People

Israel Healthcare Foundation, President

Ethel S. Siris, MD is the Madeline C. Stabile Professor of Medicine at Columbia University Medical Center and Director of the Toni Stabile Osteoporosis Center at Columbia University Medical Center, New York Presbyterian Hospital in NY, NY. A clinician and a clinical investigator in the area of bone disorders including osteoporosis and Paget’s disease of bone, she has served as both a member of the Board of Trustees and as President of the National Osteoporosis Foundation in the US as well as the Board of Trustees of the International Osteoporosis Foundation. She was also a Member of Council of the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research.

Dr. Paul Appelbaum is the Elizabeth K. Dollard Professor of Psychiatry, Medicine and Law, and Director, Division of Law, Ethics and Psychiatry at Columbia. Dr. Appelbaum is Past President of the American Psychiatric Association, the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, and the Massachusetts Psychiatric Society, and has twice served as Chair of the Council on Psychiatry and Law and of the Committee on Judicial Action for the American Psychiatric Association (APA).

Dr. Feinstein is President and Chief Executive Officer of the Jewish Healthcare Foundation and its two supporting organizations, the Pittsburgh Regional Health Initiative and Health Careers Futures Dr. Feinstein serves on a number of nonprofit and for-profit boards, including the Board of Directors of NRHI, the Center for Innovation Advisory Committee at the National Board of Medical Examiners, the Board of Overseers at Brandeis University’s Heller School, and as co-chair of the Board of Directors for the Pennsylvania Health Funders Collaborative.

Dr. Adam Goldstein is a Professor and Director of Departmental Advancement at the University of North Carolina (UNC) Department of Family Medicine. Dr. Goldstein is the Director of Tobacco Intervention Programs (Nicotine Dependence Program and Tobacco Prevention and Evaluation Program) at the UNC School of Medicine. Dr. Goldstein has taught internationally on leadership development, substance abuse, health policy, cancer and clinical medicine in Moldova, Ukraine, Armenia, Argentina, Chile, Haiti and Israel.

Dr. Philip Lanzkowsky is a retired pediatric hematologist-oncologist. Dr. Lanzkowsky was instrumental in the development, planning and establishment of Schneider Children’s Hospital (now the Cohen Children’s Medical Center) and served as its Chief-of-Staff from the inception of the hospital in 1984 until 2008. He is currently a consultant to Cohen and to Schneider Children’s Medical Center in Israel.

Dr. Benjamin Lebwohl received his MD from Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons in 2003, and then completed his internship, residency, and chief residency in internal medicine at Columbia. He stayed at Columbia as a fellow in Digestive and Liver Disease, during which time he obtained a Masters in Patient Oriented Research from the Department of Biostatistics at the Mailman School of Public Health. He joined the faculty of the Celiac Disease Center at Columbia University in 2010.

Dr. Chaim Reich is a gastroenterologist in New York, New York and is affiliated with NYU Langone Medical Center. He received his medical degree from NYU School of Medicine and has been in practice for more than 20 years. He is at NYU Langone Medical Center specializing in gastroenterology.

John Richards, MD, MMM, CPE, began his healthcare career as a family and emergency medicine physician in the United States Army. He served as faculty at the Medical College of Georgia. Starting in 1980, as an early adopter of technology in health care, he has been a serial entrepreneur with over 35 startup companies. Dr. Richards pioneered concepts and products in many health-related fields: health promotion, disease prevention, mail-order pharmacy, physician office dispensing, alternate site infusion therapy, health care data acquisition and mining, and cost containment to name but a few. Dr. Richards has worked for over 4 decades to reformat population health & its delivery, consumer and provider access & expectations and medical systems to improve patient care outcomes & provider efficiencies.

Steve is a member and Chair of the Public-Private Partnership Working Group and President of The United States Global Development Council. Steve is one of twelve Americans plus the Secretaries of State, Defense and Treasury to serve. Prior to this role, He previously served as CEO of the world largest international Jewish social service agency, the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee.

Dr. Stuart Altman is the Sol C. Chaikin Professor of National Health Policy at The Heller School for Social Policy and Management, Brandeis University. He has served on numerous government advisory boards, including service for Planning and Evaluation/Health at the U.S. Department of Health Education and Welfare (HEW), for the Prospective Payment Assessment Commission (ProPac), and for the National Bipartisan Commission on the Future of Medicare.

Senior Vice President, Israel Healthcare Foundation 

Rebekah Dickinson has over 17 years of experience in non-profit philanthropy, with special emphasis on helping raise millions of dollars for Israeli healthcare, Jewish agencies, and higher education. Ms. Dickinson most recently served as Regional Director, Major Gifts, Southeast, for Hadassah, the Women’s Zionist Organization of America, raising funds for Hadassah Medical Organization in Israel. Ms. Dickinson was Chief Program Officer for Florida Atlantic University’s International Center for Emergency Management Education, in partnership with Sheba Medical Center in Israel. She was also Director of Development for FAU’s College of Business. Prior to FAU, Ms. Dickinson served as Vice President, Women’s Philanthropy and Family Engagement for the Jewish Federation of Broward County. She is versed in building diverse, collaborative projects and cultivating high-level relationships with decision-makers in corporate, public, and nonprofit sectors, domestic and international. She holds a BA from Johns Hopkins University, an MS from Florida International University, and is currently a doctoral candidate at Florida Atlantic University. 

Senior Resource Advisor 

Perry Davis is the founder and president of Perry Davis Associates. Founded in 1986, Perry Davis Associates specializes in fundraising, board development and strategic planning. He has served in key positions in government, education, and the private sector. As the New York City Partnership’s Vice President for Economic Development, he directed the completion of the Partnership’s strategic plan and its new project selection process, and developed its first program-related budget of $8 million. Prior to joining the Partnership, Mr. Davis was the Director of Funded Programs for the New York City Board of Education, where he raised $350 million annually. Mr. Davis, who holds a doctorate in Government and Administration from Columbia University, has also served as an Assistant to the Mayor of New York City. He is the editor and a contributing author of a book on public-private partnerships published by the Academy of Political Science and has served as guest speaker at conferences sponsored by the White House, the International Downtown Association, and various corporations.

Senior Resource Advisor

Margy-Ruth Davis is the founder and chair of Perry Davis Associates. Founded in 1986, Perry Davis Associates specializes in fundraising, board development and strategic planning. Ms. Davis formerly served as Executive Director of the Greater New York Conference on Soviet Jewry. In that capacity she organized the Solidarity Sunday marches; over 250,000 joined the marches each year. Ms. Davis was also the Associate Director of the Elaine Kaufman Cultural Center, where she established the Development Department; created an ongoing program of foundation support and corporate membership; and oversaw all aspects of board and donor relations. She currently heads the PDA strategic development program and supervises the communications and outreach strategy for a number of top clients.

Resource Advisor

Alyssa has more than ten years of experience developing programs for a variety of nonprofits, helping organizations achieve their fundraising goals through prospect research, grant writing, and back office management. She earned her bachelors degrees from Columbia University and The Jewish Theological Seminary and recently completed a dual masters degree in Nonprofit Management and Hebrew and Judaic Studies at New York University.