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Background

Our Team

Our team of MDs, PhDs and MBAs has deep knowledge of biologics, companion diagnostics, surgical medical devices, bioimaging, health IT and mental health across functional domains in industry, academia, government and finance.

Our goal is to direct our expertises to help achieve the best results for  your advisory needs, no matter how small or broad in scope.

Elizabeth Cho-Fertikh, PhD

Founder

Dr. Cho-Fertikh has over 25 years cross-functional biotech expertise spanning drug development, regulatory affairs and capital raising.  Her own scientific research includes dozens of publications in some of the highest impact scientific journals, including Nature, Nature Cell Biology & PNAS focused on cancer/epigenetics.  Her industry experience has revolved around regulatory submissions of INDs, DSURs, ICFs & Clinical Protocols for therapeutics for cancer, infectious disease & neurodegenerative diseases.  She has a decade of angel investing and grants administration experience with therapeutic technology & clinical trial programs for the NIH & DoD, and has extensive experience with government contract submissions with the DoD & BARDA.

At ECF Biosolutions, Dr. Cho-Fertikh has utilized her collective experience to assist life science startups, angel investors and biotech clients which have included Boehringer Ingelheim, Amgen, W.L. Gore, Becton-Dickinson, Macrogenics, RegenXBio, dozens of life science startups and high net worth investors.

She recently launched a healthcare angel investor group, MEDA Angels, along with a surgeon investors, Mark Rafii & Amir Libassi.  More information on the group can be found at www.medaangels.com.  She is a mentor to startup entrepreneurs at Harvard Innovation Labs, Halycon House, Korea Innovation Labs & Georgetown Entrepreneurs.  Dr. Cho-Fertikh received her BA from Johns Hopkins, her MS from Georgetown University, her PhD from Thomas Jefferson University, and completed her postdoctoral training at NIH & Harvard Medical School.

John Brzezenski, MBA

Advisor

Mr. Brzezenski is a senior business professional with 25+ years of broad based experience spanning operating and executive management, advisory and private equity roles, having helped numerous companies develop and execute successful growth strategies. He has developed perspectives from “all sides of the table” having been a Partner with a Strategy/M&A advisory firm, senior operating executive, and member of the investment committee for a venture capital firm. His experience has spanned all company lifecycle stages across a variety of industry sectors including many areas of high-technology (enterprise software, communications equipment and services, semiconductor applications), medical and health-related products and services, chemicals and other process industries.  In addition to ECF Biosolutions, he currently provides advisory services to several Boston-based boutique groups and is a Partner with J. Locke & Co, a merchant bank. Mr. Brzezenski is an active angel investor, having been a member since 2002 and a former Board Director of the New England-based Launchpad Ventures. He obtained his AB with honors in Economics from Harvard University, and his MBA from the Kellogg School at Northwestern University.

Steven S. Brooks, MD, MBA, FACC

Advisor

Steven Brooks is a multi-faceted health care consultant specializing in medical device regulatory, reimbursement, clinical trial design, and commercialization. He is also a trained cardiologist. Steve provides consulting services specifically in the areas of market entry strategy, market segmentation, combined market, regulatory and reimbursement strategy, clinical trial design, and evidence development. He has actively been supporting a range of medical device startup companies in these functional areas.  His regulatory expertise is rooted in years as a medical officer for the US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) where he performed medical device review of cardiac and vascular-related products throughout the full product lifecycle. A large role involved clinical trial design, review of clinical trial data, and assessment of the total data submission for the purposes of product clearance and approval. By leveraging a large network of contacts in academia, government, including the US FDA and the US Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services, and industry, nuanced guidance is developed for diverse client needs.  Currently, Steve is also a principal in Brooks Medtech, LLC, as well as a Senior Analyst with Popper and Company, and an Expert Consultant with NDA Partners. In these consulting roles Steve is active in developing thought leadership, content and consultation on multiple interconnected strategic areas. He received his AB from Duke University, his MD from the University of Pittsburgh Medical School and his MBA from the Johns Hopkins Carey School of Business.

