Leadership Team
Ronen Twito CPA | Executive Chairman & CEO
Mr. Ronen Twito serves as Executive Charmian and CEO of Kadimastem, having joined the company in December 2020. Under his leadership, he successfully repositioned the company's strategic direction, establishing Kadimastem as an emerging global leader in the cell therapy industry. Mr. Twito brings over two decades of executive leadership experience in the biotech and high-tech sectors, with a distinguished track record of driving corporate growth and maximizing shareholder value across both Nasdaq and Tel Aviv Stock Exchange listed companies.
Throughout his career, Mr. Twito has demonstrated exceptional expertise in corporate finance and strategic leadership, successfully orchestrating multiple IPOs, follow-on offerings, and high-value strategic licensing and collaboration agreements within the clinical biotech sector. His executive tenure includes pivotal roles as Deputy CEO and CFO at XTL Biopharmaceuticals (XTLB), Chief Executive Officer at Intercure Ltd, Executive Chairman at Bubbles Intergroup Ltd (BBLS), Deputy CEO and CFO at Cellect Biotechnology (APOP), External Director at MTS (MTSL), and VP Finance and Head of Israel Operations at BioBlast Pharma (ORPN). Earlier in his career, he served as Corporate Finance Director at LeadCom Integrated Solutions, a global company traded on London's AIM market, and as Manager at Ernst & Young.
Mr. Twito is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) in Israel and holds a bachelor's degree in Business Administration and Accounting. He maintains active membership in the Institute of Certified Public Accountants in Israel.
Prof. Michel Revel, MD, PhD | Chief Scientist
Prof. Revel is Professor Emeritus of Molecular Genetics at the Weizmann Institute of Science. His research on Interferon, its mechanisms of action and the isolation of the human Interferon-beta gene, have led to the development of Interferon-beta therapy for the treatment of multiple sclerosis, Rebif®, Blockbuster drug marketed worldwide.
In recent years, Prof. Revel's laboratory focused on hESC and succeeded to produce nerve myelinating cells that, when transplanted in myelin-deficient animals, have regenerated the myelin coating. These studies contributed to the development of a suspension culture technology for hESC which can then be used to produce differentiated human cells such as insulin-producing pancreatic beta cells and nerve myelinating cells.
Alongside his research and development activity, Prof. Revel is deeply involved in the ethics of science and biotechnology, and served as chairman of the Israel National Bioethics Council, and was a member of the International Bioethics Committee of UNESCO.
Prof. Revel was the recipient of the Israel Prize for medical research, the EMET Prize for biotechnology, and is a member of the Israel Academy of Science and Humanities. He has been a member of Israel's National Committee for Biotechnology, serving for three years as its chairman.
CLICK HERE FOR Prof. Michel Revel full CURRICULUM VITAE
Kfir Molakandov PhD | VP Research and Development
Dr. Kfir Molakandov started his academic career in developmental biology with Prof. Sarah Ferber's research on transdifferentiation of liver to the pancreas.
During his PhD, he trained at the Gene Therapy Center, Alabama, USA, and specialized in adenoviral vectors construction, modifications and purification. Following the completion of his thesis, Dr. Molakandov joined Kadimastem.
He leads the team that is developing cell-therapy for diabetes using Pluripotent Stem Cells as the cell source. His team has dedicated the last few years in developing a large scale robust protocol for generating islet cells in high quantities and high quality.
Currently, we have finalized the production process that includes a full characterization of the different stages of differentiation using molecular tools and physiological parameters.
Accordingly, we are now moving towards the clinical application of this technology, aiming to bring these therapeutic cells to clinical trials.
Ariel Revel, MD, | Director of Medical Affairs
Prof. Ariel Revel, MD, is a professor of medicine at Tel Aviv University and a Visiting Professor at Oxford University in the UK and Stanford University in California. He is among Israel's leading specialists in gynecology and obstetrics and has for many years been involved in IVF and minimally invasive surgery.
Ariel Revel served as a battalion and brigade physician, and raised his family in Nataf. He volunteers with Etgarim, where he kayaks and rides tandem bikes with children and teens with disabilities, and with Physicians for Human Rights, as a physician at the clinic for status-less individuals in Jaffa.
He is a an important figure on the medical landscape, and this together with his impressive knowledge and many years of experience has produced one of the most fascinating books published in recent years in Israel.
Ariel at Kadimastem is responsible for the following areas
1) To represent the surgical and medical aspects of islet transplantation for patients with diabetes.
2) To promote to medical doctors that cell therapy is the future of medicine. To improve and perhaps cure neurodegenerative diseases such as ALS.
3) Present to general public and potential inventors the potential of human embryonic stem cells to produce clinical level adult cells to cure Diabetes, Glaucoma and Traumatic Spinal Cord Injuries.