About RAS

Rubin/Anders Scientific, Inc. is a full-service science and technology consulting company providing the insight, expertise, and creativity of the best scientific and technology minds in the world. Rubin/Anders Scientific experts are handpicked for their scientific knowledge, credentials and uncommon ability to communicate clearly. <h2>Company Principals</h2> Ron Rubin, Ph.D.  co-Managing Director. Ron has been in and around science his entire career. He has been on the faculty in applied mathematics at MIT and a research scientist at the Weizmann Institute for Science in Israel. He also currently serves as Chairman of the Board of Database International Group, Inc. His research in science has been published in leading technical journals and his previous work in international education has been covered in The New York Times, the Boston Globe Magazine, Die Zeit, and El Pais. He received a Ph.D. in physics from Harvard and B.A. Summa Cum Laude from Princeton. Richard Anders, J.D. co-Managing Director, is a seasoned entrepreneur with a strong background and interest in computers. A lawyer by training, he founded Jurisoft, which he sold to Lexis/Nexis, published newspapers including Boston Digital Industry and New York Digital Industry, and was a founding trustee of the Massachusetts Interactive Media Council. Richard is a trustee of the Boston Museum of Science, a member of the MIT/Harvard Medical School HST program advisory council where he teaches a course on biomedical entrepreneurship, a trustee of the Boston Biomedical Research Institute and an overseer of the Gardner Museum. He is a member of the Institutional Review Board at the Dana Farber Cancer Center, which reviews clinical trials for the hospital. He founded the angel group Launchpad and in 2008, founded MA Medical Angels (MA2), one of the country's only angel groups focused exclusively on life sciences. In addition to serving on the board of Bliss Healthcare, he serves on the boards of Quosa, Inc. Richard is a graduate Summa Cum Laude in mathematics from Harvard and holds a J.D. from Harvard Law School. Sheldon Glashow, Ph.D. is Chief Scientific Advisor to Rubin/Anders. Shelly is one of the leading physicists of the age. His work on electroweak theory, which included characterizing the property of quarks he named "charm," led to his being awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1979. A long-time professor of Physics at Harvard, he is currently the University Professor of Science at Boston University. Commenting on the unique value of expertise applied to the appropriate project, he recalled how "my father the plumber once told me that he had repaired a complex heating system with a single well-placed kick of his foot." <h2>Research Staff</h2> Rubin/Anders identifies leading scientists for legal clients through the efforts of its talented research staff, each a highly educated scientist in their own right. Cathy Turner, Ph.D. Director of Research.  Cathy has diverse scientific interests in chemistry, molecular biology, and biophysics. She holds a Ph.D. in biophysical chemistry from Yale University, where she worked in one of the leading laboratories studying the structure of the ribosome. Her doctoral work in structural biology focused on solution structure determination of a large ribosomal subunit protein using nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. She holds a B.A. in chemistry from Middlebury College, where she studied the anticancer activity of platinum complexes. At Rubin/Anders she has been involved in projects spanning disciplines such as computer science, engineering, industrial design, medicinal chemistry, and others. Anna Nolan, Ph.D. Assistant Director of Research. Anna received her Ph.D in Metabolic Diseases from the University of Buckingham in the United Kingdom. She has conducted research at Massachusetts General Hospital/Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Anna has expertise in the development of novel drugs to treat type II diabetes and obesity. She also has a vast knowledge of all areas of pre-clinical pharmacology and drug development with experience in academia and the biopharmaceutical industry. Anna has over 15 publications in peer reviewed journals and has presented research at numerous international scientific meetings and symposiums. Santosha Ammu, Ph.D. Research Analyst. Santosha's interests span in the areas of experimental characterization techniques of nanomaterials. She received her PhD from the University of Rhode Island in Physics. Her doctoral research focused on the characterization of singlewalled carbon nanotube networks obtained by dielectrophoresis. She holds a masters in Electrical Engineering from the University of Houston. Her Masters research involved studying the interfaces between III-V semiconductor superlattices experimentally and theoretically using X-ray diffraction.  Charles Bedord, Ph.D. Research Consultant. Charles received his Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of Wyoming and completed post-doctoral studies at Washington State University, where he studied the structure and function of enzymes involved in lipid biosynthesis. He has experience in both basic research and project management in several large pharmaceutical and small biotechnology companies, and has managed pre-clinical and clinical stage cross-functional project teams involved in the development of drugs for treatment of cancer, Alzheimer’s, pain, HIV and inflammation. He has published in peer-reviewed journals and has experience in review and editing of documents for submission to drug regulatory authorities. Chris Caylor, Ph.D. Research Analyst. Chris received his PhD in Physical Chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley where he worked in both the Department of Chemistry and Materials Science and Engineering. His career has centered on compound semiconducting and thermoelectric materials, an area where he has numerous publications and patents. Chris has also managed industrial teams and government projects and has a broad understanding of solid-state systems and semiconductor processes. Bob Feeney, Ph.D. Research Analyst. Bob received his Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry from Indiana University where he did his dissertation on Physico-Chemical Patterning: Chemical Banding and Non-Linear Electrochemical and Electromagnetic Field Effects in Chemical Systems. His industrial experiences range from product development in foods and non-nutritive fats and fat-substitutes through the chemistry and physics of electronic display devices to applications and development of medical devices and pharmaceutical products. He has managed industrial R&D groups as both a Senior Scientist and Director of Research, and is currently a named inventor on 47 patents and patent applications. Bob enjoys many outdoor sports, including sailing. Usha Iyer, Ph.D. Usha received her Ph. D. in Biochemistry from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, where she designed and generated nanomaterials using protein crystals. Her post-doctoral work at The Salk Institute and The Scripps Research Institute was focused on the study of the life cycles of 2 different retroviruses- HIV