The LifeAire® Team
Kathryn C. Worrilow, Ph.D.
CEO AND FOUNDER
About Kathryn
Dr. Kathryn C. Worrilow, founder and CEO of LifeAire Systems, received her doctorate in Anatomy and Cell Physiology from the University of Virginia School of Medicine. She completed her postdoctoral fellowship in Reproductive Biology and Infertility at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, working with renowned and esteemed University of Pennsylvania reproductive physiologists recognized for their work globally.
Over the last 20 years, she has served as the Scientific Director of In Vitro Fertilization Programs and has performed extensive work specific to molecular signaling between the sperm and oocyte, the contribution of the paternal genome to the embryo, and the impact of ambient air on successful human embryogenesis and preimplantation toxicology. Her work, with that of her colleagues, led to the development and design of the LifeAire Systems patented air purification technology and System, Aire~IVF®. The Aire~IVF® System delivers the most pristine air quality available for IVF environments through an in-duct system by inactivating biologicals and eliminating embryotoxic volatile organic compounds using revolutionary and proprietary air purification technologies. One of the most unique features of the LifeAire System is the extensive data supporting the design, the specificity of its design towards the human embryo and the results from over four years of clinical implementation. Dr. Worrilow has been invited to present and publish her research both nationally and internationally, and enjoys sharing the data with her colleagues.
LifeAire Systems is dedicated to improving patient care. Although the proprietary System was developed specifically for the human embryo, LifeAire Systems is excited and positioned to offer their technology to improve patient care along the continuum of care, to infants in the NICU, the child in the PICU and the elderly in long term care. The LifeAire System’s proprietary technology has been tested and confirmed to provide a 9-log reduction of airborne pathogens responsible for hospital acquired infections in operating rooms, intensive care units, burn units, pharmacies, and long-term care facilities, thereby improving patient outcomes and healthcare economics while reducing overall cost.
The team at LifeAire Systems is proud of the contribution its air purification technology is making to provide clean, contaminant-free air for health, wellness and life.
Based in Pennsylvania, LifeAire has been closely supported by Ben Franklin Technology Partners for several years, benefiting from the organization’s support for entrepreneurial development in the state.
As an advocate of science education and the role of science in our community, she enjoyed her position on the Board of Trustees of The Da Vinci Science Center in Allentown, PA. Dr. Worrilow’s career has always involved a great deal of teaching and she has enjoyed her participation as an Adjunct Professor with the Emerging Health Professionals Program at Pennsylvania State University Lehigh Valley.
Robert D (Bob) Hicks
PRESIDENT & CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER
About Bob
Bob joins LifeAire with over 35 years of business operation, sales, executive management, and merger/acquisition experience primarily within the information technology sector.
Initially starting his career at Ingersoll-Rand company in the mid-1980’s Bob took advantage of that opportunity and spend the next 25+ years growing his experience and skills across three IT-centric firms. From 1995 to 2012 Bob was an instrumental part of the Data Based Systems company which transitioned from a New Jersey based system integrator to a Pennsylvania based data center operation in 1999. During this transition and the following decade Bob assumed the role of Chief Operating Officer and, in partnership with the firm’s CEO, started and grew the new data center business to the point in which it was sold to a private equity firm in 2012.
For the past decade Bob has been instrumental in driving enterprise value in four entities, three of which culminated in equity sales resulting in tremendous investor returns. The fourth entity experienced a partial liquidity event and remains in play for a full change of control transaction. These four entities spanned in size and maturity from effectively startup status through a $400M annual revenue enterprise. In each case a large proportion of the companies’ revenue was tied to healthcare and pharmaceutical clientele, bringing further synergy to the LifeAire audience.
Over the course of his career Bob has hands-on experience with sales, sales management, marketing, go to market strategies, product development and pricing, operational process, staff expansion and management, legal, HR, and procurement. This unique combination of skills provides for an impressive foundation for a role in managing a business from end to end.
Bob, along with his wife of 31 years, lives is in Nazareth Pennsylvania and secondarily at his Naples Florida home. Together with his wife they have three adult aged children, enjoy traveling the world and plan to eventually become official Florida snowbirds.
Christy John (Chris) Sutton
CHAIRMAN – ADVISORY BOARD
About Chris
Chris brings four decades of diverse business experience to the LifeAire Systems. He has direct, hands on experience with business start-ups, existing business growth initiatives, plant operations, research and development, sales and marketing, and global business management. Mr. Sutton is Managing Principal of CIS Consulting LLC, of Palm Beach Gardens, FL, a firm he founded to guide clients in business startups and existing business growth initiatives. In addition, he is a principal and the growth engagement lead for the consulting firm LFG Resources, Inc., in Allentown, PA.
