miR Scientific Is Transforming Cancer Management Into What It Should Be

Sam is co-founder of miR Scientific and is the company’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. A physics scholar who has dedicated his professional career to develop and manage complex systems innovations, Sam has established himself to be a true visionary driven to affect global impact. He is an accomplished world class leader who understands science and its business applications for resolving key challenges facing humanity on a global scale. A champion of public/private partnerships, he is a member of the Board of Trustees and Board of Selectors of the Jefferson Awards for Public Service. Sam attended the American University of Paris in France and Macalester College in St. Paul, MN.

Dr. Tenniswood co-founded miR Scientific in 2014. Prior to that, Dr. Tenniswood served as the director of the Cancer Research Center at the University at Albany and Empire Innovations Professor of biomedical sciences at the School of Public Health. His lab specializes in developing therapies for hard-to-treat hormone dependent cancers, particularly castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) and triple negative breast cancers. The lab uses a variety of high throughput, high content methodologies, including mRNA and miRNA based transcriptomics to understand the biology that leads to tumor progression and drug resistance.

Rob Tenniswood is the Co-Founder and Executive Vice Chairman of miR Scientific, and serves as President of the company’s Canadian subsidiary, miR Scientific Canada.  In his current role, Rob is responsible for all Discovery operations, strategy and tactical execution, all efforts to introduce miR Scientific’s Sentinel platform in Canada (including government and stakeholder relations, regulatory submissions, clinical trial implementation, and all business operations).  He previously spent 7 years as the company’s Chief Operating Officer, and was responsible for oversight of all of the company’s internal operations, including oversight of finance, human resources, vendor relations, project management and strategy.

Rob earned his MBA in 2009 from the University of Notre Dame (South Bend, IN), and his B.A. from Notre Dame in 2005.  He is also a graduate of the Entrepreneurship post-graduate program at the University of Cambridge, having graduated in 2015.  

Rob actively supports several non-profit organizations, including Hug-A-Bull Dog Rescue, Black Lives Matter, Covenant House, and Plan International.  

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Erik Johnson, Chief Operating Officer, joined miR Scientific in 2021. A seasoned leader in pharma and oncology, Erik spent two decades at Bristol Myers Squibb, where he was instrumental in leading the global commercial scale-up of two groundbreaking immuno-oncology programs. Erik works closely with Co-Founder, Chairman & CEO Sam Salman to lead the Company's global operations, logistics, and enterprise resources for the planned high-volume production necessary for miR Scientific to deliver on its mission to transform cancer management worldwide.

Erik held several key leadership positions during his tenure at Bristol Myers Squibb, which included senior roles in strategy, planning, operations and commercial. As Head of Worldwide Commercial, Immuno-Oncology Melanoma & Genitourinary (GU), he was the worldwide lead for Opdivo® and Yervoy® in those tumors, totaling over $5B in annual revenue.  He also worked closely with R&D to advance pipeline assets for Melanoma and GU. Throughout his career with BMS, Erik launched products for nine new indications, each of which exceeded company expectations. As the brand lead for SPRYCEL®, he drove and executed a strategy that delivered double-digit year-over-year growth, leading the brand to all-time highs in sales and market share.

Erik earned an MBA from the Merage School of Business at University of California, Irvine and received a Bachelor of Science degree from Colorado State University.

He is active in the Pennington, NJ community, where he served as an officer for the Hopewell Valley Education Foundation, actively supports underprivileged kids programs and participates in multiple running and cycling races each year, primarily benefitting cancer research.

Dr. Klotz is the past Chief of Urology at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre and Professor of Surgery at the University of Toronto. He holds the Sunnybrook Chair of Prostate Cancer Research, is the Chairman of the World Uro-Oncology Federation, and past president of the Urological Research Society and the Canadian Urological Association. He was the founder and is chairman of the Canadian Urology Research Consortium (CURC). Dr. Klotz obtained his medical degree from the University of Toronto and completed his residency at the University of Toronto Gallie Program in Surgery. He was a fellow at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Centre in New York in uro-oncology. Dr. Klotz is a widely published uro-oncologist with over 350 publications and 6 books. His main research interest has been prostate cancer. He is the Associate Editor of the Journal of Urology responsible for Prostate Cancer. He serves on the boards of many medical/scientific organizations and journals, including the SUO, Prostate Cancer Canada, the journals Prostate Cancer and Prostatic Diseases, Brazilian Journal of Urology, Italian Journal of Urology, and World Journal of Urology. Dr. Klotz was awarded the Queen’s Jubilee Medal for meritorious public service in 2012, and the University of Toronto Department of Surgery Lister Prize and the Society of Urologic Oncology Medal in 2013. He received the Harold Warwick Award from the Canadian Cancer Society for "outstanding contributions to cancer control" in 2014. He received the Order of Canada in 2015 and the Richard Williams Award from the AUA in 2016. He received the Dean’s Lifetime Achievement Award from the University of Toronto in 2017.

