Distinguished Advisors

Cancer Commons advisors include leaders from the worlds of oncology, technology, artificial intelligence, commerce, finance, and philanthropy.

We gratefully acknowledge their generous contributions of time and expertise.

Artificial Intelligence

Josh Tenenbaum, PhD

Josh Tenenbaum, PhD
Professor of Computational Cognitive Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Josh Tenenbaum, PhD

Josh Tenenbaum, PhD
Professor of Computational Cognitive Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Dr. Tenenbaum is Professor of Computational Cognitive Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is known for contributions to mathematical psychology and Bayesian cognitive science. According to the MacArthur Foundation, which named him a MacArthur Fellow in 2019, “Tenenbaum is one of the first to develop and apply probabilistic and statistical modeling to the study of human learning, reasoning, and perception, and to show how these models can explain a fundamental challenge of cognition: how our minds understand so much from so little, so quickly.

Allan Schiffman, MS

Allan Schiffman, MS
President & Co-Founder, CommerceNet

Allan Schiffman, MS

Allan Schiffman, MS
President & Co-Founder, CommerceNet

Mr. Schiffman’s engineering career spans system modeling, processor architecture, programming languages, software development tools, internet applications, and communications security. His current interests include secure distributed systems, user-centric authentication, privacy, and electronic commerce. Mr. Schiffman is sometimes called to be an expert witness and consultant in IP litigation cases.

Prior to CommerceNet, Mr. Schiffman was founder and chief technology officer of Terisa Systems, a pioneer in Web security. Earlier, Mr. Schiffman was chief technology officer at Enterprise Integration Technologies, a leader in the development of Internet electronic commerce and the creator of CommerceNet. He played a significant role in creating many innovative systems that paved the way for electronic commerce, including Mastercard/Visa’s payment card protocol (SET), the first Web security protocol (S-HTTP), and the first secure Web browser (Secure Mosaic, deployed by CommerceNet in 1994).

Earlier in his career, Mr. Schiffman led the development of a family of high-performance Smalltalk implementations that gained both academic recognition and commercial success. These systems included several innovations now widely adopted, such as the “just-in-time compilation” technique universally used by Java virtual machines.

Mr. Schiffman holds an M.S. in Computer Science from Stanford University.

Neil Hunt, PhD
Chief Product Officer, Vibrant Planet

Neil Hunt, PhD
Chief Product Officer, Vibrant Planet

Neil was Chief Product Officer for Netflix from 1999 to 2018, responsible for the design, implementation and operation of the technology at Netflix. Prior to Netflix, Neil had engineering leadership roles at Rational Software and Pure Atria. In 2018, he was cofounder at Curai, a venture-backed health tech company applying artificial intelligence and machine learning to primary care medicine. Neil serves on the boards of directors of Logitech, Roku, Sony, and Vibrant Planet.

Development & Philanthropy

Norm Friedland, Esq.

Norman Friedland, Esq
Founder, FullSky Partners

Norm Friedland, Esq.

Norman Friedland, Esq
Founder, FullSky Partners

Mr. Friedland is co-founder (with Sheryl WuDunn) of FullSky Partners, an impact investment advisory firm focusing on return-on-mission (ROM) capital for enterprises with important solutions in areas that include education, the environment and domestic and global healthcare. Working with The 90/10 Institute and inspired by his counsel to Nobel Prize winner Dr. Luc Montagnier on the challenges of funding drug development for diseases that are ignored by Wall Street/VC investors, the FullSky Model™ utilizes Program Related Investments for at-scale ROM funding to enterprises with patient-centric Dx/Rx life science solutions. Mr. Friedland is also co-founder of ESGHealthMetrics which provides institutional asset owners (pension funds, endowments, etc.) and wealth managers with the gold-standard of trusted, conflict-free workforce health data as a material investment metric in the context of ESG assessments.

