Who We Are

Supervisory Board of Directors

The Supervisory Board of Directors for VITA 34 INTERNATIONAL AG has expertise from business, pharmaceutical, legal and health sectors. Their guidance and experience have proven valuable in the ongoing vision of CorCell to provide quality service to its customers and continually strive to improve its services and advancement of the cord blood banking industry.

Richard J. Neeson

Richard J. Neeson joined Independence Blue Cross in November 1993, as President and Chief Operating Officer of QCC, Inc., the holding company for Independence Blue Cross' for-profit subsidiaries. Prior to joining Independence Blue Cross, Mr. Neeson was Chief Executive Officer of Keystone Ventures, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Pennsylvania Blue Shield. Prior to joining Pennsylvania Blue Shield, Mr. Neeson worked for Coopers & Lybrand, and prior to that, was employed for approximately eight years with Peabody International Corporation, a diversified New York Stock Exchange company. Mr. Neeson currently serves as a Senior Vice President of Independence Blue Cross and as President and CEO of New Seasons Assisted Living Communities, Inc., a majority owned subsidiary of Independence Blue Cross.

Mr. Neeson serves on the Executive Committee for the St. Edmond's Home for Crippled Children, the Board of Trustees of The Academy of Notre Dame and Chairs the University of Notre Dame Club of Philadelphia Annual Scholarship Golf Outing. Mr. Neeson earned a BA in economics from the University of Notre Dame and an MBA in Finance/Management from the University of Connecticut.

Hubertus Leonhardt

Mr. Leonhardt is a Partner and Managing Director at SHS Gesellschaft für Beteiligungs management mbH, Leipzig. Prior to joining SHS, Mr. Leonhardt was Project Director in the Corporate Finance Department of the accounting and tax advisory firm Arthur Andersen GmbH & Co. KG, Frankfurt.

Mr. Leonhardt studied Business Administration at the Professional Academy Mannheim. Pursuant to his activities at Arthur Andersen, he successfully completed the German tax advisor's examination. He has been a Chartered Financial Analyst since 2000.

Joseph H. Jacovini, Esq.

Mr. Jacovini is Chairman of Dilworth Paxson, LLP in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania specializing in corporate law, banking and corporate finance. He has served on a number of public boards and commissions including serving as Chairman of the Philadelphia Regional Port Authority and The Philadelphia Orchestra.

He is a Trustee and Co-Chair of the Board at Drexel University, and a director of Manugistics Group, Inc. (a software publishing company), LaFrance Corp. (manufacturing) and Solid State Equipment Corp. (semi-conductor industry). He earned his BA Degree from the College of Holy Cross, as well as an LLB Degree from Harvard Law School and an MA Degree from Villanova University.

Rolf Krebs, MD

Through 2003, Dr. Krebs was the Chairman of the Board of Boehringer Ingelheim. Boehringer Ingelheim is among the twenty leading Pharma-Companies in the pharmaceuticals industry and is ranked as the number one research based German company. Prior to that post, Dr. Krebs held many leading positions in Research and Development at Bayer AG. Dr. Krebs is a former Management Board member of the German Association of Researching Pharmaceuticals Manufacturers as well as a former President of the World Pharmaceutical Association. Dr. Krebs is a member of the Joint Advisory Board of the Barmenia Versicherungen insurance company.

Uwe Marx, MD

Dr. Marx is a Management Board member of ProBiogen AG, Berlin and a cofounder of VITA 34 AG. Following completion of his medical studies and leading research activity at the Institute for Medical Immunology at Charité in Berlin, he was Director of the Medical Biotechnology Department of the Institute for Clinical Immunology and Transfusion Medicine at the University of Leipzig, focusing among other things on the field of tissue engineering.

I. Steven Udvarhelyi, MD

Dr. Udvarhelyi is Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer for Independence Blue Cross and its affiliated companies Keystone Health Plan East and AmeriHealth. He is a board certified internist and is a graduate of Harvard University and the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Dr. Udvarhelyi also has a master's degree in health services administration from the Harvard School of Public Health.

Before joining Independence Blue Cross in 1996, Dr. Udvarhelyi worked for Prudential Health Care as National Medical Director and Vice President of Operations. Prior to that, he served on the faculty of Harvard Medical School. Dr. Udvarhelyi currently serves on the Board of Directors of the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA); the National Council of Physician Executives of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, and on the Board of Directors for the American Association of Health Plans (AAHP).

To learn more about who we are, please follow this link: Scientific and Medical Advisory Board for Umbilical Stem Cell Collection and Storage.