John M. Falk
Founder & President
John founded Vigilent Inc. in April 2015 in response to the first SARS outbreak and need for a comprehensive Bio-Terrorism Threat Response System and now is bringing forward state of the art Bio-Surveillance and Rapid Disease Screening & Testing systems through Vigilent Labs with Advanced Testing platforms and digital testing credentials with Interoperable Health Surveillance solutions.
Todd A. Ritter
Chief Executive Officer
As an Air Force Officer, Todd led the development of the laboratory-based surveillance program LEADERS. He joined a start-up company, Idaho Technology where he led and developed four complete molecular diagnostic systems with 75 associated diagnostic tests. These systems are currently used worldwide by hospitals and militaries for diagnostics and biothreat defense. He was responsible for $900+ Million investment and product revenue combined.
Laila Samady-Mustad, Ph.D
Chief Scientific Officer
As our Chief Scientific Officer, Laila brings 20 years’ experience both academically and in the pharmaceutical, medical and biotechnology industry. She applies her expertise in the UK, France and US medical affairs, partnerships, business development and capital raising strategies. Her work at University College London led to a spin out company, BioVex later acquired by Amgen for $1B.
Andrew Finn
Interim Chief Financial Officer
As Captain in the U.S. Marine Corps with over 23 years of professional, operational, and management experience in the aerospace and defense industry, Andy provides highly analytical guidance to us with goals to operate in both the domestic and international arenas. His operational experience also includes serving as Corporate Officer, Director and CFO for manufacturing companies in various stages of growth from inception to global expansion. He brings to the team an extensive investment banking background having operated within the International Defense Group at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP.
Victor Edozien
Board Member
Mr. Edozien is the Founder & Managing Principal of the Asaba Group, Inc. a private equity holding company. The Asaba Group portfolio companies have combined annual revenues exceeding $500 million annually. Victor has been in principal investing for over 20 years in manufacturing and consumer goods sectors and brings a wealth of experience in strategic planning, revenue growth strategy and acquisition strategy.
Laila Samady-Mustad, Ph.D
CSO, Board Member
John Falk
President, Board Member
Andrew Finn
CFO & Board Member
Dr. John Roback
Medical & Scientific Advisor
Dr. Kal Shahin
Global Health Advisor
Dr. Habib Samady, M.D.
Senior Medical Advisor
Tina W. Jonas
Board Member
Ms. Jonas is an executive with a distinguished career in government and the private sector. A recognized expert in military and defense issues, Ms. Jonas served more than two decades in government including as Undersecretary of Defense (CFO/Comptroller) for the Department of Defense. Her corporate experience includes serving as an operations executive with United Technologies and Sikorsky Aircraft. Most recently, she served as an executive with UnitedHealth Group, as President of UnitedHealthcare, Military and Veterans, and Senior Vice President, Operations for Optum. Ms. Jonas is currently an independent consultant and serves on several Board of Directors in the Defense and Aerospace sectors.
John M. Falk
President and Board Member
Mr. Falk serves as Vigilent Labs President. He is the Founder and President of Vigilent Inc. Falk’s work in Bio-Terrorism & Bio-Surveillance began in 2003 when he first launched VIGILENT embracing and extending the “LEADERS” Concept built by the U.S.Air Force. Mr. Falk also developed the concept of v.BDNS (Bio-defense digital nervous system) as a comprehensive Bio-Terrorism Threat Response-solution. Mr. Falk started Vigilent Inc. to bring forward C5ISR Solutions, Interoperable Command & Control solutions and new Bio-Surveillance Screening & Testing systems with the latest in Sensor Fusion for the Public Safety, Public Health, Defense, Homeland Security, Law Enforcement and the First Responder community.
Mr. Falk is a proven expert with interoperable communications for rapid command & control systems with sensor-fusion and advanced data analytics. In 2017, he was appointed to the Aviation Committee of the International Association of Chief’s of Police and since 2014 has served as an Adjunct Professor of Law at George Washington University School of Law.
Dave Parikh
Chief Financial Officer
Mr Parikh has over fifteen years of experience in areas of Investing, Consulting and Investment Banking, during which, he has advised middle-market clients in areas of M&A, Debt and Equity Issuance, Recapitalization, ESOPs, Strategic Planning, Pricing and Budgeting, Risk Management, Compliance with regulations set forth by DCAA, SBA, and lending institutions, establishment of Strong Internal Control Policies and Procedures in regards to Financial Reporting, Management and Growth and Profitability Maximization.
During his banking tenure, Mr Parikh has successfully structured over 100 financing transactions, ranging from $1M to $300M primarily in the Government, Defense, & Aerospace industry.
He has used his expertise in Financial & Management Accounting, DCAA Regulations and FAR Accounting , expertise in all major Accounting Systems, Job Costing & Financial Modeling, Budgeting & Forecasting, and Tax strategies to help turnaround several unprofitable and stagnant companies into financially successful organizations.