Mr. Friedland is a Root-Tilden Scholar, New York University School of Law, who began his legal career at Cravath, Swaine and Moore. As General Counsel to New York State’s Economic Development Agency, Mr. Friedland had the benefit of mentoring by Dr. George Low (President of RPI) and Dr. John Marberger, President of Stony Brook University and Presidential Science Advisor, on technology transfer of R&D from bench to bedside.

Magdalena Yesil, MS
Entrepreneur, Venture Capitalist, & Author

Magdalena Yesil, MS
Entrepreneur, Venture Capitalist, & Author

Ms. Yesil is an entrepreneur, venture capitalist, author, and board member at many of the world’s top technology companies. She was the first investor and founding board member at Salesforce and the founder of Broadway Angels, a female group of angel investors. A technology pioneer, Yesil founded three companies dedicated to commercializing Internet access, e-commerce infrastructure, and electronic payments. She was chosen Entrepreneur of the Year by the Red Herring magazine for her successful exits, two IPOs and acquisition. Her investing career started at US Venture Partners. Today, Magdalena is the executive chair of Informed, a Robotic Process Automation company changing the way the financial industry processes consumer applications. She also serves on the boards of SoFi, Smartsheet and Zuora. Magdalena is the author of Power UP! How Smart Women Win in the New Economy.

Abraham Sofaer, LLB

Abraham D. Sofaer, LLB
Attorney, Jurist, Former Legal Adviser of the US State Department.

Abraham Sofaer, LLB

Abraham D. Sofaer, LLB
Attorney, Jurist, Former Legal Adviser of the US State Department.

The Honorable Abraham D. Sofaer is the George P. Shultz Distinguished Scholar and Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution. He has served as federal district judge in New York (197985) and as Legal Adviser to the U.S. Department of State (198590).

Currently, he concentrates on issues related to terrorism, international law, diplomacy, and national security. He has taught periodically as an Adjunct at the Stanford Law School, most recently a course in U.S. Arbitration. He also serves as an arbitrator and mediator in commercial cases, both in the U.S. and abroad. He has served on several public and private commercial boards of directors, and as an advisor on corporate and litigation matters.

Previously, he was a professor of law at Columbia University, where he focused on separation-of-powers issues in the American system of government. While teaching at Columbia, he wrote War, Foreign Affairs & Constitutional Power: The Origins. He has also served as Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of New York and was a clerk to Judge J. Skelly Wright on the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., and to The Honorable William J. Brennan Jr., Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.

Mr. Sofaer has written many articles and books on terrorism, the Middle East peace process, and the use of force in international affairs. Mr. Sofaer received an LLB degree from New York University School of Law, where he was editor in chief of the law review. He holds a B.A. in history from Yeshiva College, where he has been awarded an honorary doctorate.

Mr. Sofaer served for many years as President of the American Friends of the Koret Israel Economic Development Funds. He is a founding trustee and vice chairman of the board of the National Jazz Museum in Harlem.

Management & Strategy

Rob Rodin

Rob Rodin
CEO & Managing Director, RLH Equity Partners

Rob Rodin

Rob Rodin
CEO & Managing Director, RLH Equity Partners

Mr. Rodin is business executive and author who is best known for transforming Marshall Industries into a pioneering business-to-business e-commerce leader while CEO from 1992 to 1999. Some have referred to him as “visionary” for his early advocacy of commerce on the Internet. He is currently the chairman and CEO of RDN Group, a strategic advisory firm, and Vice Chairman of RLH Equity Partners. He holds board positions with Astound Commerce, Imre, Shift7 Digital, Biorasi, Supplyframe, and Inspirage. He serves on non-profit boards of YPO LA Gold, and ALS Therapy Development.

Mika Newton
Chief Executive Officer, xCures

Mika Newton
Chief Executive Officer, xCures

Mr. Newton has more than 25 years of leadership experience in life sciences, and is the CEO of xCures, a health technology company that has created an AI-enabled, precision oncology platform. Mika is an expert in healthcare data management, with a focus on data completeness and universality. He has a proven track record of bringing transformative technologies to market, driving growth, and fostering innovation.

