About us

David Acker is the former president and CEO of Sleepy’s the Mattress Professionals, a family business started in 1931. He led Sleepy’s to become the largest privately owned specialty mattress retailer in the United States. Along with his sons, Mr. Acker manages the Acker Family Office, oversees the investment portfolio and the Acker Family Philanthropy Group. The family is active in the fields of education, child welfare and healthcare. Mr. Acker and his family serve on the boards and support numerous non-profit organizations.

Robert Catell is a global energy industry leader. He transformed Brooklyn Union Gas, a small regional gas utility distribution company, into one of the largest electric power/natural gas companies in the country, which was renamed KeySpan Corporation and KeySpan Energy. Mr. Catell was the chairman and CEO of KeySpan, and after orchestrating the merger between KeySpan and National Grid, he became the chairman of National Grid, U.S. Currently, Mr. Catell serves on many boards focused on energy services, medical research, civic leadership, education and first responders.

Susan Claster has served as an associate trustee of Northwell Health for many years. She is a board member of the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research and the Elmezzi Graduate School of Molecular Medicine. Mrs. Claster has also been a long-serving executive committee member of Cohen Children’s Circle, which is dedicated to raising funds for Cohen Children’s Medical Center. Both Mrs. Claster and her husband, Mark, hold a deep interest in medical research and are major benefactors of The Robert S. Boas Center for Genomics and Human Genetics. Mrs. Claster is also on the UJA-Federation of New York board of directors.

Jeffrey Feinstein is a graduate of Skidmore College and holds a BA in psychology and BA in anthropology. He is co-founder of BuyBuyBaby, the largest specialty retailer of baby products in the country. Mr. Feinstein and his wife, Debra, have spent a decade as event chairs for the Sunrise Association, which runs free day camps for children with cancer and their siblings. Now retired, he is an avid golfer and collector of contemporary art.

Leonard Feinstein is a graduate of Cornell University and the co-founder of Bed Bath & Beyond. He is also a founder of the Head Injury Association, where he serves as Board Vice President. Mr. Feinstein and his wife, Susan are collectors of modern and contemporary art. The Feinsteins are active philanthropists who support a variety of art, health, and social service organizations, including Northwell Health, where they established the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research as well as the Susan and Leonard Feinstein Center for Neuroscience.

John F. Fish is the Chairman and CEO of Suffolk. Under his vision and leadership, Suffolk has grown into one of the leading privately held general building contractors in the country.

Mr. Fish is a fixture on numerous Boards focused on improving the economy, access to healthcare, and education outcomes. He is the former Chairman of the Board of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, sits on the Board of the Real Estate Roundtable, and is a member of the National Business Roundtable.

In New York, Mr. Fish is on the Executive Committee of the Real Estate Board of New York, as well as a member of the board of the Feinstein Institutes at Northwell Health.

In addition, Mr. Fish serves as Chair of Brigham and Women’s Hospital and sits on the Executive Committee of Partners Healthcare. He is the current Chairman of the Board at Boston College and sits on the Board of Trustees for Bowdoin College.

Mr. Fish is a graduate of Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine.

Tony Florence joined New Enterprise Associates (NEA) in 2008 and is currently co-CEO of the firm. He previously served as co-President and prior to that as managing general partner of technology, where he led and oversaw NEA’s global technology investing practices across enterprise and consumer for both early and growth-stage investing. Mr. Florence’s investing practice focuses on software and internet companies, with an emphasis on growth stage investments, and he’s helped many founders build and scale industry-defining companies. Prior to joining NEA, Mr. Florence spent over a decade at Morgan Stanley, where he ran the tech investment banking group in New York and focused on the software and internet sectors, and was a member of the NA management committee. He earned his BA and MBA from Dartmouth College. Outside of NEA, Mr. Florence is involved with many organizations including being on the board of the Boston Children’s Hospital, chair of Dartmouth Athletics Advisory Board, the board of Northwell Health’s Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research and the board of USA Lacrosse.