Chris spent his early career with GTE in plant operations before moving to Air Products’ Applied Research and Development Group. Over a thirty year period, he advanced through a number of management positions culminating in several global, executive positions including Vice President of Environmental/Energy Systems, Vice President of New Business Development, and Corporate Growth Champion. Chris’ P&L management experience covers a wide range of businesses from producing discrete physical products or devices for the production of industrial gases to the production and sales of electricity from highly efficient, leading edge technology, cogeneration facilities. The latter position required leadership through all business development phases including technology selection, facility design, plant commissioning and operations, and the arrangement of project specific debt and equity financing. He has worked directly with a number of teams to develop commercialization processes for new products and innovative business models. In addition, he created and managed the first venture capital board for a Fortune 250 company. Chris has been consulting for the past six years.
Mr. Sutton holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Metallurgical Engineering from Lafayette College and completed a case study based, continuing executive education program at the Darden School of Business, University of Virginia. He is a member of the American Society for Metals and the co-inventor of the system described in U.S. Patent Number 7,216,040 “An Intelligent Network of Hydrogen Supply Modules”. For a number of years, he served on the board of directors for a fuel-cell applications start-up company located in Vancouver, BC.
Erik J. Marsh
VICE PRESIDENT OF BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
About Erik
Erik J. Marsh is the Vice President of Business Development for LifeAire Systems, LLC. With over twenty five years of broad sales and business management experience, he has been an integral team member of both startup organizations and Fortune 500 companies. Having worked for companies such as Zimmer Orthopedics and Medtronic, Inc., he has extensive sales and sales management experience in the medical device industry. Erik spent much of his professional career specializing in orthopedic and neurosurgery sales, where he developed a deep passion for maximizing the operating room experience for both surgeons and hospital staff alike.
Throughout his career in the medical device industry, Erik has gained extensive experience in the management of distributor networks. In particular, Erik advanced to the Director of National Sales Distribution for the craniofacial division of Bionx Implants, Inc., where he was responsible for overseeing the hiring and training of the distributor network throughout the U.S. Bionx Implants, Inc. specialized in the manufacturing of bio-absorbable surgical products for orthopedic and craniofacial surgery, and was acquired by ConMed, Inc. in 2003
In addition to his experience within the medical device industry, Erik also has a broad background in real estate sales and development. He possesses a firm understanding of the design-build process, and has worked closely with architects, civil engineers, and government officials to move projects from conception to implementation. For Erik, LifeAire Systems represents a perfect synergy between his experience in the medical device industry and his knowledge of the design-build process within the real estate market.
Mr. Marsh earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Business & Economics from Lafayette College, where he was an All-American football player, setting several school records that stand today. Erik is also a member of the National Association of Realtors.
Chuck Kimble
VICE PRESIDENT OF MARKET DEVELOPMENT
About Chuck
Chuck Kimble is the VP of Market Development for LifeAire Systems. Chuck is responsible for expanding LifeAire Systems’ critically important technology into the Healthcare and LifeScience markets. He will also be identifying and developing new verticals and opportunities.
Prior to joining LifeAire, Chuck built an 18-year sales and marketing career across the pharmaceutical and cardiac medical device industries. He began his healthcare career working for Pfizer Inc. Most recently, he held numerous positions at Boston Scientific across the Cardiac Rhythm Management / Electrophysiology division.
In his most recent role as Strategic Account Manager at Boston Scientific, Chuck implemented national customer, educational initiatives, created targeted business growth objectives, and was instrumental in new product launch planning. While he maintained a high level of responsibility for the business side, he also worked alongside cardiologists in delivering direct patient clinical care. Chuck assisted in hundreds of pacemaker and defibrillator surgeries, troubleshooted/reprogrammed devices, and took 24/7 emergency calls to assist cardiologists and their patients.
Mr. Kimble earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Business Marketing from Penn State University. He is extremely proud to have had the honor to serve as the Nittany Lion Mascot for several years. He is still known to don the costume from time to time and make surprise appearances at local charity events and children’s hospitals.
Dave Becattini
VICE PRESIDENT OF COMMERCIAL SALES
About Dave
Dave Becattini is the VP of Commercial Sales for LifeAire Systems. As a valued leader and growth catalyst, he is responsible for all sales and business development in commercial markets such as Medical Offices, Long-Term Care Facilities, Schools and other businesses. Dave is strategically instrumental in the overall growth and financial development of LifeAire.
With over 20 years of business expertise, Dave founded Be Enlightened Consulting, Inc. where he helped multiple organizations successfully launch over a dozen products and led the start-up of five companies to profitability. He is a dynamic leader with extensive multi-disciplined experience providing sales/operations managements and business development for start-up firms and large companies across the medical industry – generating millions of dollars in revenue growth.
