Meet the Team
Ramin Rak, MD, FAANS, FCNS
Founder & CEO
Ramin Rak, MD, FAANS, FCNS, is a board certified neurosurgeon who performs complex neurosurgery. He has extensive experience in performing awake craniotomies. Dr. Rak specializes in the treatment of neurological tumors and cerebrovascular and skull base diseases. He is an expert in micro-neurosurgical techniques which he utilizes to perform most of his surgeries.
For more than twenty years Dr. Rak has conducted basic neuroscience and clinical research in a variety of neurologicial conditions, including reperfusion injuries after treatment of stroke, micro-neurosurgical techniques and outcomes of difficult skull base and cerebrovascular diseases and usage of adult Olfactory Ensheathing Glial and Schwann Cells (OEC) in spinal cord injuries. He has published several dozen articles and book chapters in the main neurosurgical journals and book atlases. Dr. Rak has presented at more than twenty professional meetings on topics such as Minimizing Reperfusion injuries after treatment of stroke, Neuronavigation in Skull Base Surgery, Reconstruction Options for the Complex Posterior Fossa and Middle Cerebral Artery Aneurysms, and Functional Recovery after Spinal Cord Injuries/Optic Nerve Injuries/Brain Stem Injuries in Patients Transplanted with Olfactory Ensheathing Glial and Schwann Cells (OEC.)
Dr. Rak is the Director of Neurosurgical Trauma Services at Mount Sinai South Nassau. He is also the Director of Brain and Spine Tumor Program at Mount Sinai South Nassau/NSPC.
Paul Christian
Chief Commercialization Officer
Paul Christian is a seasoned professional with 31 years of invaluable experience in the Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) industry. His illustrious career has seen him contribute his expertise to industry giants like Hormel, Coca-Cola, Unilever, and Smuckers. Paul's journey has been marked by honing his selling skills through day-to-day negotiations and overarching strategies across various categories and departments. In the past 6 years, Paul has transitioned his focus to the small brands space, collaborating with emerging names such as Parm Crisps and Thinsters. Ultimately, he founded Come Sell or High Water, a consulting firm dedicated to supporting the sales and commercialization efforts of young CPG brands. This venture crystallized his passion for leveraging industry insights to help smaller brands and startups overcome entry barriers. Paul's unwavering dedication to supporting the heartbeat of any brand—the founders—has only grown stronger over time, fueling his commitment to the success of every venture he undertakes.
Khosrow Mehrzad
Advisor to the CEO
Khosrow Mehrzad has broad experience in capital market, and finance. Khosrow founded Parsa Capital Management and manages an equity fund. He also teaches courses such as equity valuation, asset allocation, capital markets in New York University, and New York Institute of Finance. Khosrow was a senior valuation analyst at Six Financial Information, a trader at Deutsche Bank Advisors and a portfolio manager at JP Morgan. Khosrow began his career as aerospace engineer at Bombardier in Canada. Khosrow received a BS from Sharif University of Technology, a MS from McGill University, and earned an MBA from MIT Sloan School of Management.
Ben Prager
Chief Marketing Officer
Ben constantly strives to develop an individual voice and provocative creative for every client he serves. His collaborative style inspires true thought leadership and contemporary ideation. Prior to forming his own Agency, Prager Creative, Ben’s career spanned from global branding firms to direct marketing companies, through advertising agencies, and across a wide range of diverse industries. He has experience working at every stage of the creative process, from initial concept, to client presentation, management, implementation and final production. Having worked in all facets of marketing, Ben possesses an expert understanding of where the crossroads of strategy, branding and advertising meet to form truly successful, ROI-driven communications programs. Ben is a proud graduate of Philadelphia’s University of the Arts’ Design Program.
Maylin Pavletic
Director of Content
Maylin Pavletic is a content strategist and writer known for translating a brand’s unique point of view into irresistible creative. She has developed dozens of award-winning campaigns for clients within diverse market sectors, including healthcare, finance, and retail trade. Her background in Psychology gives her a unique understanding of the mechanics behind effective persuasion in content development and marketing. Maylin uses a results-based approach to content strategy and development. To her, great writing does not happen in a vacuum. It is the product of rigorous research, creative experimentation, and ego-free collaboration. Beyond her work with the iMind team, she is an advocate for geriatric brain health and neurodiversity. Her thesis on layperson literacy of the prodromal signs of dementia was featured at a national Alzheimer’s research conference. She is also an Advisory Board Member of the Museum of the Moving Image’s Marvels of Media Awards, a program that celebrates the work of autistic media makers.
Jeff Martin
Product Strategy Advisor
Jeff Martin is a high-impact strategist with over 40 years of experience spanning store operations, marketing, merchandising, supply chain, and strategic business unit leadership.
Jeff was recently the President of Starlite Media LLC, a fast-growing Digital Out-of-Home Media company, first serving as its COO and helping the team grow the company’s digital footprint across the US. Before his time at Starlite, Jeff was appointed the Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Utz Quality Foods in January of 2014, where he helped expand the company, streamline operations, and improve profitability prior to going public. Utz, based in Hanover, PA, is the largest independent privately held snack company in the United States.
Prior to this position, Jeff Martin established and operated a consulting firm, Martin Consulting LLC, to create solutions for complex business problems related to retailing, strategy, marketing, merchandising, and change management processes. Jeff held numerous leadership roles at Ahold USA in his 34 years working for the company. From 2009 until June of 2012, he served as the Executive Vice President of Merchandising and Marketing for Ahold, responsible for leading the merchandising, procurement, marketing, and private brands teams for Ahold USA. In this role, he assisted in the development and implementation of marketing and merchandising strategies that helped Ahold USA reach a record $25 Billion in Sales and $1 Billion in Earnings in 2011, across 4 divisions and over 850 stores. In 2012, Jeff was presented with Supermarket News’ 2012 Marketer of the Year Award for his leadership at Ahold USA.
