Raphael (rafi) Hofstein

Biography

Dr. Hofstein is the President of MaRS Innovation (MI) and has been a member of Triphase’s Board of Directors since 2010. MI is a non-profit organization that acts on behalf of its members–15 of Toronto’s top universities, institutions and research institutes, plus the MaRS Discovery District–to bring their most promising research breakthroughs to market. Dr. Hofstein received his PhD and Master of Science degrees in Life Sciences and Chemistry from the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel. His Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry and Physics was attained from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Awards received while completing postdoctoral training and research at the Harvard Medical School in Boston in the Departments of Biological Chemistry and Neurobiology include the Hereditary Disease Foundation Fellowship in 1982-83, and the Chaim Weizmann Postdoctoral Fellowship in 1980-82. During the 1980s, he held the roles of Scientific Director of Biotechnological Applications Ltd., and Manager R&D and Chief of Immunochemistry at the International Genetic Scientific Partnership; organizations that were pivotal in the development of Israel’s world-leading biotechnology sector. Dr. Hofstein was Scientific Director of the Israeli office of Ecogen Inc., a subsidiary of Monsanto, for over six years before assuming the role of Vice President, Business Development for Ecogen in Langhorne, Pa. From 1997 to 1999 Dr. Hofstein was President of Mindsense Biosystems Ltd., an Israeli company that develops neuropsychiatric immune assays. From 1999 to the present, he has held the position of President and CEO of Hadasit Ltd., the technology transfer company of the Hadassah Medical Organization in Jerusalem. Later on, Dr. Hofstein joined Medica Ventures, a lead VC in Israel and served for 10 years as the President and CEO of Hadasit, the commercialization company of Hadassah, the largest teaching hospital in Israel. Dr. Hofstein was the founder and served as Chair of Hadasit BioHolding Ltd., a publicly traded holding company (10 startups under management) on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE), since 2005.

Research Interest

neuropsychiatric immune assays