Andrew Van Vurst is a veteran and manufacturing operations expert with over eight years of experience working in FDA-regulated pharmaceutical and tissue processing firms. Before beginning his biopharmaceutical career, Andrew served as an aviation mechanic and flight captain in the United States Marine Corps. His military background instilled a high level of discipline, a strong commitment to compliance with industry protocol, and a paradigm for effective leadership that has served him well in subsequent roles. He co-founded Biostem Technologies in 2014 and played a pivotal role in the development of the company, working to establish revenue streams, ensure compliance with FDA and state pharmacy board guidelines, and adhere to FINRA and SEC guidelines for eventual public listing. During the early years with BioStem Technologies, he worked as Director of Operations for Nesvik Pharmaceuticals and Qualified Pharma Ingredients, where he managed research and development activities for four 505(b)(2) products and built out an API repackaging facility from the ground up until 2019. Throughout these roles, he brought several compounds from the idea phase to pre-IND submission and eventually sold the API repackaging business. Today as COO, he continues to oversee lab production and quality assurance operations, supporting Biostem’s excellence in tissue processing. Andrew studied at Florida Gulf Coast University and has completed Landmark Courses to hone advanced leadership skills. He serves as a Processing and Distribution Council Member for the American Association of Tissue Banks (AATB) and is an AATB-certified Tissue Banking Specialist.

Michael Fortunato spent 11 years at “Big 4” accounting firms having served clients within the health and life sciences industries. He spent almost seven years with the SEC’s Enforcement Division, San Francisco Regional Office where he monitored SEC registrant compliance with SEC rules and regulations for companies located from Northern California to Washington State. Mr. Fortunato also held various technical accounting and SEC reporting roles with major technology companies located within the SF Bay Area. He has participated in six IPOs including Alibaba’s $22 billion initial public offering. Mr. Fortunato holds a B.S. in accounting from Rutgers University and holds an active CPA license in the State of Florida.

Neal Bhattacharya has over 21 years of experience in marketing, strategic and tactical brand planning and product development. Focusing his career on marketing products in health-related categories, Neal has successfully developed, commercialized and grown over 200 products, spanning both consumer packaged goods and medical device SKUs. Before BioStem Technologies, he spent fourteen years of his career at Trividia Health, Inc., developing and marketing products to healthcare professionals and consumers with diabetes, providing high-quality, high-value products to improve patient’s lives. Prior to that, Neal honed his marketing skills in multiple global companies including Covidien, Novartis, Rexall Sundown and Kimberly-Clark. Mr. Bhattacharya holds an MBA from the Krannert School of Management – Purdue University, an M.A. in biology from Washington University, and a B.S. in biology from Emory University.

Dr. Weston’s research career began in California with studies on muscle regeneration following spinal cord injury and muscle development in sub-ideal conditions (e.g., space flight). She then began working on bone regeneration at Loma Linda VA. Dr. Weston relocated to Florida to investigate hematopoietic stem cell characteristics and self-renewal in response to micro-environmental factors. Here, she earned her PhD in Molecular Cell and Developmental Biology. Interest in stem cell microenvironments led to studies at Miami VA on the healing effect of mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) exosome and growth factor delivery. Successes in MSC work expanded her interest in the mechanisms of allograft healing in healthy and damaged environments. She was recruited to the biotech sector by Vivex Biomedical for work at the University of Miami Tissue Bank where Dr. Weston’s innovation and leadership in product development resulted in highly effective products and multiple patents. She was offered the opportunity to continue her research at the very impressive, well-equipped Cell Therapy Institute at Nova Southeastern University. This allowed her to expand to the evaluation of microvesicles in sarcoma initiation and progression for the purpose of biomarker elucidation. While at NSU, she served the Medical School (NSU MD) on the Curriculum Committee, Pre-clerkship Committee and as the Genomics Thread Director. Her consulting activities in the biotechnology space resulted in strong and prosperous relationships with several companies where she has enjoyed the development and characterization of products for market use. As a member of the American Association of Tissue Banks and a Certified Tissue Bank Specialist, she has served as Vice Chair of Bylaws and Ethics and sits on the Living Donor Council. She has presented internationally and serves as a reviewer for several publications. To date, Dr. Weston has 14 granted patents. Currently, Dr. Weston is Vice President of Research and Development for Biostem Technologies. In this role, she is optimizing the regenerative and healing capacity of birth tissues in various tissue microenvironments and has submitted more patents on this subject. She has fueled the development of some new products and facilitated the optimization of others, intent on honoring the Gift of birth tissue and healing those in dire need by producing the most effective, safe products possible.