Advisory Board
Bob Abramowitz, Ph.D
Abraham Abuchowski, Ph.D
Milena Adamian, MD, Ph.D
John Aitchison, Ph.D
Ronald Burch, MD, Ph.D
Barry W. Feig, MD
Adam Gazzaley, MD, Ph.D
Marc Garnick, MD
Steve Gerbsman
Howard Martin Fillit, MD
Philip M. Neches, Ph.D.
Brian D. Sklar, MD
Jonathan York, MD
Richard Yacenda
Shawn Zimberg, MD

Mr. Taub has over 10 years of entrepreneurial experience in the operations and development arena working with start-up companies. He has developed and managed sales and marketing operations teams within the software, hardware, financial, real estate and internet industries.

Prior to joining Foundation Ventures, Mr. Taub was Co-Founder and Managing Director of ApartmentZone, which was developed to consolidate and upgrade the real estate brokerage industry using technology, communications and the Internet. He played an instrumental role in software development, business development and operations infrastructure. Mr. Taub has also held various positions at Encyclopedia Britannica and Zacks Financial Research.

Dr. Abramowitz is a pharmaceutical executive with over 25 years experience in the pharmaceutical sciences. He has worked on numerous IND and NDA filings with expertise in regulatory, CMC, and clinical issues. Dr. Abramowitz has numerous patents, publications and presentations at scientific meetings. Dr. Abramowitz received his B.S. in Pharmacy from the University of Wyoming in 1976. He was recently awarded the College of Pharmacy alumni of the year award in 2008. Dr. Abramowitz received his Ph.D. in pharmaceutical sciences from the University of Arizona in 1986 working in the laboratory of Dr. Samuel Yalkowsky. After teaching at Oregon State University, where he was the College of Pharmacy teacher of the year in 1986, he was employed at Bristol-Myers Squibb for 14 years with increasing levels of responsibility. He was awarded the Bristol-Myers Squibb Pharmaceutical Research Institute Presidential award for FDA negotiation in 1995. From 2001 through 2009 he worked at Taxolog, Inc. a pharmaceutical oncology company located in New Jersey where he was Vice President of Clinical Operations.

Abraham Abuchowski, Ph.D. is Founder and CEO of Prolong Pharmaceuticals. Dr. Abuchowski was the founder and past Chairman and CEO of Enzon, Inc., a multi-billion dollar biopharmaceutical company that specializes in PEGylation technology. During his 13 years at Enzon (1983-1996), Dr. Abuchowski successfully commercialized PEGylation by gaining FDA approval for three protein-based biopharmaceuticals. Dr. Abuchowski was instrumental in helping Enzon mature from a developmental stage company to a fully integrated publicly traded biopharmaceutical company.

Dr. Abuchowski holds a B.S. and a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Rutgers University. He is an internationally recognized authority on biopharmaceutical delivery and has published more than 100 scientific papers and several book chapters on therapeutic products. In 1994, Dr Abuchowski founded and served as the first Chairman of the Biotechnology Council of New Jersey. Dr. Abuchowski is one of New Jersey’s top entrepreneurs and is recognized at both the state and national levels as an outstanding bioscience executive. In 1990, Dr. Abuchowski was named New Jersey's "Entrepreneur of the Year" for high-technology, awarded by Ernst & Young, Inc. Magazine, and Merrill Lynch.

In 1990, Dr. Abuchowski was named Entrepreneur Business Leader of the Year by New Jersey Monthly. In 1991, the National Organization for Rare Disorders awarded him with their Corporate Leadership Award for outstanding commitment to orphan drug development and making enzyme replacement therapy a reality. Additionally, in 1993, he won the Public Health Service Award for Exceptional Achievements in Orphan Products Development. In November of 1993, he received the Triumphs Through Technology Award from the Los Angeles Chapter of the Leukemia Society of America.

In 2001, Dr. Abuchowski was listed as one of the "Top 50" graduates of Rutgers College of Arts and Sciences and in 2002 was inducted into the Rutgers Hall of Distinguished Alumni.

