Since early intervention for ASD is believed to improve long-term outcomes there is an urgent need to objectively diagnose ASD at a very young age. Cell-El received Ethics Committee approval for a multi-center clinical trial. The study focuses on biomarker detection in children with ASD.
The blood of children with ASD is tested and analyzed in comparison with those of typically developed (TD) children. Using proteomics (analysis of proteins), Cell-El is developing a serum-based biomarker assay for diagnosing ASD. To date, Cell-El has analyzed blood samples collected from over 400 children between the ages of 3 to 12. A panel of biomarkers associated with the immune and inflammatory responses has been identified and shows promise as a diagnostic kit for ASD. This study has been expanded to include two new cohorts: High-risk infants and their mothers, children aged 2-18 with ASD undergoing stem cell treatment. Cell-El is actively recruiting study participants.
If you are interested in finding out more, please contact us.
Meet the Cell-El Team
Benjamin (Beni) Gesundheit, MD PhD
Founder & CMO
Dr. Gesundheit brings his experience in the departments of Pediatric Hematology-Oncology at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto Canada, the departments of Pediatric Hematology-Oncology at Soroka Hospital, Beer Sheva, Israel and at Hadassah Hospital, Jerusalem, Israel to his methodical research in ASD and its immunological aspects as well as to the rationale for treatment with stem cells. He holds a MD from the University of Basel, Switzerland (1992). He received a PhD in Bioethics from University of Toronto (2004) with a dissertation on Jewish medical ethics. Dr. Gesundheit served on the faculty of the Department of Jewish Philosophy, Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Fred Samuels, PhD
CEO
Dr. Samuels has over 39 years of senior management experience in startup, mid size and large companies in the in vitro diagnostic (IVD) industry including Orgenics, Alere and Abbott. He has led the development, manufacturing and CE and FDA approval of many in vitro diagnostics (IVD) products. Dr. Samuels holds a Ph.D in Biochemistry from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine (1983) and was a Rockefeller Foundation Post Doctoral fellow at the Harvard Medical School (1983 -85) before entering the diagnostics industry.
Ronald Ellis, PhD MBA
CSO
Dr. Ellis has 35 years of senior management experience for R&D companies – large, medium, small, startup and incubators. His development and project leadership skills have brought vaccines and therapeutics to the clinic and to the market.
Dr. Ellis holds a PhD Biology from Cornell University in New York (1979) and an MBA from the University of Maryland (1982) and is founding (2004) and current Editor-in-Chief of the international indexed journal Human Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics which publishes ~600 papers per year
Tamar Heller, MBA
CFO
Ms. Heller has been working with Cell-El since its inception. She is responsible for the financial management of the company.
Ms. Heller is a certified accountant with a master’s degree in business administration and a bachelor’s degree in finance and information systems.
Charles Piwko, PhD
Director of Business Development
Dr Piwko is a strategic thinker and contingency planner. He has the analytical skills for integrating and interpreting interdisciplinary projects. He has 20 years of experience conducting health economic research for the pharma, biotech, and medical devices industry. More recently he has assisted start-up companies to develop business plans and strategies, in addition to raising funds. He holds a Pharmacy Doctor degree and a PhD in Pharmacology both from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zürich (ETH) and an MSc in Health Administration (Health Economics) from the University of Toronto.
Philip David Zisman, PhD
Immunologist and Laboratory Director
Dr. Zisman has over ten years of experience in the fields of immunology, bioassays, biotechnology, biochemistry and cell biology. He is responsible for laboratory expertise, assay development and international collaboration for lab related issues. Dr. Zisman holds a PhD in Microbiology from the Lautenberg Center for Immunology, Hebrew University Jerusalem (2005).
Refoel Guggenheim, MD
Study-Coordinator, Switzerland and Europe
Dr. Guggenheim is a clinical pediatrician affiliated at the Triemli Hospital Zurich, Switzerland. He focuses on pediatric developmental medicine and Allergy/Clinical Immunology. He studied in Zurich, Switzerland and specialized at the University Kinderspital in Zurich. Dr. Guggenheim’s fellowship was in Allergy and Clinical Immunology at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. He is engaged in Medical Ethics and organizes Conferences on Jewish Medical Ethics. He is co-editor of the pediatric journal Kinderärzte Schweiz.
Leah Hochbaum, MA OTR/L
Recruitment Coordinator
Mrs. Hochbaum has over 20 years of experience working with families of children with ASD. Leah speaks with parents and clinicians about our ASD diagnostic study, thereby enabling our research. Speak with Leah if you would like to join our team and work together at tackling the autism challenge. Leah holds a degree in BSc Biology from Touro College (1991) and an MA Occupational Therapy from New York University (1994).
Yehudit Posen, PhD
Scientific Medical Writer
Dr. Posen consults at Cell-El, and prepares clinical trial-related documents and manuscripts for publication. She brings over ten years of experience as a medical and scientific writer, supporting both academic researchers and pharmaceutical and medical device R&D teams. Dr. Posen holds a PhD from the Department of Biological Regulation of the Weizmann Institute of Science.
Ashley Ansel, MA
Researcher
Susan Suna, MA
Web Development
Mrs. Suna has over twenty years of web design and development experience with small to large organizations as well as pharmaceutical companies. She works closely with the team crafting the website and its messaging.
Cell-El Clinical Advisors
Gerald Friedman, MD
Dr. Gerald Friedman is a consultant pediatrician at the Autism clinic of the Children Treatment Network (CTN) in Toronto. He is the principal site investigator for the Cell El Autism research study at CTN. He has a practice focused on Developmental Pediatrics and Pediatric Neurology.
Peter J Chung, MD FAAP
Dr. Peter Jinwu Chung is a board-certified general and developmental-behavioral pediatrician who specializes in neurodevelopmental disorders. He is a faculty member at the University of California Irvine and serves as the medical director at The Center for Autism & Neurodevelopmental Disorders at UCI.
Dr. Chung completed his undergraduate degree at Harvard University and received a BA summa cum laude in social anthropology. He earned his medical degree at Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons in New York City. He completed his internship, residency, chief residency and fellowship at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA in Los Angeles. He also trained at UCLA’s Tarjan Center and at Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles as part of the California Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities (CA-LEND) program.
Paul Feigin, PhD
Professor Feigin is an authority on the statistical design of clinical studies and worked on methods for the analysis of genomic studies. His research projects range from the statistical analysis of genetic association studies to the analysis of customer patience in call centers. He is an elected fellow of the Institute of Mathematical Statistics and of the International Statistical Institute
Professor Emeritus Paul Feigin joined the Technion’s Faculty of Industrial Engineering and Management in 1976, after completing his Ph.D at the Australian National University in 1975. Before retirement, he held the Gruenblat Chair in Production Engineering. Together with the late Prof. Ayala Cohen, he established the Technion Statistics Laboratory, which he continues to manage, and which provides statistical consulting services to academic and industrial clients. Alongside his academic activity he accumulated extensive experience in industry.