About | Seerave Foundation

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.

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.

Valerie Behan, Phd

Senior Scientific Project Manager

Valerie is a PhD level materials scientist with a passion for diet and nutrition and its role in cancer treatment.

She has a track record in leading clinical cancer research funding programs with specific focus on implementing patient engagement and improving patient outcomes. She has also been involved in the sourcing and screening of emerging technologies for early-stage commercialisation activities across Europe and the US.

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.

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