Dr. Adamian is a Vice President at Easton Capital Partners. Prior to joining Easton in August 2007, Dr. Adamian worked as a Research Analyst at Lehman Brothers, where she was a key member of a team consistently ranked at the top by Institutional Investor. Dr. Adamian came to Wall Street after working as an Associate Medical Director at Boston Scientific Corporation, where she was responsible for design, management and analyses of the TAXUS (DES) clinical program.

Dr. Adamian is a cardiologist who went through extensive training at the world's best centers for Interventional Cardiology, including Centro Cuore Columbus in Milan, Italy with Dr. Antonio Colombo, and Lenox Hill Hospital/Cardiovascular Research Foundation in New York City. Dr. Adamian is an author of several peer-reviewed publications, and has served as a faculty member at major professional society meetings. Dr. Adamian, practiced medicine as a cardiologist and holds a Master of Science degree in Biostatistics from Columbia University, and MD and PhD degrees in Clinical Cardiology from Russian Academy of Medical Sciences.

Since September 2000, Dr. Aitchison has been a faculty member of the Institute for Systems Biology in Seattle, Washington (www.systemsbiology.com). His laboratory and research focus on applying systems approaches to the study of fundamental cell biology via an integration of traditional science with new high-throughput technologies and computational biology to bring about an understanding of how the three-dimensional architecture of cells imparts control over cellular function. He has vast experience in functional genomics, proteomics, and genetics.

Dr. Aitchison received his Ph.D. in 1992 from McMaster University in Ontario, Canada in biochemistry, specializing in biotechnology and genetic engineering, working in the laboratory of Richard Rachubinski on the molecular mechanisms responsible for sorting proteins into peroxisomes. From 1992-1997, Dr. Aitchison performed his postdoctoral work in the laboratory of Nobel Laureate Günter Blobel, where he applied classic cell biology techniques and yeast genetics in the study of protein import into the nucleus. He continued his work using large-scale proteomics as an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry at the University of Alberta from 1997-2000. He is currently an Associate Professor at the Institute for Systems Biology and holds Adjunct Associate Professorships at the University of Alberta and the University of British Columbia.

Dr. Feig is an internationally recognized surgical oncologist. He is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Surgical Oncology at The University of Texas, MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas, and holds a joint appointment in the Departments of Anesthesiology and Critical Care. His expertise and research interests include sarcoma and malignancies of the breast and gastrointestinal tract, as well as pioneering leading-edge surgical techniques including sentinel-node mapping. He has been affiliated with the MD Anderson Cancer Center since 1991 where, among other positions, he is currently the Chairperson of the Clinical Research Committee and a member of the Clinical Research Advisory Committee. Dr. Feig is the Chairperson of the South Texas Chapter of the American College of Surgeons’ Cancer Liaison Program, and serves on their Commission on Cancer. He has received numerous honors and awards, and in 2004 was again listed in the 4th edition of America’s Top Doctors.

As a leader in oncologic research, he has authored or co-authored over 100 publications in peer-reviewed journals, and has been the lead or co-author of many textbook chapters spanning all disciplines of oncology. As an academician, Dr. Feig has been the Principal Investigator of numerous NCI-funded collaborative oncology group trials. He has been the recipient of several research grants including “Human Cancer Gene Prevention and Therapy Allocation” and has recently been awarded over $150,000 for his work in evaluating the use of Fibrin Tissue Adhesive following axillary node dissections in patients with melanoma and breast cancer, and for sarcoma-related research.

Dr. Feig received his undergraduate degree from Colgate University and his medical degree from the State University of New York Health Science Center in Syracuse, New York. Following a Residency in General Surgery and a Research Fellowship at Northwestern University Medical School, Dr. Feig went on to complete a Trauma Fellowship at the University of Minnesota Hospitals and a Surgical Oncology Fellowship at UT MD Anderson Cancer Center. Dr. Feig is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons.

Dr. Gazzaley is a world-renown neuroscientist focusing on cognition and memory in aging. He has published numerous articles and abstracts in peer-reviewed journals including Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Journal of Neuroscience, Nature Neuroscience Reviews, Experimental Neurology and Neurobiology of Aging. He has lectured extensively on neural networks, aging (specifically on Alzheimer’s), and top-down modulation in visual processing.