Dr. Wang joined miR Scientific as the company’s first employee. She has been instrumental in the development of several innovations key to miR Scientific’s breakthrough approach to cancer management. Dr. Wang is listed as an inventor on several patents,and continues to develop intellectual property for miR Scientific at a breakneck pace. Dr. Wang holds a bachelor’s degree from Queen’s University (Kingston, ON) and a Ph.D from the University at Albany.

Dr. DiRienzo serves as the Director of Biostatistics at miR Scientific as part of his role as the Chief Analytics Officer at Impact NRS.   His research focuses on rigorous methodological development of modern statistical methodology and corresponding software implementations for targeted use in data applications such as high dimensional classification and prediction; longitudinal studies with missing data; clinical trials; and survival analysis.   Dr. DiRienzo earned his Ph.D. in Mathematics/Statistics & Biometry/Statistics at the University at Albany - SUNY and his Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in the Department of Biostatistics at Harvard University.

As Chief Legal Officer, Jill oversees miR’s global legal operations and advises the company on a wide range of strategic legal and business issues. Jill has over fifteen years of legal experience in the healthcare and biotechnology space, most recently serving as a partner in the Healthcare and Privacy & Cybersecurity departments at Moses & Singer LLP in New York City. While at Moses & Singer, Jill served as outside general counsel to several life sciences companies. Before that, she held roles at Partners Healthcare System and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston where she handled legal issues related to clinical and translational research. Jill began her career as a securities lawyer at Hale and Dorr LLP (now WilmerHale).

Tal is a seasoned impact investment professional with broad transaction experience that spans industries, sectors and geographies. His roots in the sustainability and healthcare sectors run deep, with corporate leadership roles and prominent presence as investor, advisor and board member in companies and investment funds. As Chief Strategy Officer of miR Scientific, Tal draws on his extensive experience in structuring transactions to craft, articulate and execute strategic dialogues and commercialization initiatives for miR. Tal received his M.B.A. with distinction from New York University’s Stern School of Business and his B.A. degree magna cum laude in Economics from Queens College.

Deborah is an experienced CEO who has led 6 diverse businesses to record growth and profit in both public and private companies such as Avon, NBC and Conde Nast, ranging from start up to $1 billion in revenue. Her experience in health, wellness and related sectors intersects with her leadership, advisory and board roles in both early stage and mature businesses. She has served on the Northwestern Mutual Policy Review Board, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Board, The University of Pennsylvania Diabetes Institute Board and is a member of the Executive Committee of The Harvard Kennedy School’s Women and Public Policy Board. In her dual role as Chief Marketing and Communications Officer and Vice Chair of the Executive Committee, Deborah drives a combination of strategic, commercialization, impact and marketing initiatives globally for miR Scientific. She received her B.S. with cum laude distinction from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

Austin is an accomplished Life Sciences Operations executive focused on building high-functioning teams and streamlined, scalable, and sustainable business processes.  She brings over a decade of experience leading consulting teams to deliver strategic business transformations for top-tier established and emerging life sciences companies.  Her cross-functional industry background spans Quality, manufacturing, supply chain, regulatory affairs, and  system/data management. Austin received her MBA cum laude from the University of Notre Dame Mendoza School of Business and her BA degree in Biology from Gustavus Adolphus College.

Bob Flippin is an Executive Vice President at CBRE Group, Inc., the largest commercial real estate services and investment firm in the world. Based in New York City, Bob is part of CBRE’s transaction and advisory services group, specializing in the representation of large institutional corporations with their real estate needs throughout the New York tri-state region, as well as on a national and global basis.