Jeff enjoys time with his wife Andrea, daughter Shayna, granddaughter, Layla and two stepsons, Max and Sid. When Jeff isn’t pursing his passion for retail, he is an avid outdoorsman, terrible golfer, and a sports fan.
Raymond J. Holst
General Counsel
Ray Holst is a trusted senior U.S. federal income tax lawyer with a proven history and broad knowledge base, having practiced in large and small firms, and in-house environments. Ray has extensive experience in the taxation of financial institutions and financial products, including advising both issuers and underwriters of the tax consequences of various securities offerings, as well as advising both borrowers and lenders in credit transactions. He works with both public and private companies. Ray advises start-up clients regarding the appropriate entity formation and existing companies regarding taxable and tax-free mergers, acquisitions, reorganizations, and dispositions. Additionally, Ray has formed and advised non-profits, represented clients in front of the IRS and New York State, and has worked with high-net worth individuals providing trusts and estates advice, including advising non-U.S. individuals.
Ray is admitted to practice law in New York and is admitted to the U.S. Tax Court. Ray is a former member of the Wall Street Tax Association, having served as chair of the Information Reporting/FATCA Committee, and was part of the SIFMA committee that worked with Treasury in drafting the FATCA Treasury Regulations.
Scientific Advisory Board
Ronald M. Lazar, PhD, FAHA, FAAN
Scientific Advisor
Ronald M. Lazar, PhD, holds the Evelyn F. McKnight Chair and is Professor of Neurology and Neurobiology in the Department of Neurology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). He is also the Director of the UAB McKnight Brain Institute and the Director of the Neuropsychology Division.
A graduate from New York University with a prize in Psychology and a PhD graduate in Psychology from Northeastern University, he completed post-doctoral training at Georgetown University and the Eunice Shriver Center in Massachusetts, before being awarded an Andrew W. Fellowship to study the neuropsychology of cancer at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York. After serving as Assistant Professor of Neurology at SUNY/Downstate Medical Center in New York, he became Professor of Neuropsychology in Neurology and Neurological Surgery in the Stroke Service at the Columbia University Medical Center, and Director of the Richard & Jenny Levine Cerebral Localization Laboratory at the New York Neurological Institute. In June 2017, he began at UAB. Dr. Lazar is a Principal Investigator of the NINDS-funded Carotid Revascularization for Primary Prevention of Stroke – Hemodynamics (CREST-H), and the NINDS-funded ARCADIA-CSI study. He is also the Cognitive Core Leader for the Carotid Revascularization for Primary Prevention of Stroke (CREST-2) trial. His other NIH grants have been funded by NHLBI, NICHD, NIDDK, NCI, and NIAID. His publications have appeared in the New England Journal of Medicine, Nature, Circulation, Brain, Neurology, Lancet Neurology, JAMA Neurology, Annals of Neurology, Brain, Cerebral Cortex, Stroke, JAMA Internal Medicine, the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, among others. He has served as a chartered member of NIH study section and FDA advisory panels. He was Editor-in-Chief of Neuropsychology Review. The 2nd Edition of his book, Neurovascular Neuropsychology (Springer), was published in 2020. He directs the UAB Neuropsychology Clinic and sees patients with cognitive disorders arising largely from cerebrovascular and cardiovascular disease. His newest initiative is the Brain Health Advocacy Mission (BHAM), focusing on brain health through primary prevention of cognitive decline and stroke in primary care settings. He is a fellow of the American Psychological Association, the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association, and the American Academy of Neurology.
Josh Melamed, MD
Scientific Advisor
Josh Melamed, MD is a cardiothoracic surgeon based in New York. Originally from California, he attended UCLA for his bachelor’s. There, he worked for the school’s prestigious Garg Lab. His time with their organic chemistry team sparked his interest in food science. Dr. Melamed received his Medical Degree from the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology Faculty of Medicine where he wrote his thesis titled, “Does Haptoglobin Phenotype Predict Post-Operative Complications following Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting Surgery?” After graduating, he completed his general surgery residency at Mount Sinai South Nassau and his cardiothoracic surgery fellowship at the Medical College of Wisconsin with an emphasis in robotic thoracic surgery. Although Dr. Melamed specializes in cardiothoracic surgery, he also actively researches how nutritional modification and neurotropic supplementation impact cognitive function.
Alan B. Ettinger, MD, MBA, FAAN, FAES
Scientific Advisor
Alan B. Ettinger, MD, MBA, FAAN, FAES is an epilepsy specialist and a former Professor of Clinical Neurology at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. He is the Chief Medical Officer at an Intraoperative Neuromonitoring and EEG services company, and an outpatient epilepsy consultant. He is Chair of the EPIC- Long Island Epilepsy Foundation Professional Advisory Board and was previously a PAB member of the Epilepsy Foundation of America. Dr. Ettinger has been cited in top doctors guides including Castle and Connelly, New York Magazine, Newsday and New York Time’s featured Superdoctors. He has published widely on depression, psychotropic properties of antiepileptic drugs, psychogenic non-epileptic seizures, medication adherence and is first author of 6 textbooks. Dr. Ettinger is a passionate educator about nutrition for brain health and conducts grant-supported research examining music therapies to prevent and treat neurological conditions. He is also the sax player and health educator for the band Synaptic Groove, which provides lecture/concerts for medical and lay audiences, getting everyone up dancing while teaching about the health benefits of music.