Edward Forst is Chairman, Partner, and member of the Investment Committee at Lion Capital. Mr. Forst previously served as Chief Executive Officer of Cushman & Wakefield, leading the commercial real estate firm across more than 60 countries. Prior to this, Mr. Forst was a Management Committee Partner of Goldman, Sachs & Co. He served as the Co-CEO of Goldman Sachs Asset Management, and before that as the Chief Administrative Officer and Executive Vice President of the firm. Mr. Forst was also the Executive Vice President and Principal Operating Officer of Harvard University during the 2008 financial crisis, as well as Adviser to the Secretary of the United States Treasury Department on the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). Mr. Forst sits on the boards of the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research and the Yale School of Management. He has also served on the board of the Harvard Management Company, as Treasurer of Carnegie Hall, and as the Chairman of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA). Mr. Forst earned his MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and his AB in Economics from Harvard University.

Lloyd Goldman is the president of BLDG Management. He is an established real estate investor and developer and was also a partner in the redevelopment of the World Trade Center. Mr. Goldman is secretary of the Joyce and Irving Goldman Family Foundation Inc. and also participates on other organization boards focused on poverty, health care and finance. In addition, he serves on the Northwell Health Board of Trustees.

Susan Karches has supported the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research for more than three decades. Mrs. Karches and her late husband, Peter, established the Karches Center for Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia Research. Later, Mrs. Karches established the Karches Neural Bypass and Brain-Computer Interface Laboratory to advocate for the field of bioelectronic medicine. She also established the Kanti R. Rai, MD, Professor in Cancer Research and the Karches Family Distinguished Chair in Medical Research. Mrs. Karches serves on the board of the Karches Foundation, which gives primarily to organizations focused on education and medical research.

Curt Launer is a Founder of Bakken Midstream Natural Gas, a North Dakota energy infrastructure company formed in 2018. Previously, he focused on the onshore U.S. oil and natural gas industry at American Energy Partners. From 1987 until 2014, Mr. Launer was an equities research analyst and investment banker with various Wall Street firms. He is best known for his work in natural gas while at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette. In 2012, he was inducted into Institutional Investor Magazine’s All-American Research Team Hall of Fame, honoring the very best analysts in their respective sectors.

Mr. Nappi is executive vice chair of Northwell Health’s board of trustees, with health system responsibilities. Previously, he served as president of the Northwell Health Foundation, where he worked to cultivate private charitable support for programs, endowments and facilities. He was responsible for establishing charitable partnerships with the region’s leading individuals, corporations and foundations.

Mr. Nappi has been associated with North Shore University Hospital (NSUH) for more than three decades. He is a former chairman of the NSUH board of trustees.

Mr. Nappi is the former chairman of the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research. As a board member, he has helped guide the work of many organizations including Healthcare Trustees of New York State, Variety Children’s Lifeline, Volunteer Trustees of Not-for-Profit Hospitals, Cornell University Medical College, and the Nassau-Suffolk Health Systems Agency. He was a founding director of the Don Monti Memorial Research Foundation. In addition, Mr. Nappi is past chairman of the Institute for Student Achievement, founding chairman of the Nassau County HIV Commission and vice chairman of the Ryan White Planning Council.

Mr. Nappi holds an undergraduate degree from Hofstra University and a law degree from Brooklyn Law School.

Robert Perro has recently announced his plans to resign his positions at CardWorks and Merrick Bank to pursue private equity opportunities and philanthropic endeavors.

Robert Perro is the Chairman of the Board of Directors at Merrick Bank. The principal focus of Merrick Bank, which is wholly owned by CardWorks, Inc., is providing credit to the non-prime consumer. In his position as Vice Chairman of CardWorks, Inc. Mr. Perro was responsible for Finance, Audit, Taxes, Insurance, Legal, Compliance and Operational Risk, Merger and Acquisition Activities, and Diversification Strategies.