Throughout his career, Bob has worked on significant, complicated transactions involving leases, portfolio analysis, property valuations and acquisitions, and corporate impact studies of real estate holdings, for all types of real estate asset classes around the world. Bob’s global business network is unparalleled, and has led to the development and expansion of numerous businesses, in addition to his real estate dealings.

A graduate of Princeton University, where he studied History and Economics, Bob was a Captain of the lacrosse team, earning All-Ivy and All American honors, and was awarded the Higginbotham trophy given to the player that best exemplifies improvement and leadership throughout their playing career. Bob was also a member of the Nassoons, a renowned University accapella singing group, and belonged to the Tiger Inn Club on campus.

Outside the workplace, Bob has supported youth sports activities, including coaching on multiple levels, and sponsoring inner city youth groups that combine education with sports to expand opportunities for underprivileged children to pursue secondary and college educations.

Bob is a resident of Greenwich, Connecticut, and is a married father of four sons.

A true maverick, Figueroa is a multifaceted and recognized corporate executive, entrepreneur, author, connector, award-winning and sought-after marketer in Hispanic/Multiculturism Marketing, Diversity & Inclusion, Entrepreneurship and Healthcare in Corporate America.

Ms. Figueroa is also the founder and CEO of the multiple award winning Latin2Latin Marketing consulting firm, bringing her unique approach and proven track record as a market growth accelerator. Mindy has a unique keen understanding of the business needs at hand and is able to anticipate what others cannot see by seizing the future and turning into winning solutions.

Ms. Figueroa has also written, co-authored and published several articles related to the Multicultural  Healthcare and other topics in Huffington Post Latino Voices, Adage, Miami Herald, Mission Matters, Bloomberg, Telemundo, Univision, Sun Sentinel, Portada, among other publications.

Ms. Figueroa’s civic duties is manifested in her unwavering commitment with causes dear to her heart.  Following the devastation of Hurricane Maria, Ms. Figueroa served as an advisor to Gov. Rick Scott for the South Florida relief efforts for Puerto Rico and is the proud founder of the philanthropic grassroots organization, Adopt a Puerto Rican Family. She continues to be involved in disseminating and working with investors to bring innovative business solutions in healthcare and new technologies to her beloved Puerto Rico.

She has been recognized by South Florida Business Journal as one of the top “Influential Businesswomen of 2017,” and she also received the Golden Mouse Award for Multicultural Marketing Leader of the Year and was recognized by El Diario/La Prensa in NY, as one of the “50 Most Influential Latinas”.  Most recently, she was awarded the Diversity in Business by the Greater Fort Lauderdale Chamber of Commerce; and, was selected as one of the FACES of Latin Marketing by the 50 FACES of Gold Coast Magazine. She is originally from Puerto Rico, lived in NY for 18 years and resides between Fort Lauderdale and Puerto Rico.

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Avivit Raz joined miR Scientific in 2021 as Executive Vice President of Business Development in Israel. Avivit plays a key role in the company’s business strategy and operations in Israel, supporting commercialization efforts in the country.

Avivit’s experience in the pharmaceutical and molecular diagnostics industries covers marketing, sales, and business development functions in local as well as international corporate settings such as Merck and Janssen (J&J). With over a decade spent in the healthcare industry, Avivit has developed and implemented strategy, led reimbursement processes, and launched significant oncology products.

Avivit received her MBA from Ben-Gurion University, her MSc in Biology with distinction with a concentration in Genomics from Bar-Ilan University, and a bachelor’s degree in Biology with distinction from Ben-Gurion University.

In her capacity as a board member in the space of personalized medicine, Avivit worked to promote testing and expand its accessibility, recognizing that personalized medicine is the optimal path for diagnosing and treating various medical conditions.

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Seasoned senior executive across the world of Corporate and start-up, vast experience in finance, capital raising and business development, President at NRS, Venture Partner at EfA Technologies, BioHarvest, Explay and Terayon.

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Mr. Dvor is a healthcare executive focused on leading breakthroughs in medical science and life-saving technology, with 20+ years of leadership as an entrepreneur and investor.

As an investor, he was co-founder of Tufts Health Ventures, the VC and PE investment division of Tufts Health Plan, a $5B revenue payer.  He served as Managing Director at Miraki Innovation, an investor/operator medtech VC fund, which founded Auris Health, acquired by Johnson & Johnson for $5.75B.