Dr. Gazzaley received his M.D. and Ph.D. degrees from the Mt. Sinai School of Medicine in New York City. He completed his residency in Neurology at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, and is currently Assistant Professor of Neurology and Physiology at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and a faculty member of the Neuroscience Graduate Program. He was awarded and conducted research under an American Federation for Aging Research post-doctoral grant and a National Research Service Award post-doctoral grant. He was awarded the Cajal Club’s prestigious KriegCortical Scholar Award for his doctoral thesis entitled: Glutamate Receptor Plasticity in the Hippocampus: Implications for Age-Related Learning and Memory Deficits.

Dr. Gazzaley is Board Certified in Neurology, and is a member of several Neurology and Neuroscience societies including the American Academy of Neurology, Cognitive Neuroscience Society, the Organization for Human Brain Mapping and the Society for Behavioral and Cognitive Neurology. He is a contributing editor to Science’s Science of Aging Knowledge Environment.

Marc Garnick, M.D., is an internationally renowned expert in medical oncology and urologic cancer, with a special emphasis on prostate cancer. He is a Clinical Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and maintains an active oncology practice at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Dr. Garnick serves as Editor in Chief of Perspectives on Prostate Diseases, a quarterly report from Harvard Health Publications.

Howard Fillit, MD, a geriatrician and neuroscientist, is the founding Executive Director of the Institute for the Study of Aging, Inc. as well as its affiliated public charity the Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation, both of which are dedicated to funding drug discovery for Alzheimer's disease. Dr. Fillit was formally the Corporate Medical Director for Medicare at NYLCare Health Plans (now a division of Aetna, Inc.), where he was responsible for over 125,000 Medicare members in 8 regional markets. He has also had a distinguished academic career at The Rockefeller University and The Mount Sinai Medical Center (NY), where he is currently a clinical professor of geriatrics and medicine and a professor of neurobiology. Dr. Fillit has received many awards and honors, including the Rita Hayworth Award for Lifetime Achievement from the Alzheimer's Association. He is a fellow of the American Geriatrics Society, the American College of Physicians, the Gerontological Society of America, and the New York Academy of Medicine. Dr. Fillit is the author or co-author of more than 250 publications, including the leading international Textbook of Geriatric Medicine and Gerontology. He served as a consultant to a variety of individuals, managed care organizations, health care systems, and pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies.

Dr. Neches is one of America's leading technologists. He was Founder and Chief Scientist of Teradata Corp (1979-1988). Teradata pioneered the application of parallel processing to commercial applications with hardware and software products that implement the world's largest relational databases. The company raised $70 MM through venture capital and public financings and was subsequently acquired by AT&T for a return to shareholders of over $1 billion. The company is now part of NCR Corporation.

As Senior Vice President and Chief Scientist of NCR, Dr. Neches led the repositioning of the entire computer product family prior to merger with AT&T and then led product plan for merger with AT&T. During this period, he was on the Board of Directors of MCC and Semitech (research consortiums) and Dayton Public Radio. He became Vice President and Chief Technical Officer, Multimedia Products and Services Group, AT&T Corp., where his responsibilities included microelectronics, data communication products, business telephone products (including call centers), consumer products, and initial incubation of what became AT&T’s Internet service.

Dr. Neches serves on the Board of Directors of PeopleLink Corporation and ExpandBeyond Inc. His prior directorships include DemoGraFx, MediaMap, and VendQuest. He serves on the Advisory Board of EarthLink, Tacoda Systems, Luxtera, and the Technology Group (analyst practice) for Merrill Lynch. In 1999, Dr. Neches served as Acting Chief Technology Officer of idealab! (an Internet B2C company incubator).

Dr. Neches received his formal training at the California Institute of Technology, where he holds a B.S. (1973), M.S. (1977), and Ph.D. (1983) in Computer Science. Dr. Neches serves on Caltech’s Board of Trustees, sits on its Audit, Investment, Business & Finance, Development, JPL, and Executive Committees, and chairs the Technology Transfer Committee.

