This morning marked the departure of several members of our group for the airport. The remainder of us continued along to visit Chaim Sheba Medical Center -- the largest medical center in the Middle East. (www.eng.sheba.co.il)
There, we vistied the the Rehabilitation Center, which included the state of the art Virtual Reality Lab. We then visited the Advanced Technology Center and learned more about some of the research being done at the medical center. It was interesting to see how Israel's research practices differ from those in the United States.
The end of Thursday marked the end of our trip. We had a wonderful time, learned a lot, and hope to share this knowledge with the rest of WBL upon our return!
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Wednesday, July 18
Today was another busy day of health care business meetings. We woke up early and headed north to visit the Technion. The Technion is located in Haifa - Israel's second largest city, after Tel Aviv. The Technion -Israel Institute of Technology (www.technion.ac.il) - is Israel's leading technological university. Some compare it to MIT in the United States. We arrived at the Technion and first heard from Benjamin Soffer in the Technology Transfer Office of the Technion. The Technology Transfer Office (TTO) is a portion of the Technion that works to see that technologies developed within the university are delivered to the outside world. This includes managing the patents and licensing, and working with potential outside investors -- with proceeds coming back to fund the office and the school. It was interesting to see how the schools work so well with the industry.
Next, we visited the Stem Cells Tissue Laboratory in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the Technion. A graduate student showed us the cutting edge stem cell research and how they have been able to separate those cells that form heart tissue. We were able to see newly generated, beating heart tissue cells under a microscope! This was just one example of the amazing research that takes place in Israel and at the Technion.
We then joined three professors from the Technion for lunch in the university's faculty center. We enjoyed an enlightening discussion about women advancing in business and academia -- in the US, Europe, and Israel.
Following lunch, our group headed to Tirat Hacarmel for a warm welcome at InSightec (www.insightec.com). InSightec has developed a product - ExAblate (R) 2000- integrating MRI technology with focused ultrasound energy. ExAblate was approved by the FDA in 2004 to treat uterine fibroids and the company has begun clinical trials for numerous other applications, including breast, bone, liver, and brain tumors.
The group then finished the day with a visit to Misgav Venture Accelerator (www.misgav-venture.com). This company is one of many technology "incubators" found in Israel. These incubators receive government funding and help facilitate development of new technologies -- with one of Misgav's focuses being on medical devices. The group left energized after learning about this public-private partnership to foster the development of new technologies -- and about the many exciting technologies (one of which has already made a cameo appearance on an American television show) that are heading our way. The Misgav center is affiliated with the Trendlines group, so be sure to visit their website, too (www.trendlines.com).
Next, we visited the Stem Cells Tissue Laboratory in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the Technion. A graduate student showed us the cutting edge stem cell research and how they have been able to separate those cells that form heart tissue. We were able to see newly generated, beating heart tissue cells under a microscope! This was just one example of the amazing research that takes place in Israel and at the Technion.
We then joined three professors from the Technion for lunch in the university's faculty center. We enjoyed an enlightening discussion about women advancing in business and academia -- in the US, Europe, and Israel.
Following lunch, our group headed to Tirat Hacarmel for a warm welcome at InSightec (www.insightec.com). InSightec has developed a product - ExAblate (R) 2000- integrating MRI technology with focused ultrasound energy. ExAblate was approved by the FDA in 2004 to treat uterine fibroids and the company has begun clinical trials for numerous other applications, including breast, bone, liver, and brain tumors.
The group then finished the day with a visit to Misgav Venture Accelerator (www.misgav-venture.com). This company is one of many technology "incubators" found in Israel. These incubators receive government funding and help facilitate development of new technologies -- with one of Misgav's focuses being on medical devices. The group left energized after learning about this public-private partnership to foster the development of new technologies -- and about the many exciting technologies (one of which has already made a cameo appearance on an American television show) that are heading our way. The Misgav center is affiliated with the Trendlines group, so be sure to visit their website, too (www.trendlines.com).
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Monday, July 16, 2007
This morning our group woke up very early to travel north to visit two health care companies - both portfolio companies of Israel Healthcare Ventures. The first company, based in Netanya, was NiTi Medical Technologies. The company has created a unique compression anastomosis device to serve as an alternative to stapling in surgery. The shape memory surgical rings and clips are applicable when used in gastrointestinal surgery. (To learn more, visit http://www.nititec.com). We learned this information firsthand from the company's CEO and the delegates had a chance to answer questions and make suggestions based on their extensive health care experience.
Our delegation then continued on to visit Cardiodex in the Caesarea high-tech area of Israel. Like Netanya, this was a very pretty area of the country, and the women enjoyed learning about Cardiodex's work as a company specializing in devices for arterial access closure (see http://www.cardiodex.com). This company, too, was very impressive, and our delegation got to witness the innovation in just two of Israel's (and Israel Healthcare Ventures') many exciting companies. We would add more details to this blog, however some of the details discussed in these meetings were confidential. We recommend you take a look at the two companies' websites to learn more about their devices.