Prior to joining CardWorks, Mr. Perro was a managing Director and the Chief Financial Officer of the Hyperion Group and an officer and director of various holding companies owned by the Hyperion Group. Prior to joining the Hyperion Group, he was a partner in a public accounting firm and then headed his own accounting firm.

Mr. Perro is a Certified Public Accountant and holds a BBA from Bernard Baruch College of the City University of New York and an MS in Taxation from C.W. Post College of Long Island University.

Scott Rechler is the Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of RXR, one of the largest owners, managers, and developers of real estate and infrastructure in the New York metropolitan region. With an aggregate gross asset value of approximately $20.5 billion, comprising approximately 25.5 million square feet of commercial properties, a multi-family portfolio of approximately 6,000 units, RXR seeks to build and create stronger communities within its buildings and within the areas where it operates. As Chairman and CEO, Mr. Rechler believes that RXR’s success is inextricably linked to the health and vitality of the broader community. As an appointee of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, from 2011 to 2016, Mr. Rechler served on the Board of Commissioners as Vice Chairman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. He later served at the request of Governor Cuomo on the Board of the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) from 2017 to 2019. In addition to his role at RXR, Mr. Rechler currently serves as chair of the Regional Plan Association, trustee and Vice Chair of the National September 11 Memorial and Museum at the World Trade Center, member of the Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY), a Board member of the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research, and a member of the NYU Real Estate Institute Advisory Committee. Mr. Rechler also serves on the Board of the Tribeca Film Institute, where he serves as its co-chair, the board of directors for the Drum Major Institute, and the board of directors for Convene. Mr. Rechler is a graduate of Clark University and the New York University Schack Institute.

Michael Rees is a co-president of Blue Owl Capital Inc., a member of the firm's executive committee, and a member of the firm's board of directors. Mr. Rees is also the head of the GP strategic capital platform. Previously, Mr. Rees founded Dyal Capital, the predecessor firm to Blue Owl's GP Strategic Capital platform. Prior to founding Dyal Capital, Mr. Rees was a founding employee and shareholder of Neuberger Berman Group, transitioning from Lehman Brothers as part of the management buyout transaction in May 2009, and was the first chief operating officer of Neuberger's alternatives business. From 2003 through 2006, he was head of asset management strategy. Prior to joining Lehman Brothers, Mr. Rees was an associate at Marakon Associates. Mr. Rees currently serves on the board of directors of the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research of Northwell Health and on the board of The Opportunity Network, an education-focused nonprofit that supports underserved students with postsecondary career readiness education. Mr. Rees received an MS in mechanical engineering and an MS in technology policy from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a BS in mechanical engineering and a BA in political science from the University of Pittsburgh.

Jack Ross is a managing partner and co-founder of Waterfall Asset Management, a 15 year old investment management firm focused on structured credit and loan products. Mr. Ross has more than 30 years of securitization experience, having completed some of the earliest transactions at Drexel Burnham Lambert and co-founded Merrill Lynch’s ABS Group. Mr. Ross began his career as a CPA at Laventhol & Horwath. He received a BS from the University of Buffalo and his MBA from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

Mr. Ross is Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors at the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research. Mr. Ross and his wife Robin have endowed the annual Ross Prize in Molecular Medicine, an international scientific research award.

Michael Slade is former senior vice president, corporate secretary and board of trustees member for NBTY, renamed to Nature’s Bounty. He previously was the president and CEO of Nutrition Headquarters, Inc. Mr. Slade has also served on the board of the Elmezzi Graduate School of Molecular Medicine since 2006.

