MCLEAN, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Mar 12, 2026--
Red Cell Partners today announced that Google and Function Health veteran Sean O’Keefe has joined the firm as Deputy Chief Technology Officer.
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O’Keefe is responsible for overseeing the implementation of Red Cell’s technology strategy, leading daily engineering operations and workflows, and managing the firm’s engineering teams.
“Sean is a brilliant, mission-driven, and highly regarded leader whose deep experience across advanced engineering, AI, data science, and research makes him an exceptional addition to the Red Cell team,” said Red Cell’s Chief Product and Technology Officer Michael Kilberry. “His technical expertise further strengthens our organization as we work to deliver the capabilities shaping the future of healthcare, cyber, and national security. We are thrilled to have Sean on our team.”
Prior to joining Red Cell, O’Keefe served as the Senior Vice President of Engineering at Function Health, where he was the first engineering hire, building the company from zero to one. At Function Health, O’Keefe led the development of a secure health data platform; grew the department to a multidisciplinary team of engineers, and launched a generative AI platform utilizing LLMs. Early in his career, O’Keefe was a Data Scientist at Google before joining Google Research as a Senior Software Engineer, where he served as the technical lead for the TensorFlow Model Remediation Library. His work there focused on the critical frontier of AI safety, designing open-source frameworks to mitigate bias and hallucinations. A former Green Beret in the 10 th Special Forces Group, O’Keefe previously worked at Bridgewater Associates, where he conducted quantitative research and was a growth advisor for the CapitalG portfolio.
“Throughout my career—from serving in Special Forces to building AI at Google and scaling Function Health to a Series B, I’ve seen how purpose-driven technology can solve the world’s most daunting challenges. I am honored to join Red Cell Partners, where we aren’t just building software; we are forging the innovative tools essential to safeguarding our national security and to transforming the future of healthcare,” said O’Keefe.
About Red Cell Partners
Red Cell Partners is a venture studio building rapidly scalable technology-led companies that are bringing revolutionary advancements to market in healthcare, cyber, and national security. United by a shared sense of duty and deep belief in the power of innovation, Red Cell is developing powerful tools and solutions to address our Nation’s most pressing problems. Visit us at redcellpartners.com and follow us on social media ( LinkedIn, X, Instagram ).
Sean O’Keefe
The price of Brent crude oil, the international standard, spiked back over $100 as Iranian strikes hit ships in the regions waters and the ongoing American-Israeli war with Iran showed so signs of slowing.
Thursday’s major developments include Iranian attacks against commercial ships around the Strait of Hormuz and Iraq's port of Basra, escalating a campaign of squeezing the oil-rich Gulf region as global energy concerns mount. The U.S. campaign of airstrikes in Iran is now in its 13th day.
The Israeli military is also striking Iran and its militant ally Hezbollah in Lebanon, where more than 800,000 people have been displaced by the fighting.
Here's the latest:
Israel’s military said it was working to intercept a missile launch from Iran early on Thursday morning.
It was the third such announcement Thursday, as Israel also said it was targeting Tehran with strikes.
Other overnight missile launches from Iran sent Israelis hurrying to shelters in areas from the very southern tip of the country, to Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, to the Galilee and the northern border with Lebanon, where sirens were also sounded to warn of drone and rocket attacks from Hezbollah.
Kuwait’s Defense Ministry said an Iranian drone smashed into a residential building Thursday in the small Mideast nation, wounding two people.
A container ship off Dubai in the Persian Gulf came under attack Thursday, sparking a small fire, the British military said.
The British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center said the attack happened just before dawn. It said an “unknown projectile” hit the vessel as it was some 65 kilometers (40 miles) off the coast of Dubai’s Jebel Ali port.
It added that the crew of the vessel were safe.
The price of a barrel of Brent crude oil, the international standard, topped $100 a barrel early Thursday, just days after it spiked near $120.
Oil prices shot more than 9% higher as supply concerns worsened with Iranian attacks on commercial shipping around the Strait of Hormuz.
U.S. benchmark crude oil jumped to about $95 a barrel.
Read more here.
An attack on Iraq’s Basra port early Thursday killed at least one person and forced authorities to halt operations at all the country’s oil terminals, officials said.
Farhan al-Fartousi, the director-general of the General Company for Ports of Iraq, made the announcement in a statement carried by the state-run Iraqi News Agency on Thursday. Al-Fartousi said the attack targeted ships in the ship-to-ship transfer are of the Basra port on the Persian Gulf. He said it remained unclear if the ship was targeted by a flying or seaborne drone or a missile.
Rescuers recovered one dead body and helped 38 others after the attack. He said commercial ports in Iraq remained open, though the oil terminals had been shut.
Iraq’s State Oil Marketing Organization has identified the two tankers as the Safesea Vishnu, flagged in the Marshall Islands, and the tanker Zefyros, flagged in Malta.
FILE - People gather in a rally to support Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, the successor to his late father Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as supreme leader, in Tehran, Iran, March 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, File)
A mourner holds a poster depicting Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, right, the successor to his late father Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, left, as supreme leader, during the funeral procession for senior Iranian military officials and civilians killed during the U.S.-Israel campaign in Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, March 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
A French military plane carrying humanitarian aid to Lebanon is seen through buildings in Dahiyeh, Beirut's southern suburbs, landing at Rafik Hariri International Airport, Thursday, March 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
A shepherd walks by as smoke rises into the sky from a nearby airbase following attacks early Thursday in Harir, Iraq, March 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
An oil tanker burns after being hit by an Iranian strike in the ship-to-ship transfer zone at Khor al-Zubair port near Basra, Iraq, late Wednesday, March 11, 2026. (AP Photo)
A woman gathers belongings from her family's home after it was damaged by a projectile launched from Lebanon, in Haniel, central Israel, Thursday, March 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Baz Ratner)
Oil tankers and cargo ships line up in the Strait of Hormuz as seen from Khor Fakkan, United Arab Emirates, Wednesday, March 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)
Smoke and flames rise from buildings following an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon, Wednesday, March 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
A person fills their vehicle at a gas station in Tallinn, Estonia, Wednesday, March 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)
People take cover in an underground bomb shelter as air raid sirens warn of incoming Iranian missile strike, in Ramat Gan, Israel, Wednesday, March 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
A man, left, carries the body of his son, Kassem Younis, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike, during his funeral procession in the southern village of Chehabiyeh, Lebanon, Wednesday, March 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)
This image released by the Royal Thai Navy shows Thai cargo ship, Mayuree Naree, that was struck and set ablaze in the Strait of Hormuz Wednesday, March 11, 2026. (Royal Thai Navy via AP)
Mourners attend the funeral procession for senior Iranian military officials and some civilians killed during the U.S.-Israel campaign, in Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, March 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Flames rise from an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut's southern suburbs, Wednesday, March 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
