Who we are

Active and innovative family foundation

We are inspired by personal experiences and driven by the conviction that through collaboration we will be able to accelerate science and catalyse innovation to enable personalised cancer treatment.

Team

Interdisciplinary team aiming to rethink philanthropy

In addition to the active involvement of the Rees family, the interdisciplinary team are highly motivated PhD level scientists supporting the family with their diverse skill sets in science, engineering, design thinking and entrepreneurship.

Interdisciplinary team aiming to rethink philanthropy
David Rees

Founder

David spent 6 months short of 50 years in the oil industry. In 1992 David co-founded Greenergy which is now the UK’s largest downstream oil company by some distance.

The company was sold in May 2017 and the resulting proceeds were bequeathed to Seerave to fund its research and philanthropic activities.

Elisabeth Rees

Chief Operating Officer

Elisabeth has more than twenty years of experience working within Fine Arts and Museums in Sweden as a Project Manager, Programmer, Curator, and Museum Director.

Prior to her Fine Arts studies, she trained as a nurse. In 2016 she joined her father to build up the Seerave Foundation with the conviction to change the standard of care for cancer patients.

Manuel Fankhauser, PhD

Chief Executive Officer

Manuel is a PhD-level tumor immunologist passionate about turning microbiome science into actionable therapies.

He has been involved in multiple startups, was co-founder and president of Innovation Forum Lausanne, and a former Fellow at the innovation foundry at Flagship Pioneering.

Laura Mählmann, PhD

Senior Operations & Scientific Project Manager

Laura is a PhD-level health scientist and has previously overseen a clinical FMT trial in depressed patients, supported by Seerave.

She is particularly passionate about translational approaches from science to society. Further, she has built a track record in human-centered innovation methods.

Ainara Bujanda Cundín

Research Analyst

Ainara has 9 years of experience in the medical device industry as an electrical engineer, project manager and product & strategy analyst. She has been working in the past years for different start-up companies and a non-for-profit foundation in Switzerland. She is passionate about human centered translational approaches from science to the market and clinical practice.

Rossella Fontana, PhD

Bioengineering Project Manager

Rossella is a PhD-level biomedical engineer with 10+ years of experience in research and product development for the Life Science industry.

The combination of her interdisciplinary background, career history, spirit for innovation, and emotional skills allowed her to grow with diverse working challenges as R&D engineer, V&V system engineer, business analyst, and project manager.

Proactive science and venture philanthropy

What we do

Proactive science and venture philanthropy

Seerave uses a combination of traditional grant donations towards academic researchers as well as equity investments into early stage start-ups. Further, we proactively engage in translational projects.

Find out more about:
Our Science Philanthropy projects
Our Translational Philanthropy projects
Our Venture Philanthropy projects
Our Approach

History

How a personal family history led to the establishment of Seerave Foundation

Eva Rees is diagnosed with stage 4 metastatic melanoma

 

2013

Eva Rees is diagnosed with stage 4 metastatic melanoma

The Seerave Foundation is established by David Rees

 

2015

The Seerave Foundation is established by David Rees

David meets Laurence Zitvogel: The first scientist he had met back then who believed in his mission

 

2016

David meets Laurence Zitvogel: The first scientist he had met back then who believed in his mission

First scientists join Seerave Foundation

 

2017

First scientists join Seerave Foundation

First scientific project started

 

2017

First scientific project started

First Seed Investment in BiomeSense

 

2019

First Seed Investment in BiomeSense

Seerave Foundation
Seerave Foundation
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