We headed home, stopping by Maccabi - one of the four HMOs in Israel. There, the delegates got to see Israel's work towards an electronic health record and discuss the many challenges and opportunities our two countries have in common with this initiative.
The group then had a business dinner at the hotel with executives from InSightec, a sponsor of tonight's dessert reception in honor of our delegates. InSightec is a company that has created ExAblate 2000 (R), a focused MRI technology useful in non-surgically (rather, the MRI is the surgery!) removing fibroids. The company is hopeful that this device may be applied to tumors and cancer in the future. To learn more, visit http://www.insightec.com.
We then went downstairs to join about eighty leaders from Israel's health care industry for our dessert reception. WBL thanks our sponsors, including InSightec (and program sponsors Trendlines and Maccabi) for their support. Our delegation was just in awe of the quality of the networking at this event - they truly met a large subset of Israel's health care leadership -- including executives and board members from all types of companies and including both men and women. There must have been eighty - five people in the room at one point - for an 8:30 PM dessert reception that was completely planned by WBL from 5000 miles away! The delegation was introduced to those in attendance so that the Israelis in the audience knew whom they could connect with and do business with. Each one of our WBL delegates left with a stack of business cards and opportunities (some immediate) for new business. We just hope we were able to help the Israelis in attendance with some of their questions regarding the US health care industry and health care in general.
Several of the women joined us to continue networking after the reception, and we all headed off to sleep very late in the evening.
Our delegation then continued on to visit Cardiodex in the Caesarea high-tech area of Israel. Like Netanya, this was a very pretty area of the country, and the women enjoyed learning about Cardiodex's work as a company specializing in devices for arterial access closure (see http://www.cardiodex.com). This company, too, was very impressive, and our delegation got to witness the innovation in just two of Israel's (and Israel Healthcare Ventures') many exciting companies. We would add more details to this blog, however some of the details discussed in these meetings were confidential. We recommend you take a look at the two companies' websites to learn more about their devices.
We headed home, stopping by Maccabi - one of the four HMOs in Israel. There, the delegates got to see Israel's work towards an electronic health record and discuss the many challenges and opportunities our two countries have in common with this initiative.
The group then had a business dinner at the hotel with executives from InSightec, a sponsor of tonight's dessert reception in honor of our delegates. InSightec is a company that has created ExAblate 2000 (R), a focused MRI technology useful in non-surgically (rather, the MRI is the surgery!) removing fibroids. The company is hopeful that this device may be applied to tumors and cancer in the future. To learn more, visit http://www.insightec.com.
We then went downstairs to join about eighty leaders from Israel's health care industry for our dessert reception. WBL thanks our sponsors, including InSightec (and program sponsors Trendlines and Maccabi) for their support. Our delegation was just in awe of the quality of the networking at this event - they truly met a large subset of Israel's health care leadership -- including executives and board members from all types of companies and including both men and women. There must have been eighty - five people in the room at one point - for an 8:30 PM dessert reception that was completely planned by WBL from 5000 miles away! The delegation was introduced to those in attendance so that the Israelis in the audience knew whom they could connect with and do business with. Each one of our WBL delegates left with a stack of business cards and opportunities (some immediate) for new business. We just hope we were able to help the Israelis in attendance with some of their questions regarding the US health care industry and health care in general.
Several of the women joined us to continue networking after the reception, and we all headed off to sleep very late in the evening.
Sunday, July 15, 2007
Sunday July 15, 2007
The WBL delegation arrived in Israel over the weekend. The group is small, but a perfect size for everyone to get to know each other and to be flexible in our travels around the country to learn more about Israel's health care and life sciences industries.
The WBL women traveling with the delegation are:
____
Susan Alpert, Senior VP, Chief Quality & Regulatory Officer
Medtronic, Inc.
Minneapolis, MN
Ruth Brinkley, President & CEO
Memorial Health Care System
Chattanooga, TN
Mary Grealy, President
Healthcare Leadership Council
Washington, DC
Taney Hamill, CEO
WBL Foundation
Washington, DC
Merrie Howard, Executive Assistant
Epstein Becker & Green, P.C.
Washington, DC
Christine Maddock, Assistant Controller
RA Patina Group
New York, NY
Ellen Maddock, Trustee
Hackettstown Regional Medical Center
New York, NY
Paula Morgan, President
Morgan Consulting, LLC
Murray Hill, NJ
Jeanne Shapiro Nahan, Pianist and Choral Director
Princeton Charter School
Lawrenceville, NJ
Marcia Nusgart, President
Nusgart Consulting LLC
Bethesda, MD
Hadar Ron, Managing Director
Israel Healthcare Ventures, Ltd.
