Robin JR Blatt is a Founder and Project Director of the CJP Boston-Haifa Life Sciences Initiative (BHLSI) started in June 2004 on behalf of Combined Jewish Philanthropies (CJP) of Greater Boston. Ms. Blatt has two decades of experience in genetics, biotechnology and health policy.  She is an Officer and Adjunct Faculty Member at the Harvard School of Public Health where she teaches on contemporary issues and challenges in genetics and biotechnology. In addition, she is an Eisenhower Fellow. Ms. Blatt has also served as the United States-Israel Science and Technology Commission (USISTC) Biotechnology Panel Coordinator (USA) and established the first USISTC BioRoundtable (2001). She was author of the landmark strategic planning report, Value Optimization: Creating Breakthrough Alliances in US-Israel Biotechnology & the Life Sciences.   From 1983-2004 she has worked in the public sector directing activities in public health genetics at the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.  Among her many advisory positions, she serves as a Steering Committee Member of the Human Genome Epidemiology Network located at the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). In addition, she worked as a Member of the Massachusetts Medical Society Task Force on Genetics, and, as Member of the Whitehead Institute Task Force on Genetic Testing, Privacy and Public Policy.  Ms. Blatt is Founding Editor and Publisher of The Journal of BioLaw & Business  - an international quarterly journal established in 1997 to identify and address emerging legal, business, regulatory and policy matters pertaining to biotechnology and the life sciences.   She is also the Founder of Applied Biogenuity and works as a consultant to government agencies, law firms and private and public companies involved in global strategic planning.

Michal Lotem is the Business Development Manager of BHLSI in Israel. Michal has extensive experience in business development and business consulting to Life Sciences and related industries. She has served as a senior business consultant at the Israeli office of PwC, and was assistant to VP Business Development at Compugen Ltd. She has also held positions at Cornell University and the University of British Columbia, where she was responsible for putting together large academic grant proposals and scientific texts, among others. Michal holds an MSc degree in Life Sciences from the Weizmann Institute, and an MBA from the University of British Columbia.

Tamar Simchi-Seifer CEO of MATI Haifa, the small and medium enterprise (SME) development center of Haifa and the region.