As an entrepreneur, he was co-founder and COO of ReMed Life Sciences, a regenerative medicine company spin-out of Aderans (OTC:ADRNF) and the University of Tokyo, acquired by a PE fund.  He held corporate development roles at 3BL Media, iRobot Corporation and the Aga Khan Development Fund.

Mr. Dvor earned his Bachelor’s Degree from Harvard University, and started his career in the US Marine Corps at The White House as US Secret Service Attaché, serving during the Clinton and Bush Administrations, and was awarded Presidential Service Badge #17996.

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Keren Nir works as Vice President, Operations for miR Scientific Israel. Keren holds a Master’s degree in Business Administration (MBA) from Heriot-Watt University,  and is an expert in business mediation, strategy and business analysis. Keren also holds a Master's of Law from Bar-Ilan University.

Norma is an experienced Sr. Human Resources Professional with a demonstrated history of working in wide variety of industries.

She has 15 years of Human Resources experience of which 10 years were dedicated to the Medical and Hospital industry. She has experience leading culture initiative and supporting organizations through rapid growth. Norma holds a BA in Labor relations and Human Resources.

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Rob is a Certified Public Accountant with over 25 years of experience building and leading all stages of finance, accounting, operations and reporting in small to mid-sized organizations. In addition to maintaining and managing successful Corporate Finance and Accounting Functions, he has a demonstrated track record for performing due diligence on mergers and acquisitions, delivering substantial cost savings through operational audits, implementing ERP Systems and re-engineering and developing processes to serve the business and regulatory environments in which they operate.  Rob spent the majority of his career working for private equity and venture capital firms and servicing the portfolio companies in which they invested in, and the incubated capital which they deployed.  Rob obtained his BBA cum laude in Accounting from Iona College.

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Stuart Kozlick, Eng., M.A.Sc., is a Strategic Advisor, Executive-In-Residence within the Emerging Technology & Startup practice at Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP. An engineer and entrepreneur specializing in medical technologies, devices and healthcare systems, Stuart is called upon to lead strategic initiatives to integrate and develop complex medical device systems in the clinical field. He is passionate about early stage ventures and opportunities that require market analysis, needs assessment, product and business model discovery and definition, corporate strategic positioning and planning, and go-to-market execution. As part of his practice, Stuart works and collaborates with industry developers and innovators, government bodies, healthcare institutions, as well as academic and research institutions, among others.

With 20 years of experience, Stuart has developed and accrued subject matter expertise in medical device development, innovation, research and commercialization. Over the course of his career, Stuart has led and launched several research, product development and clinical engineering programs and products globally. Stuart also serves as Professor of Practice in McGill University’s Faculty of Medicine & Health Sciences, Department of Surgery, and as Faculty Lecturer in the University’s Faculty of Engineering, Departments of Bioengineering and Mechanical Engineering, as well as the Faculty of Management, Dobson Centre for Entrepreneurship.

In 2019, Stuart became the CEO of Puzzle Medical Devices Inc., a Montreal-based startup company that specializes in the development of cardiovascular medical devices to treat advanced heart-failure patients. Previously, Stuart was Vice President of Medical Robotics at Kinova Robotics Inc., a Montreal-based robotics company that specializes in the robotics industry. Prior to this, he served in several leadership and engineering roles at CAE Healthcare, Medtronic Inc., and the former CryoCath Technologies Inc. Stuart continues to support the growing medtech ecosystem of Montreal through various board positions and in an Advisory/Mentor capacity for entities such as L’institut TransMedTech, CTS Santé, RTI Inc., and TechStars Montreal AI, to name a few.

Stuart’s experience and expertise span multiple medical specialties and areas of concentration including electrophysiology, structural heart, cardiovascular, endovascular, pulmonary, gastrointestinal, orthopedics and minimally invasive therapeutics.

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Sebastiano is an entrepreneur, investor, activist, and advisor to businesses, governments, and nonprofits around the world. He is the chairman and CEO of NKGB, a strategic advisory firm specializing in Asian and European ventures as well as global M&A.

Directly or through his partnerships, Sebastiano is an investor in over 60 companies in the plant-based and cruelty-free space alone, and was an early investor in Beyond Meat (2012).