Dr. Sklar is a board-certified obstetrician and gynecologist in a large clinical practice in suburban Chicago. For over ten years, he has been recognized as a leader in the treatment of a wide variety of problems in women's health including low and high-risk obstetrics, preventative medicine, contraception, infertility, pelvic pain, routine gynecology, urinary incontinence, menopausal medicine and gynecologic surgery. He is a fellow of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and he serves as an active participant in multiple local and regional quality assurance and peer review committees.

Dr. Sklar received his undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor and his medical degree from Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan. During his residency at Loyola University of Chicago, he conducted research on the impact of amniotic fluid on the latency to delivery of patients with preterm prematurely ruptured membranes. He has a strong interest in, and was recognized for excellence in student and resident medical education. More recently, Dr. Sklar has been working towards the development of processes and mechanisms to improve quality and efficiency in the hospital setting.

Dr. York has extensive clinical and management experience in healthcare; he was the Founder and former President and CEO of Long Island Emergency Care, a professional services firm that provides physician and physician extender support to a major Trauma Center.

Dr. York received his undergraduate degree in the biological sciences from the University of Pennsylvania. He received his M.D. from the Boston University School of Medicine and completed residency training in both Internal Medicine and Emergency Medicine at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York. He is Board Certified in Internal Medicine and Emergency Medicine and is a Fellow of the American College of Emergency Physicians. He has served as an oral examiner for the American Board of Emergency Medicine. Dr. York has been a frequent lecturer and author on topics in the field of Emergency Medicine.

He holds an M.B.A. in Finance and Management from the Stern School at New York University where he was a winner of the school's corporate strategy competition.

Richard Yacenda is a Managing Director and Chief Administrative Officer, Asia Pacific (ex Japan) for Deutsche Bank AG. In this capacity, Richard is responsible for the management and coordination of the firm’s governance platform across the business and the Legal, Compliance, Audit, Tax, CRES, Corporate Security, Company Secretariat and HR (Learning and Development) support functions. Richard is the Chairman of the Regional Real Estate and Asia Pacific Legal Entity Committee, and a member of the Regional Executive (EXCO), Operating, Infrastructure, Risk and Smart Sourcing Steering Committees.

Richard joined Deutsche Bank in April 2006 from JPMorgan in Hong Kong where he spent two years as a Managing Director holding the joint roles of Chief Administrative Officer for Asia Pacific and Chief Operating Officer for North Asia. As Chief Administrative Officer he was responsible for coordinating governance across many of the administrative areas and as Chief Operating Officer for North Asia the governance and coordination of the operations in Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, and South Korea. Prior to joining JP Morgan, Richard spent over 22 years at Goldman Sachs in Hong Kong and in New York. His most recent role at Goldman Sachs was Managing Director and Head of the Human Capital Management Division in Asia and was a member of the Goldman Sachs Asia Management Committee, the senior governance group for business governance, strategy and infrastructure.

Richard graduated form Fordham University in New York with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Accounting. He has resided in Hong Kong for over eight years.

Dr. Zimberg is a board-certified Radiation Oncologist with experience in both clinical oncology and life-science/medical technology sector investing.

Dr. Zimberg is in clinical practice at Radiation Oncology Associates of Long Island. He is recognized as a leader in the treatment of prostate, breast and head & neck cancers. He routinely lectures to patients and fellow physicians on radiation-based technologies for cancer treatment. He has been an invited guest faculty member at MD Anderson Cancer Center’s annual Updates and Controversies in Oncology conference, speaking on head & neck cancer and brain tumors.

Prior to completing his residency at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Dr. Zimberg was a medical advisor to Advanced Capital Resources, a private banking concern, where he specialized in medical device and biotechnology sectors. Dr. Zimberg received his undergraduate and M.D. degrees from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. As a resident at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, he was awarded an American Cancer Society sponsored clinical oncology fellowship. More recently, he was the recipient of the American Cancer Society's Cancer Control Award, and currently serves as the Medical Spokesman for the American Cancer Society’s Eastern Division Advisory Board.