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BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Our Board members bring a vast range of knowledge and experience in the worlds of business, law, government, technology, health care, non-profit management, to the task of governing the Foundation. They jointly oversee the Foundation's activities and help set the strategic vision for the Foundation's grant making, geographic focus, spending, investment, management, governance and professional standards.
SHAWN STEPHENSON
Foundation Board Chairman
Shawn Stephenson is the co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer of Rising Tide, a management company providing specialized investment research, intellectual property and innovation management services.
A graduate of Wabash College, and a 32nd degree Master Mason, Shawn currently serves as the Chairman of the Board for Rising Tide Foundation and Rising Tide Foundation for Clinical Cancer Research.
He is also the chairman of several investment committees and on the Board for Cancer Treatment Centers of America at Southwestern Regional Medical Center.
PIERRE BONGARD
Foundation Board Deputy Chairman
Pierre Bongard is an independent board director and consultant.
Founder and managing partner of Wisebow Advisers LLC, he also serves as the chairman of the audit committee of Barclays Bank (Switzerland) Ltd, the vice-chairman of Dukascopy Bank Ltd and is a member of numerous boards and advisory boards.
As a former partner of KPMG, heading Advisory Financial Services for Western Switzerland, Pierre has acquired vast multidisciplinary experience in management and consultancy specializing in banking and financial services.
DR. ALFRED SCHEIDEGGER
Foundation Board Member
Dr. Alfred Scheidegger is the founder and CEO of Nextech Invest, a prestigious boutique investment advisory and management company in Switzerland that is solely focused on cancer technologies.
A Swiss national, Dr. Scheidegger holds a PhD in microbiology from the University of Basel, Switzerland and completed his postdoctoral research training in enzymology at the University of Kyoto in Japan.
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What sets him apart are his innovative approaches for using investment returns for philanthropic purposes.
DR. GABRIEL CALZADA ALVAREZ
Foundation Board Member
Dr. Gabriel Calzada Alvarez is president of the Universidad Francisco Marroquin in Guatemala.
He is also the founder and president of the Center for Economics and Political Studies “Instituto Juan de Mariana”, a libertarian think tank in Spain and served as professor of economics at Rey Juan Carlos University and the Geneva Center for Security Policy.
Dr. Calzada has published over 500 articles in national and international media, and holds a doctorate in economics from Rey Juan Carlos University in Spain.
EVELINE MUMENTHALER
Foundation Board Member
Eveline Mumenthaler served as Director for both Rising Tide Foundation and Rising Tide Foundation for Clinical Cancer Research from January 2014 to May 2017.
Prior to her appointment at Rising Tide Foundation, Eveline held several leading positions in academia, non-profit management and research administration. She was the Director of Research and Grants at Gateway for Cancer Research based in Illinois, USA, where she reinvented and managed their research funding program.
In former years, Eveline held the position of IP manager at Rising Tide GmbH and was a Technology Transfer Expert at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).
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OUR ADVISORY BOARD
Our Advisory Board plays a critical role in reviewing and assessing all grant activities of the Foundation, offers technical advice and dynamic perspectives to support our Board of Directors on strategy and governance issues.
DR. BOBBI HERZBERG
Advisory Board Member
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Distinguished Senior Fellow in the F.A. Hayek Program in Advanced Studies in Philosophy, Politics and Economics at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University and Emeritus Associate Professor of Political Science at Utah State University.
She previously held faculty and administrative positions at Utah State University, Indiana University, Bloomington and at the John Templeton Foundation in the Individual Freedom and Free Markets Program. Her research and teaching focus primarily on political economy, public choice institutions, and U.S. health care policy. She is a past president of the Public Choice Society (2014-2016), and a current board member of several professional associations.
Beyond her work with young scholars in the F.A. Hayek Program at the Mercatus Center and her work at John Templeton Foundation granting support for individual freedom and free markets, she serves in leadership positions with several other major forces for freedom including Association of Private Enterprise Educators, Liberty Fund, Inc., the Fraser Institute, The Philadelphia Society, and the Austrian Economic Center.
She served in leadership positions, as a voice for more freedom-preserving policy solutions, on several state policy committees including the Utah Health Policy Commission, the Small Employer Health Benefits Group, the Medical Education Council, and the Health Advisory Council.
ANDREAS E. WIDMER
Advisory Board Member
Andreas E. Widmer was appointed Clinical Professor of Entrepreneurship in the fall of 2015 at The Catholic University of America’s Busch School of Business & Economics. He is the director of the Art & Carlyse Ciocca Center for Principled Entrepreneurship.
Previously he co-founded The SEVEN Fund, a philanthropic organization promoting enterprise solutions to poverty. Widmer is a seasoned business executive with experience in high-tech, international business strategy, consulting and economic development. He served as CEO of the business strategy firm OTF Group (formerly part of the Monitor Group) and helped lead web content management pioneer Eprise Corporation, speech recognition pioneer Dragon Systems, and internet pioneer FTP Software. He has worked extensively in the United States, Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America, has brought more than 100 leading-edge technology products to market, and was an executive in residence at Highland Capital Partners.
An author on the connection between entrepreneurship and economic development, Andreas was featured in the award-winning documentary Poverty Inc. and contributed two chapters to the book In the River They Swim: Essays from Around the World on Enterprise Solutions to Poverty.
CRISTIANA SESSA, MD, PHD
Advisory Board Member
After her initial education and training in Gynecology and
Gyne-oncology in Italy, Cristiana joined the Clinical Research Team of the Oncology Institute of Southern Switzerland (IOSI) where she became Deputy Head for Clinical Research and responsible of the programs of New Drugs Development and Gyneco Oncology. During her clinical activity, which had always a significant translational component, she acquired post degree knowledge and experience in Palliative Care, Economics and Health Management and Pharmaceutical Medicine.
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She’s been working for more than six years for the Guidelines Committee of the European Society of Medical Oncology (ESMO) and as external advisor for the Scientific Committee of the French Foundation pour la Recherche sur le Cancer (ARC).
She is the current Vice-President of the European Society of Gynecologic Oncology (ESGO).
Joseph Mikhael, MD, MEd, FRCPC, FACP
Advisory Board Member
Dr. Mikhael is a Professor in the Applied Cancer Research and Drug Discovery Division at the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen), an affiliate of City of Hope Cancer Center. He is also the Chief Medical Officer of the International Myeloma Foundation (IMF). He facilitates and promotes myeloma research worldwide, especially in underprivileged countries.
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Dr. Mikhael is a consultant hematologist and Director of Myeloma Research at the HonorHealth Research Institute where he conducts phase 1 clinical trials. He also serves as a Councilor on the Executive of the American Society of Hematology. He also recently led the ASCO guidelines for multiple myeloma.
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Dr. Mikhael was recently a hematologist at Mayo Clinic Arizona where he served as a Professor at the Mayo College of Medicine, Associate Dean of Graduate Medical Education and Deputy Director - Education of the Mayo Clinic Cancer Center. He has been recognized with numerous awards in education including being in the Mayo Clinic Resident and Fellow Association Hall of Fame as Educator of the Year. He was also recently named in the Top 100 Doctors in the United States.
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He specializes clinically in plasma cell disorders, namely multiple myeloma, amyloidosis and Waldenstrom’s macroglobulinemia. Dr. Mikhael is currently the principal investigator of many clinical trials, primarily in multiple myeloma. His other clinical research interests also include pharmaco-economics, communication skills and media relations. He has published over 150 peer reviewed articles in these fields. He lectures internationally on a regular basis. He is an active member of the International Myeloma Working Group, and serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Clinical Oncology.