathan Zeldes, a physicist morphed into an organizational change agent, is recognized as a global thought leader in the search for improved knowledge worker productivity. Having enjoyed a long career as a manager and senior engineer at Intel, he now helps organizations to solve core problems at the intersection of technology and human behavior. Nathan has been active mentoring startup companies since the early nineties, when he represented Intel in a startup incubator in Israel. Subsequently, when he became globally known as an email productivity expert, he became a valuable resource for startups seeking input on their product and business plans in this space. Nathan holds an MSc in applied physics from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. His professional activity is accessible at http://www.nathanzeldes.com. Nathan is a long-time collector and student of technology history, and his work as an af liate researcher at the Coller Institute focuses on the history of venture.

Vladi Dvoyris

Vladi Dvoyris was granted his MBA degree with specialization in management of knowledge-based rms from the Technion (2012), and a Doctor of Dental Medicine degree from the Hebrew University (2009). Before joining CIV he served as an advisor for several dental enterprises, and is currently engaged in his PhD research, focusing on innovative nanotechnology-based diagnostic devices. Vladi is a popular lecturer and public speaker, and his work at the Coller Institute of Venture focuses on community management, marketing, and the institute's web-presence.