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 include highly motivated PhD-level scientists and entrepreneurs supporting the family with their diverse skill sets in science, engineering, design thinking and biotechnology.

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

Co-Founder

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

Science and Collaboration Lead

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

Project Manager

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.

Carolyn Edelstein

Policy Lead

Carolyn has founded and led organizations dedicated to delivering new microbiome-based solutions in health and the environment.

She was a co-founder and executive director of OpenBiome, the first public stool bank, which brought fecal microbiota transplantation to more than 70,000 patients at 1300 hospitals and clinics in the U.S.

She also co-founded Ample Agriculture, which is working to reduce enteric methane emissions from livestock.

She is inspired by opportunities to help promising ideas realize their potential for improving health and welfare.

Mark Smith, PhD

Venture Lead

Mark is a microbiologist and entrepreneur dedicated to harnessing microbes to improve human health and the environment.

Through his work enabling clinical research and patient access to novel microbial therapies Mark has seen first-hand the potential impact this work can have on patient lives.

Mark has served in executive and board positions across multiple biotechnology companies pioneering microbiome science, including as a founder at OpenBiome, Finch Therapeutics (Nasdaq: FNCH), and Ample Agriculture and as a founding board member at Freya Biosciences and Florey Biosciences.

Scientific Advisors

Martin Blaser

Scientific Advisor

Dr. Martin Blaser holds the Henry Rutgers Chair of the Human Microbiome at Rutgers University and directs the Center for Advanced Biotechnology and Medicine.

A physician and microbiologist, he has led pioneering research on the human microbiome's role in health and diseases like asthma, obesity, diabetes, and cancer.

Dr. Blaser has served as President of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, Chair of the Board of Scientific Counselors of the National Cancer Institute, and Chair of the Advisory Board for Clinical Research of the NIH.

He has authored over 600 scientific articles, holds 24 U.S. patents, and wrote "Missing Microbes."

Per Falk

Scientific Advisor

Dr. Per Falk has advanced microbiome science for over 30 years. As President and Chief Scientific Officer of Ferring Pharmaceuticals, he oversaw the development of the first FDA-approved microbiome therapy.

Previously, he held senior roles at Novo Nordisk and AstraZeneca. Dr. Falk has also served as an Associate Professor at the Karolinska Institute and Washington University School of Medicine.

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. We also proactively engage in translational projects.

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