MEET OUR TEAM

Stardust Board of Directors

Alyssa is an advocate of all things infertility. She graduated Magna Cum Laude from NYU Stern and began her career as a Credit Research Analyst at Barclays. While she enjoyed the fast paced environment of Wall Street, she realized she wanted to spend her professional life helping people. She completed a post-baccalaureate in medical studies and is currently a 4th year medical student at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. She is happily married and has 3 beautiful children.

Alyssa Kolatch

CO-FOUNDER / CEO, alyssa@stardustfoundation.org

Jenn’s love for helping others combined with her personal experience with fertility issues naturally led her to co-founding Stardust. She serves as a passionate fertility advocate dedicated to realizing the dreams of individuals and couples striving to build their families. Jenn hopes to make a lasting impact on the lives of others, fostering a community where everyone has access to the resources and assistance needed on their fertility journey.

Jenn Leffell

CO-FOUNDER / COO, jenn@stardustfoundation.org

Alex is currently a fellow in Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility at Northwell Health. She completed her residency in Obstetrics at North Shore University Hospital and Long Island Jewish Medical Center, where she served as administrative chief resident.

 

 

 

Alex Peyser, MD

CO-FOUNDER / VICE PRESIDENT, alex@stardustfoundation.org

Diana is a molecular genetics pathologist at Westchester Medical Center and an Assistant Professor of Pathology, Microbiology, and Immunology at New York Medical College. She received her MD from Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons and completed her residency in clinical pathology at New York Presbyterian/Columbia University. She also completed her fellowship in the Division of Personalized Genomic Medicine at Columbia University.

Diana Bryk Straus, MD

DIRECTOR / FOUNDING BOARD MEMBER, diana@stardustfoundation.org

Leon works in strategy and operations in tech. He and his husband were fortunate to have three children through surrogacy: one as a twin pregnancy and the other a singleton. Having grown up in a modern orthodox community, he is passionate about helping other Jewish LGBTQ couples achieve their goals of having families.

 

 

Leon Treger

FOUNDING BOARD MEMBER, leon@stardustfoundation.org

Ashley is a fertility warrior and IVF, NICU, and surrogacy mom. She welcomed two babies in 2021, 4 months apart, after a 4-year journey that involved 5 egg retrievals, 9 embryo transfers, 2 surrogates, multiple miscarriages, and surgeries. She carried her daughter and her son was born via her wonderful gestational carrier.

 

Ashley Gildin Spitzer

VICE PRESIDENT, ashley@stardustfoundation.org

Ben serves as Chief Operating Officer at Dwight Capital LLC, one of the largest commercial real estate finance companies in the US. He is responsible for developing plans to realize strategic goals across the organization. Ben spent over ten years at PwC in New York and London, where he specialized in providing advisory services to a host of real estate and hospitality investors. Ben lives in New York City with his wife and two young boys.

 

Ben Siegel

HEAD OF FINANCE , ben@stardustfoundation.org

Anate is a board-certified reproductive endocrinologist/fertility specialist and serves as SGF New York’s IVF Director. She earned her medical degree from the George Washington University School of Medicine and completed her residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at Weill Cornell Medical Center. As a former fertility patient, she is passionate about helping patients achieve their family-building goals and enjoys sharing her expertise through social media channels.

 

Anate Brauer MD, MS

BOARD MEMBER, anate@stardustfoundation.org

Niki Fine graduated NYU with a major in Sociology and minors in Social Work and Child Adolescent Mental Health Studies. After working in the non-profit sector for seven years, she took some time off to be with her twins who were conceived through IVF. Having faced some fertility issues, Niki got involved with Stardust to help advocate for other Jewish families experiencing infertility. After volunteering with Stardust for six months, she joined Stardust’s staff as their Director of Development. Niki loves sports, reading, dogs, traveling, exercising, and spending time with her family!

Niki Fine

DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT, niki@stardustfoundation.org

Meet Our Advisory Board

MEDICAL

Brian Levine MD – CCRM, New York

Dr. Levine is the founding partner and practice director of CCRM NY Board certified Reproductive Endocrinologist.

Zev Williams MD, Ph.D. – Columbia University

Dr. Williams serves as the chief of the Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility at Columbia University Irving Medical Center.

Avner Hershlag MD – Stony Brook University

Dr. Hershlag is a board-certified reproductive endocrinologist at Island Fertility.

Randi Goldman MD – Northwell Health

Dr. Goldman is a board-certified reproductive endocrinologist at Northwell Health.

Michael A. Werner MD, FACS

Michael A. Werner, MD, is a board-certified urologist, with fellowship training in male infertility and sexual dysfunction. He is an expert in the continually evolving advances in male infertility treatments and is currently the only specialist in the US offering ESSM.

Darren Bryk – Urology Medical Specialists

Dr. Darren Bryk is a urologist who specializes in male infertility. He completed Urology residency at the Cleveland Clinic and an Andrology Fellowship at the University of Virginia.Dr. Bryk’s clinical and academic interests include male factor infertility, erectile and ejaculatory dysfunction, Peyronie’s disease, hypogonadism, male voiding dysfunction, prosthetic urology, urethral reconstruction and vasectomies.

Felix Cohen, MD, FACOG – Cohen Medical Practice

Dr Cohen is a Board-Certified Obstetrician-Gynecologist, focusing on procreational optimization, fertility evaluation and management, as well as minimally invasive surgery.

LEGAL

Madeline R. Greenblatt – Farrell Fritz, P.C.

Madeline Greenblatt is a commercial litigator who is passionate about emotionally supporting individuals through their fertility journey.

Brittney Sobel – The Sobel Firm, PLLC

Brittney is a family and surrogacy law attorney licensed to practice in New York and New Jersey. Brittney is also a surrogacy consultant and uses her personal experience conceiving a child through surrogacy to help guide her clients.

Danielle Siegal Goldman – Stein Farkas & Schwartz LLP

Danielle Siegal Goldman has a broad range of commercial litigation experience in New York’s state courts, at both the trial and appellate levels. Danielle’s practice primarily focuses on complex commercial and real estate litigation, as well as providing practical, business-oriented solutions for a wide range of real estate commercial disputes and partnership disputes.

FINANCIAL

Joey Kolatch

Joey graduated from the New York University School Of Law. He was a commercial litigator at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison for seven years before moving on to private investing.

OUTREACH

Arielle Spiegel – CoFertility

She has led digital marketing strategy initiatives at Victoria’s Secret PINK, Coach, and many other consumer brands.

Get in Touch

Contact Us

Email Us

info@stardustfoundation.org