At xCures, Mika leads a team of talented professionals who collect and integrate detailed medical records from diverse sources, using direct retrieval and natural language processing (NLP) for efficient feature identification. The result is a comprehensive longitudinal patient journey that enables real-time data access, prompt patient engagement, and machine learning algorithm deployment. Mika’s mission is to improve the quality and outcomes of cancer care, by leveraging the power of data and AI.

Patient Advocates

Al Musella, DPM

Al Musella, DPM
President, Musella Foundation For Brain Tumor Research & Information, Inc

Al Musella, DPM

Al Musella, DPM
President, Musella Foundation For Brain Tumor Research & Information, Inc

The Musella Foundation for Brain Tumor Research & Information, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit public charity devoted to empowering brain tumor patients and their families. We provide emotional and financial support, facilitate educational resources, advocate for patients’ needs, and strive to raise funds for groundbreaking brain tumor research. Together, we aim to make a difference in the lives of those affected by brain tumors and contribute to the advancement of effective treatments.

Dr. Musella is a retired podiatrist who worked his way through school as a computer programmer for medical research projects. His interest in brain tumors started when his sister-in-law, Lana, was diagnosed with a GBM in 1992.

Brad Power, MBA

Brad Power, MBA
CEO & Co-Founder, Cancer Patient Lab

Brad Power, MBA

Brad Power, MBA
CEO & Co-Founder, Cancer Patient Lab

Mr. Power was diagnosed in 2018 with lymphoma. Building on his experience and his years of consulting about ways to change work processes using technology, he decided to help people with advanced cancer make complex decisions outside standard treatment options. He has run several “hackathons” (crowds convened to find the best next treatment) for patients and serves as an advisor to several startups reinventing cancer care.

In 2022 he launched Cancer Patient Lab with two advanced prostate cancer patients to help them and other patients make complex testing and treatment decisions, to learn, and to accelerate innovation. Brad hopes to make hackathons and other resources available to many more patients who are facing complex testing and treatment decisions.

Mr. Power is a founding member of ennov1; an advisor to 4DPath, Alva10, Consuli, Rabble Health, and Travera; and is an active contributor to the Personalized Medicine Coalition.

Lisa M. Ward, Esq

Lisa M. Ward, Esq.
President & Co-Founder, Tough2gether Foundation

Lisa M. Ward, Esq

Lisa M. Ward, Esq.
President & Co-Founder, Tough2gether Foundation

Ms. Ward is the President and Co-Founder of the Tough2gether Foundation, as well as a dedicated attorney based in Manhattan, KS. Her journey with childhood cancer advocacy began when she received the devastating diagnosis of Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (DIPG) for her son, Jace Ward, on DIPG Awareness Day, May 17, 2019. Determined to explore every avenue for treatment, she tirelessly sought out trials and connected with experts worldwide during Jace’s 25-month battle. Despite her efforts, Jace passed away on July 3, 2021, at the age of 22. Since then, she has channeled her grief into advocacy, striving to expand the support network for families affected by childhood cancer, particularly DIPG and Diffuse Midline Gliomas (DMG). She spearheads various initiatives, including the Brain Storm Summit annual conference in Washington DC, the DIPG DMG Research Funding Alliance (DDRFA), and the LiveBrave2gether family support network.

Ms. Ward speaks nationally addressing audiences at prestigious events such as the White House Cancer Moonshot Summit and Congressional Briefings on brain cancer. On a local level, she remains deeply involved in supporting childhood cancer families through Tough2gether, providing both emotional and financial assistance. Beyond her professional endeavors, she finds joy in her family life, sharing her love with her husband, Roger Ward, and her children, Brooke and Blake Ward. She treasures every moment spent with her grandchildren, Asher and Grace. Ms. Ward’s unwavering commitment to ending pediatric brain cancer stands as a testament to her courage and compassion. She consistently echos her son Jace in believing “We must make the circle bigger and urgently bring new treatments and cures. She hopes to inspire others to join her in the fight for a brighter future.