Arnold Baskies, MD, FACS
Surgical oncology and general surgery, Virtua Health Systems; Clinical Professor of Surgery, Rowan School of Medicine; Past Chairman of the National Board of Directors of the American Cancer Society
Dr. Baskies is a surgical oncologist affiliated with Virtua Health Systems in southern New Jersey, where he specializes in surgical oncology and general surgery and is a Clinical Professor of Surgery at Rowan School of Medicine. He trained at Boston University Medical Center and the Surgery Branch of the National Cancer Institute where his early research involved immunotherapy. He has extensive experience in all facets of general surgical and surgical oncologic problems, with special interests in the treatment of breast cancer, gastrointestinal cancers, thyroid cancer, melanoma, and parathyroid disease, and is a co-investigator in several national studies dealing with breast cancer prevention.
He served as chairman of the New Jersey Governor’s Task Force on Early Detection, Prevention and Treatment of Cancer, having created and chaired the cancer control plan for the state of New Jersey from 2000-2016, and is a member of numerous societies, including the Society of Surgical Oncology, the American Society of Breast Surgeons, and the American College of Surgeons. Dr. Baskies has been involved with the American Cancer Society for 40 years. He was awarded the Society’s Silver Chalice Award in 1998 and the Society’s St. George National Award in 2009.
He has held leadership positions at many levels of the organization, including service as the first board scientific officer for the American Cancer Society Board of Directors in 2015, and was the chief medical officer and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the former Eastern Division of the American Cancer Society. In 2017, he served as the Chairman of the National Board of Directors of the American Cancer Society. He helped develop the current guidelines for breast cancer screening and colon cancer screening which are used in a daily basis in the United States and internationally. He chairs the Global Cancer Control Advisory Council for the society, and the St. Baldrick’s Foundation/ACS Alliance. In 2021, he was asked to serve on the Global Breast Cancer Initiative of the World Health Organization. He has helped set the standards for cancer care accreditation through his involvement with the Commission on Cancer. He received a medical degree from Boston University School of Medicine in 1975 and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Boston University College of Liberal Arts in 1971.
David T. Rubin, MD, FACG, AGAF, FACP, FASGE, FRCP (Edinburgh)
Joseph B. Kirsner Professor of Medicine; Chief, Section of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition; Co-Director, Digestive Diseases Center; University of Chicago Medicine, Chicago, IL
David T. Rubin is the Joseph B. Kirsner Professor of Medicine, Chief of the Section of Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition and the Co-Director of the Digestive Diseases Center at the University of Chicago Medicine. He earned a medical degree with honors at The University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine and completed his residency in internal medicine and fellowships in gastroenterology and clinical medical ethics at the University of Chicago, where he served as Chief Resident and Chief Fellow. He also currently serves as an associate faculty member at the MacLean Center for Clinical Medical Ethics, an associate investigator at the University of Chicago Comprehensive Cancer Center, and is a member of the University of Chicago Committee on Clinical Pharmacology and Pharmacogenomics. He is the chair of the National Scientific Advisory Committee of the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation, where he also serves as a Board of Trustees member. Prior to these appointments, Dr. Rubin served as the Director of the Fellowship in Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition at the University of Chicago for 11 years.
Dr. Rubin is a Fellow of the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA), the American College of Gastroenterology (ACG), the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ASGE), the American College of Physicians (ACP), and the Royal College of Physicians (Edinburgh). He is on the Board of Trustees for the ACG. Among numerous awards and honors, Dr. Rubin was chosen by his peers as a member of Best Doctors (recognized for superior clinical ability) and America’s Top Physicians (gastroenterology). Additionally, he twice received the ACG’s Governor’s Award of Excellence in Clinical Research (2003 and 2013), and the UChicago Postgraduate Teaching Award in recognition of significant contributions for fellowship education (2006). In 2012, he received the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation’s Rosenthal Award, a national leadership award bestowed upon a volunteer who has contributed in an indisputable way to the quality of life of patients and families. In 2020, Dr. Rubin received the Sherman Prize for Excellence in Crohn’s and Colitis. He is an Associate Editor of the journal Gastroenterology and Editor-in-Chief of the ACG On-Line Education Universe. In 2018, Dr. Rubin completed the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health Leadership Development Course for Physicians.
Dr. Rubin is an editor of a best-selling book Curbside Consultation in IBD which is now in its 3rd edition, is an associate editor of the 11th edition of Sleisenger and Fordtran’s Gastrointestinal and Liver Disease, and an author or coauthor of over 500 articles on treatment and management of IBD, cancer in IBD and novel paradigms, as well as the first author of the 2019 ACG Guidelines for ulcerative colitis. His current research is in the area of biosensor monitoring of IBD, prevention of progressive complications from uncontrolled inflammation, and a variety of collaborative studies related to the causes of IBD and its complications. He is also a featured media contact for issues related to IBD, appearing on satellite radio, television, print media and maintains a popular and verified twitter feed @IBDMD with over 18,000 followers.
Prof. Robert Klempfner, M.D
Director Israeli Center for Cardiovascular Research & Scientific Director, ARC Innovation Center At Sheba Medical Center
Professor Robert Klempfner, MD, is a cardiologist and head of the rehabilitation institute at Sheba Medical Center, one of the top hospitals in the world. He is also the Scientific Director of the ARC Innovation Center at Sheba Medical Center, Tel HaShomer where he oversees research and development of the latest innovations in healthcare technology and applies them toward medical applications that are used all over the globe. Professor Klempfner has a long and established history in the field of cardiology and has served as director for many research institutes and is a professor at Tel Aviv University.
He’s passionate about his role in advancing the future of healthcare and is inspired by his work with some of the brightest minds in medicine.
Alexis Mitelpunkt, M.D., B.Sc
Director of Pediatric Rehabilitation, Tel Aviv Medical Center
Dr. Mitelpunkt completed his MD at the Sackler Faculty of Medicine Tel Aviv University. His residency in pediatrics and fellowships in child neurology and developmental medicine and Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center. Dr. Mitelpunkt is a computer science graduate with experience in developing solutions using machine learning. Dr. Mitelpunkt was a member of Prof. Yoav Benjamini’s lab leading the Medical Informatics analytics in the European Human Brain Project.
He completed his Biomedical informatics fellowship at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center co-leading a multidisciplinary team of clinicians and researchers to leverage data and AI to improve care for children with Cerebral Palsy and establish the Pediatric Precision Brain Health Center. Dr. Mitelpunkt leads collaborations with health tech startup companies in Rehabilitation and innovative research combining virtual reality, biosensors and AI to promote neuroplasticity.