and the porcine endogenous retrovirus. She has worked in the pharmaceutical industry and has experience with submissions to global drug regulatory authorities. She also has worked as a medical writer in the field of medical education. Marc A. Nascarella, Ph.D. Research Analyst. Marc holds a Ph.D. from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, where he remains as an adjunct assistant professor of toxicology. Marc's research has focused on understanding the physiological response of organisms exposed to low levels of stress. Marc is also a toxicology expert and has managed comprehensive chemical evaluations of consumer/medical products, and human health risk assessments. He is an author on over 50 publications, and has previously held positions as an active-duty military member, a research scientist, and a government toxicologist. Mark P. Sieh, Ph.D. Research Analyst. Mark received his Ph.D in Biology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he studied the control of allelic exclusion in antigen receptor genes. After completing a post-doctoral fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital, Department of Molecular Biology, he pursued market research in entrepreneurship, specifically assisting various technology start-up companies in projects ranging from royalty licensing issues to product development. Mark is also co-founder in two companies, one a software company and the other an e-commerce retailer. Erica Smith, Ph.D. Research Analyst. Erica received her Ph.D. in biomedical engineering from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor prior to spending more than seven years as a drug discovery scientist in two major pharmaceutical companies, Wyeth Research and Pfizer Global R&D. In this time, she worked as an in vivo pharmacologist and project team leader in diverse therapeutic areas including regenerative medicine, osteoporosis, metabolic disease and oncology. Dr. Smith spent two years as a scientific expert in a contract research organization, and has also consulted in preclinical research in the biotechnology industry. David Tavenner, M.S. David received his MSEE from Texas Tech University with his thesis “Space-Variant Incoherent Optical Processing Using Color.” Upon graduation he worked at Bell Labs designing the clock board and developing a performance test for the #5ESS. David has worked in a variety of fields, mainly for start-up companies, developing embedded processor systems and gaining the experience and knowledge to take products from concept through manufacturing, including project and team management. He taught courses at Texas Tech University and at Womens Technical Institute in Boston. His work includes designing an automatic gear-shift system for earth-moving machines, pen-shaped glucometers for diabetics, a pager buffer and a paging data transponder. He led NIH funded R&D projects on a Distortion Product Otoacoustic Emisions (DPOAE) device to measure hearing in neonates, a microphone-array headset hearing aid, and a portable voice accumulator for analyzing disphonia, on which he was the PI. Susan Wyoral, M.S. Research Analyst. Susan received her M.S. from Columbia University, College of Physicians and Surgeons, focusing on the in-vivo effect of interleukin-1 on neuronal cytoskeletal proteins.  She has worked on the identification and characterization of cellular structural proteins in academic basic research and biomedical laboratories in Cambridge, Boston and New York.  Additionally she has had experience in both clinical pathology and drug development environments.  With a B.F.A. from the University of Michigan, Susan also works locally as a film actor.     <div> <h2>Client Managers</h2> At Rubin/Anders our involvement in each expert witness case does not end when we have identified the scientist best able to provide the needed testimony. Our Client Managers maintain continuous contact with our clients, ensuring that the process is working to your satisfaction. Susanna Ryan, Client Manager. Susanna Ryan arrived at Rubin/Anders Scientific with a substantial background as a client manager. Working for over ten years in the corporate relocation industry, she managed the accounts of several leading pharmaceutical, financial and retail corporations worldwide. Prior to this, Susanna earned a B.S. in finance from Siena College in Loudonville, NY, and worked in the banking industry as an account manager and lending officer. Her management experience serves her well as a client manager at RAS. Crystal Wise, Client Manager. Crystal Wise comes to Rubin/Anders with over twenty years of experience in healthcare and technology sales and management. Her background includes technical recruiting for the fields of engineering, manufacturing, and computer science as well as account management and sales administration in the healthcare industry. Crystal holds a B.S. in Business from Emmanuel College where she graduated Cum Laude. <h2>Support Staff</h2> Sheila Smith, Accounting Manager. Sheila Smith joined Rubin/Anders in 2004 with an extensive background as a consultant in finance and accounting. After earning her Masters Degree in Business Administration from Suffolk University in Boston, Sheila worked for several years as a consultant focused on strategic management for small to mid-sized companies. Her exposure to different industries and businesses gives her a diverse knowledge of strategy and business development which she brings to the Rubin/Anders team. Marisa DiGiovanni, Executive Assistant. Marisa provides administrative support to Rubin/Anders. Prior to her work at Rubin/Anders, she has been an executive assistant to senior level managing partners in Boston-based companies. In that capacity, she handled numerous complex business needs, including investor relations for a real estate investment trust. She possesses excellent organization skills, a strong attention to detail, and the ability to manage multiple priorities and deadlines. She received her Bachelors Degree from Saint Anselm College. Fred Levinson, Ph.D. Online Marketing Consultant. After earning a Ph.D. at Harvard, studying Slavic Languages and Literatures, Fred found a job in the real world... literally, as a travel executive and world traveler. Serendipity placed him in a position to pioneer in the sale of travel and travel information through then newly-emerging online communications technologies. In addition to his work at Rubin/Anders. he currently heads Nested Strategies, a web production company focused on providing marketing advice, content development and management, search engine optimization services, and website design, development and maintenance. David Dow, IT Coordinator. David is responsible for maintaining the Rubin/Anders computer network infrastructure. He has been involved in the Information Technology industry for 21 years, including implementing, training and managing IT at numerous international hospitality businesses, including The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company and Hilton Worldwide. He received his Bachelor of Science in 1996 from Northeastern University, majoring in Computer Science. </div>

Home | Patent news | About RAS | Experts | Client list | Testimonials | Contact us