Larry Dell

Advisor

Mr. Dell is a successful serial entrepreneur & private investor, with more than three decades of management experience both domestically and globally. He is currently the Executive Director of the Mergers & Acquisition (M&A) Leadership Council. Prior to this, Larry was the CEO and Co-founder of Capital Expert Services (CapEx), a 20-country network of 250 top leaders and experts (business, government, academic) in their respective fields, providing solutions to complex transaction and legal matters.  He was also the Co-Founder of EKNOW, Inc. a SaaS-M&A management software platform that has been deployed on some of the largest domestic and international M&A transactions over the past 18 years. He has extensive business development, client acquisition, strategic partnerships, alliances, fund raising experience. BA. Northwestern University.  Larry is a current mentor to startups coming through the Korea Innovation Center–WSH, DC.  He lived in the Asia Pacific region while an executive at the Wall Street Journal/Dow Jones, including 8 years in Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, and dozens of trips to Korea.

Eric G. Sheu, MD, PhD

Advisor

Dr. Sheu is a physician-scientist. He is a Board-certified surgeon with expertise in gastrointestinal surgery. He is an Associate Surgeon at Brigham & Women’s Hospital in Boston, MA, and an Instructor of Surgery at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Sheu also runs a research laboratory that focuses on defining changes in intestinal immunity in obesity, diabetes, and after bariatric surgery. He leads a translational study longitudinally profiling changes in the immune system after bariatric surgery. His post-doctoral and doctoral training focused on the role of auto-reactive antibodies in ischemia-reperfusion injury and on characterizing mechanisms of T cell induction by DNA and viral vaccines. He obtained his BS in Biochemistry from Harvard University, his PhD in immunology from Oxford University, UK as a Marshall Scholar, and his MD from Harvard Medical School. He completed his residency training in general surgery at Brigham & Women’s Hospital and his fellowship training in advanced gastrointestinal and minimally invasive surgery at the Massachusetts General Hospital.

Nancy L. Cho, MD

Advisor

Dr. Cho is a physician-scientist. She is a Board-certified general surgeon with clinical interests in melanoma surgery, adrenal surgery, thyroid surgery, lobectomy, lymph node excision, thyroid cancer, among others related to endocrine anomalies. She is currently an Associate Surgeon at the Brigham & Women’s Hospital in Boston, MA, and an Assistant Professor of Surgery at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Cho also leads a funded research program focused on the links between stem cell pathobiology and desmoid tumorigenesis and mechanisms underlying melanoma. She obtained her BS in Biochemistry from Harvard University and her MD from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. Dr. Cho completed her residency in general surgery and a fellowship in endocrine surgery at Brigham & Women’s Hospital.

Djamil Fertikh, MD

Advisor

Dr. Fertikh, a board certified neuroradiologist, is a Partner with the Association of Alexandria Radiologists, PC, in Northern Virginia. Dr. Fertikh specializes in the diagnostic imaging of a range of neurological conditions associated with the brain, spinal cord, head and neck as well as peripheral nerve disorders. He is a member of the INOVA Alexandria Hospital’s Stroke Committee that was instrumental in the hospital receiving the 2014 “Gold Plus Award” from The American Heart Association and the American Stroke Association, in recognition of its outstanding specialized stroke treatment services. Dr. Fertikh has authored numerous case-report studies and research articles in leading peer-reviewed radiology & neuroradiology journals and on-line sites, including Medscape. He received his MD degree in 1993 from INESSM University of Algiers, Algeria, completed his medical residency in 2003 in Diagnostic Radiology at Mercy Catholic Medical Center, Darby, PA, and his Fellowship in Neuroradiology and Neuroinventional Radiology in 2005 from the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, where he served as Chief Fellow.

Mark Purcell, PsyD, MEd

Advisor

Dr. Purcell is a licensed clinical psychologist who has worked in various aspects of the mental health field for over 20 years, with a primary focus on the needs of youth and families. He provides therapy to youth and adults in his private practice in San Carlos, CA. His professional experience also extends to the development of specialized treatment programs and teaching professionals and graduate students. Dr. Purcell has particular interests in Mindfulness-based therapeutic approaches, such as DBT and MBSR. He also has research interests in the effects of trauma, and effective treatment modalities, and has served as a DoD reviewer for PTSD related grants. He recently co-authored, Mindfulness for Teen Anger, which integrates these interests into a self-help workbook for adolescents. Dr. Purcell received his BS in Psychology from Fordham University, his MEd from Harvard Graduate School of Education, and his PsyD from the California Institute of Integral Studies.

Dr. Purcell has also served for over a decade as a Scientific Review Officer for the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program administered by the Dept of Defense, focused on PTSD and Traumatic Brain Injury programs.