He is the owner and honorary chairman of Querciabella, a Tuscan organic, biodynamic, and vegan winery that has garnered international acclaim and won numerous awards, including “Best Wine of Italy,” and recently launched the gluten-free pasta brand Bontasana alongside a revolutionary baby food company, with the aim to disrupt the existing landscape.

A longtime animal rights activist, Sebastiano supports and sits on the board of several global nonprofits working to end the exploitation and suffering of animals. He is also the founder of the Plant-Based Empowerment Foundation (PBEF), a nonprofit operating in rural Senegal that is dedicated to providing children and women access to education, healthcare, and nourishing plant-based food.

Sebastiano served as advisor to Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi from 2014 to 2016. Originally from Milano, he divides his time among Europe, Asia, and the United States.

Dr. Deepak A. Kapoor, Chairman and Chief Ecosystem Officer of Solaris Health Holdings, LLC, is one of the youngest physicians to have been certified by the American Board of Urology.  In addition to his role at Solaris Health, Dr. Kapoor serves as Market President for Integrated Medical Professionals, PLLC (IMP) and is President of Advanced Urology Centers of New York.

Dr. Kapoor received his baccalaureate and medical education with honors in the Pennsylvania State University/Jefferson Medical College accelerated honors program in medicine and completed his urologic residency at The Geisinger Medical Center in Danville, PA. His expertise includes basic science research in molecular biology, as well as extensive experience in oncologic and reconstructive surgery

Dr. Kapoor is Clinical Professor of Urology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Chair of Health Policy and Past President of LUGPA, Chairman of SCRUBS RRG and Senior Strategic Advisor for miR Scientific. He has also served as a Director of UroPAC and Chairman of Access to Integrated Cancer Care. Dr. Kapoor was founder of the New York Urology Trade Association and Integrated Medical Foundation. He is a Fellow of the American College of Physician Executives.

Dr. Kapoor has published and lectured extensively on clinical, business and health policy issues and is Associate Editor of the journal Urology Practice. He serves on a number of medical advisory boards, including the New York State Governor´s Prostate Cancer Advisory Panel. Dr. Kapoor has been continuously listed in the Castle Connolly Best Doctors Guide for his clinical excellence and has received numerous accolades, inlcuding the 2011 AUA Ambrose-Reed socioeconomic essay award, and the 2014 New York Section AUA Russell W.  Lavengood distinguished service award.  Dr. Kapoor was recognized in 2018 by LUGPA for his outstanding contributions to health policy and his work towards the preservation of independent medicine.

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Mr. Weinstein is focused primarily on international business development for Vanterra Accelerator portfolio companies. Mr. Weinstein has more than 30 years of experience in the healthcare and wellness industries, both operational and investing. Mr. Weinstein co-founded WM Partners in 2015, a leading health and wellness focused private equity fund. Previously, Mr. Weinstein was the CEO of CFR Pharmaceuticals S.A. (“CFR”) for ten years, where he was responsible for transforming that company from a local Chilean pharmaceutical company into a major global pharmaceutical company with a presence in 26 countries and three continents, via 15 acquisition transactions. Under Mr. Weinstein’s leadership, in May 2011 CFR completed an initial public offering, one of the largest IPOs in Chile. In September 2014, Mr. Weinstein led the sale of CFR to Abbott Laboratories for approximately $2.9 billion.

Mr. Weinstein has been active in developing and managing several businesses and start-up companies via joint ventures with local and foreign R&D companies. Mr. Weinstein has served as a board member in several businesses within the pharmaceutical industry and other industries in three continents.

Mr. Weinstein received a Business and Administration degree from the Universidad Catolica de Chile, and is a certified public auditor and accountant. He participated in the Owner/President Management Program at Harvard Business School.

Mr. Weinstein has more than 10 years experience as executive and investor in the life sciences industry. He most recently served as Vice President of Innovation and Development at Abbott Laboratories. Prior to that he was Vice President of Strategy and Innovation at CFR Pharmaceuticals. He has a proven track record of launching over 300 products in the Pharmaceutical industry in Latin America and completing more than 20 licensing deals including Biotech products and Medical Devices.

He currently serves as a Board Member of Arterys, Convexity Scientific, Hygieacare and Medasense. He previously was a board member of BMRC, a biotech research consortium in Chile.

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