Dave was the Director of Sales at Lutronic USA where he created and launched new business development strategy including territory expansion plan, team revenue goals and budget planning, as well as identifying tools and technology to improve efficiency and simplify the business process. This led to significantly increased sales across the entire company profile every year. At Merz, Inc., Dave was the Director of Sales and Marketing where he set sales strategies and expanded market growth to increase revenue. He also developed and implemented a successful national business model that resulted in sales growth of over $35 MM over a two year period.
Dave earned a Bachelor of Science in Marketing at Drexel University. He financed 100% of his education through work co-op program and track scholarship. While at Drexel, he was the captain of the track team and member of the varsity soccer team.
Alicia R. Urrutia
VICE PRESIDENT OF ENGINEERING
About Alicia
Alicia R. Urrutia is the Vice President of Engineering for LifeAire Systems, LLC.
In her role, Alicia manages new product development, replacement component processes, and oversees QC and installation of system technology. She also provides testing and interpretation of data for publication, design, and maintenance.
Alicia previously worked at Heidelberg Cement as the Plant Process Engineer and has extensive experience in system optimization and asset management. In this position, Alicia was responsible for a multi-million dollar budget while developing, executing, and managing action plans including annual plant turnarounds.
Ms. Urrutia earned a Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from Cornell University. During her undergraduate studies, Alicia interned with LifeAire Systems and conducted research on various remediation methods of volatile organic compounds.
John F. McIntyre
STRATEGIC DEVELOPMENT & SALES
About John
John serves as strategic business leader in Healthcare and Life Sciences for Life Aire Systems. Having extensive business background within these market sectors, his expertise is focused on positioning LAS to build, grow and maintain business relationships within these sectors globally. His management career spans over 40 years with global life science owners, national healthcare providers and regional institutional, development,energy and technology business owners.
He has extensive experience in business development. It began with a 20 year career at Catalytic Engineers an Constructors ( an Air Products Co.) starting from filed operations into sales management and up to VP of Sales.When the company was acquired by Raytheon, John formed a Healthcare focused subsidiary,Specialty Technical Services and was named President. John then led the Field Operations Division, Business Development Group of Day & Zimmerman Inc.which focused on Life Science and Energy Industry initiatives. He then teamed with other business executives to form a leading Biotech Engineering and Modular skid manufacturing firm, BioKinetic’s. John structured and executed the company’s marketing and business development strategy while having responsibility for specific national initiatives and customer accounts.Over John’s 8 year’s of service, the company experienced significant growth and became a leader in that Industry. He then joined the Lend Lease organization where for over 10 years he was responsible for the National Life Science Business Development Platform while also coordinating all the sales activities for the Lend Lease Global Life Science Business Units. In 2014 Mr. McIntyre formed a Consulting Company and since then has supported CRB Constructors and others prior to joining the Life Aire Systems TEAM.
Mr. McIntyre holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from Christian Brothers University in Memphis TN. In addition he holds a certification in Construction Management from Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA and is a long standing member of the International Society of Pharmaceutical Engineers (ISPE).
Huey T. Huynh, MSc
CLINICAL APPLICATIONS PRINCIPLE
About Huey
Huey pursued his undergraduate and graduate work in Biological Sciences and Developmental Biology at Temple University. In addition, he earned a master of science degree at the Pennsylvania College of Health Sciences in health education. He received micromanipulation (ICSI and AHA) training at the Jones Institute of Reproductive Medicine, in Norfolk, VA.
In addition to his responsibilities as an embryologist, Huey was an active participant in FDA clinical trials and ongoing research studies and served as a consultant to both colleagues throughout the country and to several biomedical companies. Huey excels in improving the protocols and preimplantation environment of the IVF laboratory such that the highest level of patient care can be offered.
Lars Johansson, Ph.D.
INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC ADVISOR
About Lars
Lars Johansson, Ph.D., has over 30 years of experience in human assisted reproductive technology (ART), working as a Clinical Embryologist, Lab Director and Director of Embryology at CooperSurgical.
Throughout his career, he has developed specialties in improving outcomes through the optimization and troubleshooting of techniques, selecting disposables and equipment, and reducing the exposure of the culture media, gametes and embryos to environmental toxins—authoring several book chapters on the subject. He has also been actively involved in the research, design and development of new equipment for human ART.
In addition, Dr. Johansson developed training laboratories in Denmark and India and has lectured—and trained—embryologists in thousands of ART clinics and many international reproductive congresses worldwide. This global experience has given him a deep understanding of total quality management (TQM) and the need for standardization of techniques, which facilitates troubleshooting.
He holds a Ph.D. in Developmental Biology and had scholarship for post-doctoral education at CEHD in Monash, Melbourne, under the supervision of reproductive medicine pioneer, Professor Alan Trounson.