Mr Parikh has founded, invested in, and exited several businesses in fields of defence and financial services.
Mr Parikh is fluent in over seven languages and has worked or lived in nine countries.
General T. Michael “Buzz” Moseley
Military Advisor
(Ret.) General T. Michael Moseley, served as Chief of Staff of the U.S. Air Force, Washington, D.C. As Chief, he was the senior uniformed Air Force officer responsible for the organization, training and equipage of nearly 700,000 active-duty, Guard, Reserve and civilian forces serving in the United States and overseas. As a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the general and other service chiefs function as military advisers to the Secretary of Defense, National Security Council and the President.
Robert K. Lunday, Jr. (Bob)
Senior Investment Advisor
After retirement as a U.S. Marine Corps Officer, Bob transitioned to a career in international business, and for 25 years he was dedicated to the defense and security of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Bob worked numerous international programs involving Space, Defense, Aerospace, Program Management, Contract Negotiations, Offsets, Business Development, Pilot Training, Healthcare, Administration and Human Resources and was directly involved in winning international contracts in excess of USD 14 billion. During those years he was Acting Chief of the US Embassy Military Liaison Office in Abu Dhabi, Senior Advisor and Chief Pilot for the UAE Air Force and Air Defense, Managing Director McDonnell Douglas Middle East Abu Dhabi, Customer interface and Pilot Training Lead for the Lockheed Martin Aerospace UAE F-16 Block 60 Program, Director of HR and Administration for Zayed Military Hospital, Regional Executive and Country Manager for Raytheon International Middle East, North Africa and Pakistan, Chief Liaison Officer and Senior Advisor for Emirates Advanced Investments Group Abu Dhabi, and Mentor to numerous CEOs and GMs to the region.
Bob served on the Board of Directors for AmCham Abu Dhabi for eight years. As a board member, Bob was honored to represent 450 US companies in the UAE for six years on “Door Knocks” to the U.S. Congress and U.S. Governors promoting trade between the United Arab Emirates and the United States of America.
Bob is a graduate of Oklahoma State University, the Defense Institute of Security Assistance Management, the Defense Systems Management College, USMC Command & Staff College, and Marine Aviation Weapons and Tactics Squadron(MAWTS-1).
Habib Samady, M.D.
Senior Technical Advisor
Dr. Samady is Professor of Medicine and Director of Interventional Cardiology for the Emory University Hospital System. He also is the founding director of the Emory Cardiovascular Imaging and Biomechanical Core Laboratory. He is recognized as one of the foremost international experts in coronary physiology. He has an actively funded clinical and translational research program, is extensively published with over 350 publications and abstracts in intravascular imaging, coronary physiology, atherosclerosis assessment, and stent biomechanics. He has supervised and participated in training over 70 interventional and 120 general cardiology fellows. He is on the editorial board of
numerous cardiovascular journals, serves as Deputy Editor of the Journal of American College of Cardiology Cardiovascular Interventions, and is a co-Editor of a major textbook, Interventional Cardiology, 2nd Ed., McGraw Hill, 2017. Dr. Samady directs the Emory Practical Interventional Course Southeastern Consortium (EPIC-SEC), which is a 25member clinical, educational and research consortium of academic medical centers consortium with a large annual continuing medical education course (www.epicsec.org).
On the entrepreneurial front, Dr. Samady is co-Founder and Chief Medical Officer of Covanos Inc., a computational diagnostic cardiovascular imaging company. He also is on the steering committee of numerous international clinical trials related to intravascular imaging and physiology and is a consultant to several medical technology and biotechnology companies including Philips and Abbott
Vascular.
Richard L. Dunn
Procurement/OTA Advisor
Mr. Dunn provides advice and engages in research and analysis related to the deployment and implementation of technology in the military and civil sectors through partnering and other innovative means; he conducts research in national security operations, technology and their interactions; and, analyzes laws, policies and practices that impact the effective implementation of technology. He is founder and consultant at Strategic Institute for Innovation in Government Contracting. He served as Expert-Consultant at National Defense University, 2016–2017. Pro bono work has included appointment to several study groups of the National Academy of Science and Defense Science Board. He serves as a trustee of the Chesapeake Environmental Protection Association.
Lewis W. Crenshaw
Medical Technology Advisor
Mr. Crenshaw serves as Senior Advisor to Vigilent Labs. He is an expert in the engineering and manufacturing of FDA Registered and Approved medical deices. Mr. Crenshaw has managed development of Class II medical devices including regulatory pathway, device engineering, quality system and Clinical Investigation Plan to the Food & Drug Administration (FDA). Mr. Crenshaw and his team won a key contract over multiple established defense contractors to design and install next generation man overboard alerting system for the US Naval fleet.
Mr. Crenshaw is the Co-Founder and COO of TC Medical Co., Medical device engineering and regulatory consulting company specializing in venture funded medical device development.
