Over the past three years, Dr. Pazit Rukenstein has served as the Director of Chemistry-Production at NewPhase, where she led the development of the company’s unique particle and its integration into their technology, while continuously improving manufacturing processes. As a PhD in chemistry, she manages a team of five employees, oversees the release of QC batches, and ensures they meet required standards. Her professional journey began as a researcher after completing her academic studies, and she was promoted to team leader and head of the chemistry department.
Dr. Rukenstein chose this role out of a deep desire to impact and improve the world, especially in cancer treatment. She expressed great excitement at the opportunity to combine her chemistry knowledge with the company’s goal of extending patient lives. According to her, “The ability to extend life is one of the most important goals for scientists, especially in cancer. I was thrilled to bring chemistry into the medical world when at NewPhase, they told me I would create a particle that could extend a person’s life. I immediately said I want to work for this company.”
At Flory, Anna Heyman serves as the Clinical Production Manager, a role in which she oversees over 20 employees and has been in for 4 years. Flory is involved in the development and manufacturing of biologic cell-based drugs, and is now significantly entering the CDMO field (Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization) as a subcontractor for other biotech companies. Responsible for operating production lines in a complex regulatory industry, Heyman emphasizes the great responsibility due to the biologic drugs being intended for the human body, an area where mistakes cannot be afforded, as they could cost lives. The work is done in close collaboration with quality departments, ensuring compliance with strict GMP, quality, and regulatory standards.
Anna started at the company 14 years ago as a process development engineer. She holds a bachelor’s degree in biotechnology engineering and has since completed a master’s degree in industrial engineering and management. During the 8 years in the development department, Anna played a key role in developing the company’s innovative products and technologies. She was promoted to management positions, first as the head of the new process and products team, and later as the head of process engineering. For Heyman, managing the production department—the heart of the company—was the goal she aspired to from the beginning of her journey at Flory. These days, she is embarking on an exciting new challenge—managing projects and clients in the CDMO field.
For the past four years, Dr. Inbar Amit has served as the Vice President of Research and Development for therapeutic antibody discovery at the biotechnology company Biolojic Design, where she leads the preclinical discovery and development of antibody-based treatments for cancer and immunology. Amit, who holds a PhD in molecular genetics, manages a team of about 40 scientists in Israel and the US, and shapes the scientific strategy of the company with the aim of bringing groundbreaking drugs to patients. Her career path began as a researcher in academia, and she later transitioned to biotechnology, where she advanced to senior scientific management positions.
Her career choice stemmed from the desire to combine groundbreaking science with a tangible contribution to human health. She says, "My motivation comes from the ability to develop life-saving drugs that could impact the quality of life for patients and their loved ones—when you see a treatment in development and know it might extend lives, it gives deep meaning to every professional challenge along the way."
Excellence and Innovation
Reem Ashkar Shaheen is a director of verification at Marvell Israel, leading one of the critical groups in the chip development process—the verification group. This stage is central and sensitive in the hardware development process, ensuring that the chip functions exactly as planned, down to the bit level. Under her responsibility, Ashkar Shaheen manages about 17 engineers in Israel, divided into teams working on several projects simultaneously. She not only manages the team but also defines testing strategies, establishes work methodologies, and ensures high-quality standards throughout all development stages.
In her role, Ashkar Shaheen is a critical link in the company’s value chain—between the development and production stages. After the technical teams define the chip’s architecture, her group deeply tests the implementation of features, system reliability, and performance under extreme conditions, using advanced tools and complex simulation environments. Only after all critical test scenarios are checked and completed can the chip be "signed off" and passed to the next stage—the fabrication stage in the FAB.
Ashkar Shaheen’s mission and her team's work is not only technical; it is also business-oriented. Any defect that is not discovered on time could result in missing a marketing window, losing customers, and incurring enormous costs due to re-spins. Therefore, the work she leads requires a combination of engineering precision, systems thinking, time management, and deep understanding of the market and needs. Amid all of this, she is also a leading figure for the engineering team—charting the way, nurturing expertise, and constantly pushing for technological excellence and innovation.
Along with all the technological challenges, there is also a deep human element that keeps her in the role for almost two decades. "I’m always moving forward and developing, but the people and friends here—they are the reason I stay. They have become like family to me," she says.
Gali Lev, Vice President of Marketing and Digital at L’Oréal Israel, is responsible for leading the beauty-tech revolution in the local market. She implements advanced technological solutions that enable every consumer to receive personalized beauty advice, while integrating innovative technologies into the brand’s sales points and digital platforms.
Under her leadership, L’Oréal Israel launched Virtual Try-On Tools, allowing users to virtually try on makeup products, hair colors, and skin diagnoses—all with a click of a button, directly from their smartphones. Additionally, she led the implementation of beauty-tech tools at the sales points, enabling consumers to assess their skin condition on-site and receive a personalized skincare routine instantly. This year, L’Oréal Israel will bring to the country HAPTA, an innovative robotic tool from Lancôme, designed to assist people with motor disabilities in applying makeup with maximum precision, making the beauty world more accessible to everyone.
Gali entered the marketing world out of a passion for understanding the consumer and connecting technology with beauty. She says, "The ability to provide accurate solutions, make the beauty world more effective and accessible, and combine digital with personalization—this is the mission that drives me every day."