Kevin Tracey is the president and CEO of the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research, executive vice president of Research at Northwell Health, Karches Family Distinguished Chair of Medical Research, and is a professor of neurosurgery and molecular medicine at the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell. A leader in the fields of inflammation research and bioelectronic medicine, he is an inventor on more than 60 United States patents, and author of more than 380 scientific publications. He has been inducted into the American Society of Clinical Investigation (2001), the American Association of Physicians (2009), the Long Island Technology Hall of Fame (2012), Alpha Omega Alpha (2014), and is a Fellow in the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Lewis M. Warren Jr. is a vice chair of commercial banking at J.P. Morgan, responsible for managing banking relationships with state and municipal agencies and authorities nationally, and with developing strategic alliances and product innovation. He has more than 35 years of experience in commercial and investment banking and global transaction services. Before joining J.P. Morgan in 2012, Mr. Warren was president of northeast commercial banking, deputy head of global investment banking and on the management operating committee at Bank of America. In his community, Mr. Warren served as vice chairman of the Nassau County Industrial Development Agency from 2018 to 2022. He currently serves as vice chairman on the board of PENCIL (the New York City nonprofit that partners public schools with businesses) and serves on the board of the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research. He graduated cum laude with a bachelor of science in business administration from Old Dominion University and earned MBA and JD degrees from the University of Virginia.

Barbara Zucker is a philanthropist and real estate professional. She is the immediate past chair of the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research Board of Directors. Mrs. Zucker and her husband, Donald Zucker, give to organizations focused on health, education, arts, culture and animal welfare through the Donald and Barbara Zucker Family Foundation. They are especially supportive of students and young professionals, endowing a scholarship fund at the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell, as well as endowing the Barbara Hrbek Zucker Emerging Scientists Program at the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research. In addition, they have established the Donald and Barbara Zucker Professor in Health Outcomes and the Donald and Barbara Zucker Professor in Urologic Oncology.

Nicholas Chiorazzi is the Head of the Karches Center for Oncology Research at the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research; the Kanti R. Rai, MD, Professor of Oncology Research; and Professor of Medicine and of Molecular Medicine at the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell. Dr. Chiorazzi was the Founding Director and CEO of the Feinstein Institutes. He previously was the first Chief of the then-new Division of Rheumatology and Allergy - Clinical Immunology of North Shore University Hospital.

Thomas Degnan is an internal medicine doctor of medicine who specializes in the treatment of the combination of hematology and oncology disorders, pathology, and blood banking. He was the first chief of hematology at North Shore University Hospital in 1963 and served as chairman of research at the Boas-Marks Biomedical Science Research Center, now known as the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research. Dr. Degnan has served as a medical consultant for The Don Monti Memorial Research Foundation.

Dr. Geoffrey Ling is presently co-founder and CEO of On Demand Pharmaceuticals and a partner of REBBLS. Clinically, he is a professor of neurology, neurosurgery, and anesthesiology and critical care medicine at Johns Hopkins University and the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, and an attending neuro critical care physician at Johns Hopkins Hospital. Dr. Ling completed his neurology residency at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, neuro critical care fellowship at Johns Hopkins and research fellowship in neuropharmacology at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. He serves as the Chair of the Veterans Administration’s National Research Advisory Council and is a retired U.S. Army colonel after 21 years on active duty. He previously served as an intensive care physician and has had four in-theater missions as a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff “Gray Team” to assess traumatic brain injury (TBI) care in both combat theaters (2009, 2011). He was the founding director of the Biological Technologies Office at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), where he was previously a program manager and deputy director of the Defense Sciences Office. Lastly, he served as an assistant director in the Science Division of President Obama’s White House Office of Science, Technology and Policy (OSTP).

Nancy Marks is a philanthropist who donates through the Nancy and Edwin Marks Family Foundation. Mrs. Marks is the president and secretary of the Foundation, which gives donations to institutions and organizations focused on health care, medical research, education, arts and culture.

Susan Merinoff is a philanthropist who has been a donor to Northwell Health for several decades. The generous endowments provided by Mrs. Merinoff and her late husband, Herman, have supported the growth of the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research. The Merinoffs established The Susan and Herman Merinoff Center for Patient-Oriented Research at the Feinstein Institutes, the Palliative Medicine Program and the Susan and Herman Merinoff Reception area in the new Heart Rhythm Center at Lenox Hill Hospital.