Tel Aviv, Israel
Lori Ross, Communications Consultant
Putnam-Ross Communications
Arnold, MD
Theresa Stevens, Global Head Negotiations & Business Development
Novartis Pharma AG
Basel, Switzerland
Lynn Shapiro Snyder, Senior Partner
Epstein Becker & Green, P.C. and
Founder & President
WBL Foundation
Washington, DC
Eleanor Whitley, Director
WBL Foundation
Washington, DC
This afternoon the group attended sessions at the Myers-JDC-Brookdale Institute in Jerusalem to receive an overview of Israel's health care system. Dr. Bruce Rosen, Director of the Smokler Center for Health Policy at the Brookdale Institute graciously hosted our event and presented us with this overview. The Brookdale Institute is a leading social sciences research group in Israel.
It was fascinating to learn more about health care in Israel - and particularly fascinating to learn about the universal health coverage provided by the government, under four HMOs. The WBL delegation was relieved to hear that innovation can still prosper under such a system, and also to learn that Israel and the United States share many challenges related to the future of health care. Anyone interested in seeing this powerpoint should feel free to contact a WBL staff member and we will share Dr. Rosen's insights with you.
This evening we arrived in Tel Aviv and checked into our hotel there. On Sunday, Jerusalem was the base for our trip as the women arrived during the weekend. We were then whisked off to a dinner at House No. 3 in Jaffa in Tel Aviv. House No. 3 is the home of an Israeli family who hosts special events. The food was delicious and all agreed that the networking was even better! The dinner was sponsored by Dr. Hadar Ron, Managing Partner of Israel Healthcare Ventures, and she attended along with many of her colleagues and industry contacts. There were at least thirty people at a very long dinner table! The guest of honor at this dinner was Dalia Dorner, a former Supreme Court justice who spoke on equality in the state of Israel.
After networking and learning more about Israel's health care system from the guests -- whose perspectives were interesting both as businesspeople and as residents of Israel, we returned back to the hotel.
The WBL women traveling with the delegation are:
____
Susan Alpert, Senior VP, Chief Quality & Regulatory Officer
Medtronic, Inc.
Minneapolis, MN
Ruth Brinkley, President & CEO
Memorial Health Care System
Chattanooga, TN
Mary Grealy, President
Healthcare Leadership Council
Washington, DC
Taney Hamill, CEO
WBL Foundation
Washington, DC
Merrie Howard, Executive Assistant
Epstein Becker & Green, P.C.
Washington, DC
Christine Maddock, Assistant Controller
RA Patina Group
New York, NY
Ellen Maddock, Trustee
Hackettstown Regional Medical Center
New York, NY
Paula Morgan, President
Morgan Consulting, LLC
Murray Hill, NJ
Jeanne Shapiro Nahan, Pianist and Choral Director
Princeton Charter School
Lawrenceville, NJ
Marcia Nusgart, President
Nusgart Consulting LLC
Bethesda, MD
Hadar Ron, Managing Director
Israel Healthcare Ventures, Ltd.
Tel Aviv, Israel
Lori Ross, Communications Consultant
Putnam-Ross Communications
Arnold, MD
Theresa Stevens, Global Head Negotiations & Business Development
Novartis Pharma AG
Basel, Switzerland
Lynn Shapiro Snyder, Senior Partner
Epstein Becker & Green, P.C. and
Founder & President
WBL Foundation
Washington, DC
Eleanor Whitley, Director
WBL Foundation
Washington, DC
This afternoon the group attended sessions at the Myers-JDC-Brookdale Institute in Jerusalem to receive an overview of Israel's health care system. Dr. Bruce Rosen, Director of the Smokler Center for Health Policy at the Brookdale Institute graciously hosted our event and presented us with this overview. The Brookdale Institute is a leading social sciences research group in Israel.
It was fascinating to learn more about health care in Israel - and particularly fascinating to learn about the universal health coverage provided by the government, under four HMOs. The WBL delegation was relieved to hear that innovation can still prosper under such a system, and also to learn that Israel and the United States share many challenges related to the future of health care. Anyone interested in seeing this powerpoint should feel free to contact a WBL staff member and we will share Dr. Rosen's insights with you.
This evening we arrived in Tel Aviv and checked into our hotel there. On Sunday, Jerusalem was the base for our trip as the women arrived during the weekend. We were then whisked off to a dinner at House No. 3 in Jaffa in Tel Aviv. House No. 3 is the home of an Israeli family who hosts special events. The food was delicious and all agreed that the networking was even better! The dinner was sponsored by Dr. Hadar Ron, Managing Partner of Israel Healthcare Ventures, and she attended along with many of her colleagues and industry contacts. There were at least thirty people at a very long dinner table! The guest of honor at this dinner was Dalia Dorner, a former Supreme Court justice who spoke on equality in the state of Israel.
After networking and learning more about Israel's health care system from the guests -- whose perspectives were interesting both as businesspeople and as residents of Israel, we returned back to the hotel.
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