Leadership

Prior to co-founding ACCRF, Marnie held senior positions in Development at the Massachusetts General Hospital and the National Geographic Society. She also served as a Marketing Representative at IBM after earning her B.S. from the University of North Carolina. Marnie manages the patient relations, accounting and fundraising functions of the foundation. She is a member of the Head and Neck Steering Committee of the National Cancer Institute.

Three years after co-founding ACCRF, Jeff left his position as a Managing Director of Putnam Investments to serve full-time as the Executive Director. Prior employers included MFS Investments, Salomon Brothers and the Irving Trust Company. Jeff earned a B.A. from the University of North Carolina and M.B.A. and M.I.A. degrees from Columbia University. He manages the scientific agenda and projects of the foundation and serves on the National Advisory Dental and Craniofacial Research Council, the Director’s Consumer Liaison Group of the National Cancer Institute, the Council of Councils of the National Institutes of Health, the Tissue Utilization Committee of the Salivary Gland Tumor Biorepository and the Board of Trustees of the Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital – Needham.

Kara Gelb is a healthcare executive with nearly 20 years of business management experience. Kara spent 16 years with General Electric in roles of increasing business leadership responsibility. She has worked in the U.S., Hong Kong and Japan. During that time she led GE’s clinical consulting business in North America, where she supported hospitals across the U.S. to deliver efficiency and improve patient outcomes. For the last 3 years, Kara has held leadership positions at one of the top hospitals in the U.K. – University College London Hospitals. She was the Divisional Manager for the 700 employee Women’s Health Division and most recently held the position as lead for patient experience at this large academic medical center in central London. Kara brings with her expertise in the US and UK healthcare systems as well as strong foundations in quality improvement methods and operational management skills. Kara graduated from Siena College with a Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Computer Science.