Faculty and Team

Dr. Ira Sobel is the founder and Academic Director of Fintech for Longevity Academy, a trusted provider of financial longevity for corporate professionals around the world. Dr. Sobel specializes in the economic aspects of aging with a particular focus on the role of Fintech in improving the financial well-being of older adults and their families. Dr. Sobel lives in Israel where she is currently teaching a course on “Financial Inclusion in the Fintech Age” at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. She is an international speaker and advisor to many Fintech companies and VCs around the world. Dr. Sobel has a PhD in Sociology from Tel Aviv University.

Alexander Hizikias is Co-founder & CEO of eQub, a disruptive fintech startup working to provide access to credit through saving groups & lending circles. He is an entrepreneur with a background in Economics, who is also responsible for creating multiple successful Ethiopian startups in different sectors. Strong experience in research, business management, finance & marketing. Passionate about technology & innovative value-addition. He's also a published author & poet who enjoys creative writing.

Nidhi Chawla is the Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder of Silver Talkies, a one-of-its-kind community-led platform in India for the older adults, offering them solutions to the deeply embedded issues of loneliness and social isolation. Nidhi is also the co-author of the book “Rethink Ageing – Lessons in Ageing from the Older and Bolder Generation” published by Penguin India. She has several years of experience in the financial services sector, having worked with SREI International Securities and McKinsey & Co. Nidhi has been the recipient of several leadership awards for her work in the eldercare space and is currently a member of the CII Seniorcare committee.

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Ronald C. Long retired in 2022 as the Head of Aging Client Services for Wells Fargo. In this role, he worked with all of Wells Fargo’s business units to help them stay abreast of the changing regulatory environment on issues related to the aging client.  With his leadership, Ron is helping all business lines focus on the day-to-day needs of aging clients and their families.  Ron worked in sales for Armstrong World Industries and West Point Pepperell.  He is a graduate of Williams College and received his law degree from Georgetown University Law Center.

Dr. med. Hans Groth, MBA is the Chairman of the Board of the World Demographic & Aging Forum (WDAForum) and a Member of the Board of Directors of Rehabilitation Clinic Bad ZurzachAG. Since 2009. Dr. Groth has been a guest lecturer at the University of St. Gallen (HSG), Switzerland with the topic "Megatrend: Global Demographic Change." From 2009 – 2015 he was Member of the Global Agenda Council of the World Economic Forum.

Roland Rau is Professor of Demography at the University of Rostock, Germany, and Senior Research Scientist at the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, situated also in Rostock. He holds a Diploma in Political Science (Germany's former equivalent of a Master's degree) and a PhD in Demography. His research is situated at the intersection of demography, epidemiology and statistics. Apart from his methodological work and visualizations of mortality dynamics, Rau studies mortality in aging societies, predominantly in Europe. (photo: Fotostudio Hagedorn, Rostock).

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Manuel Buchmann is Research Director at the World Demographic & Ageing Forum (WDA Forum) and project manager at Demografik. He holds a PhD in Applied Economics from the University of Basel. In his dissertation he analyzed the effect of demographic change on the Swiss labor market. His current research focuses on labor shortages and the relationship between demography and financial markets (“Financial Demography”). He coordinates all research activities of the WDA Forum.

Liran Lavi is a 6th-year medical student at Federico II university in Naples and holds a B.Sc. in biology and psychology from Tel-Aviv university. In the past decade, using his knowledge of statistics and social psychology, he has helped research and analyze data about the elderly population in areas of health, wealth, and well-being. Liran is creating new education programs on aging-focused technologies, and the intersection between finance and longevity in the European market.

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Longevity Strategist, lecturer in Longevity Planning, co-founder of Active Longevity Institute

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As one of the very few Italian longevity experts, Emanuela offers advisory, training and lecturing on longevity planning for the protection and enhancement of the financial, physical and human capitals required for the longevity navigation to be as smooth as possible. In 2019 she co-founded A.L.I. the first Observatory on Active Aging in Italy. Emanuela’s background includes a strong expertise in communication and management through a 20 years career in advertising and a more recent expertise as the Publishing Director of a small financial publishing company.

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Certifications include Financial Longevity Leadership Course by Fintech for Longevity Academy.

Bárbara Rey Actis is the founder of Longevity Initiatives, a specialized consultancy focused on providing professional advice, content development, and training in longevity for entrepreneurs, professionals, and companies in LATAM and Iberia.

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Residing in Spain, Bárbara is currently involved in teaching three distinct generations. She imparts knowledge to young students at Antonio Nebrija University, offers insights to senior managers and entrepreneurs through the 40+ League, and engages with senior retirees at Instituto Cultural Europeo. In addition to her role as a teacher, Bárbara serves as a speaker and advisor for numerous companies and startups. Holding an MBA from Instituto de Empresa, she graduated with honors.

With an MD, PhD, and expertise inlongevity and precision medicine, Dr. Ana Baroni, serves as CMO atHealthylongevity.clinic and CSO at Longevitytech.fund, promoting health andlongevity through science. Certified in Functional Medicine and Nutrition, Dr.Baroni leverages genomics and biochemistry to innovate in health tech. Educatedat INSEAD, Wharton, and Harvard, She teaches at Barcelona and UNIRUniversities, consult for biotech firms, and hold multiple MSc degrees andboard certifications.

Keren is the author of The AgeTech Revolution book, creator of TheGerontechnologist.com, and the founder/director of AgeLabIL at Shenkar college in Israel, an interdisciplinary R&D center focusing on agetech. Named one of the most influential people in aging, Etkin is a sought-after public speaker and advisor for agetech startups, investors in the longevity economy, care providers and organizations who work on innovation in aging. Previously, Etkin was the first employee at Intuition Robotics, maker of ElliQ, a pioneering social robot designed with and for older adults, and co-founder & VP of Product at Sensi.ai, a startup that developed the first artificial intelligence solution for remote care monitoring. She holds an M.A. in Gerontology and a B.Sc. in Life Sciences from Ben-Gurion University.