The Team
MANAGEMENT
Jay Ferro - Chief Executive Officer
Bradley Bennett - VP Product Management
Dave Chambers - VP Engineering
Molly Chester - VP Business Development
Brian Hunter - VP Sales
Nitin Pai - VP Operations
BOARD OF ADVISORS
Steven Bodhaine
James O. Hill, Ph.D.
Ellen Marram
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Dennis Cagan
Adolph J. Ferro, Ph.D.
Jay Ferro
Eric Kanowsky
MANAGEMENT
Jay Ferro - Jay is the founder and CEO of Nutricate Corporation. His vision dates back to 1995, at which point he applied for and received patent protection for his revolutionary ideas. In 2004, Jay founded Nutricate to provide personalized nutrition information disclosure systems that meet the needs of both foodservice providers and consumers. In 1994, Jay founded Silvergreens Restaurant, one of the earliest of the now popular fast-casual restaurants. He has been awarded an Inc. Magazine entrepreneur of the year for 2007, and voted one of the "40 Under 40" up and coming business leaders for the Southern California area. Jay received his B.A. degree with Distinction and High Honors in Business/Economics from the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Bradley Bennett - Brad serves as Vice President Product, for Nutricate Corporation. He is responsible for product management, software architecture and user interface design. Prior to joining Nutricate, Brad served as Vice President Operations for InfoGenesis, a leading developer of point-of-sale (POS) solutions for the hospitality and foodservice industries. At InfoGenesis he was responsible for the management of systems implementation services, customer support, training, professional business services, data center services, and account management. In addition to managing operations, during his 12 year tenure at InfoGenesis he was pivotal in the design and management of multiple generations of software product platforms and services for InfoGenesis. Brad is a graduate of California Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo with a Bachelor's degree in Architecture.
Dave Chambers - Dave serves as Vice President of Engineering for Nutricate Corporation. He is responsible for the design and development of the Nutricate product. Dave has over 25 years experience managing engineering projects for computer and telecom equipment companies, managing organizations as large as 600 people. Dave started his career at Amdahl Corp doing computer design. When he left there, he was VP of Product Operations, which was an organization of over 600 people that included all of Engineering and all of Manufacturing. After 20+ years at Amdahl, he left to join Lightera Networks, a start-up telecom equipment company, as VP of Engineering. Lightera was subsequently acquired by Ciena Corp. Dave has BS and MS Engineering degrees from Stanford University.
Molly Chester - Molly has served as Vice President of Consumer Studies and Strategic Partnerships for Nutricate since 2004. She is responsible for ensuring that the Company's strategies and goals are in the best interest of consumers and to develop partnerships and relationships with those organizations and individuals who share these objectives. Prior to joining Nutricate, Molly was the General Manager for Duraguard Products Import Division, where she was charged with creation and management of a successful subsidiary/division focusing on consumer building products. Prior to her role at Duragurad, she had joined start-up Virtual Relocation (sold to TMP worldwide in 2000) an online advertising and destination site. During her time at Virtual Relocation Molly held several marketing, sales and business development positions including Manager of the West Coast Sales Division. Molly received a B.S. degree from the University of Oregon with a major in Sociology and minor in Business.
Brian Hunter - Brian serves as Vice President of Sales for Nutricate Corporation. He is responsible for the company's worldwide sales efforts in establishing and retaining clients. Prior to Nutricate, Brian worked at Openwave Systems where he sold large-scale messaging software products to wireline and wireless carriers and large cable providers. He has over a decade of software sales experience across numerous verticals and solutions including sales and consulting engagements with Airflash (now Webraska) and Speechworks International (now Nuance). He began his career in sales at Software.com where he was an early member of the sales team. Brian has a BA in Business Economics from UC Santa Barbara.
Nitin Pai - Nitin serves as Vice President of Operations for Nutricate Corporation. In this capacity, he directs the deployment of Nutricate's software solutions at customer locations and also manages customer care functions. Prior to joining Nutricate, Nitin served as the Chief Marketing Officer and Chief Operating Officer of T-Asset Inc., a network security software startup headquartered in Kansas City, MO. Nitin has also held executive management positions at Sprint Corporation leading functions such as operations, eCommerce, and customer support. Nitin holds an M.B.A degree from the University of Michigan.
BOARD OF ADVISORS
Steve Bodhaine -Steve is Group President of Yankelovich, directing The Segmentation Company, the firm's custom research division. Yankelovich has counseled clients on the marketing impact of key social trends in America for the past 35 years. Steve has conducted substantial primary research in the areas of new product development, branding and positioning, marketing and communications strategy. He has focused primary attention on consulting with clients in the healthcare industry and has conducted qualitative and quantitative research among healthcare professionals, patients, policy makers, payers and the general public. Much of his work has explored the rational and emotional drivers of healthcare decision-making.
Prior to joining Yankelovich, Steve was Senior Vice President of Wirthlin Worldwide where he directed the company's global pharmaceutical and healthcare consultancy. In addition to his work in marketing research and strategy development, Steve was co-founder, COO and Senior Vice President of Marketing at VistaCare, a leading provider of healthcare services for terminally ill patients. VistaCare is now one of the nation's largest and most successful hospice companies. He was also president and co-founder of CareBridge, a "hospitalist" company providing care for patients in acute and sub-acute settings. Steve holds a BA in International Relations from Brigham Young University and an MBA from the University of California, Irvine Graduate School of Management.
James O. Hill, Ph. D. - James O. Hill, Ph.D. is Professor of Pediatrics and Medicine at the University of Colorado Denver in Denver, Colorado. Dr. Hill also serves as the Director of the Center for Human Nutrition, a nutrition center funded by the National Institutes of Health.
He holds a B.S. degree from the University of Tennessee and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of New Hampshire in Physiological Psychology. He has served on numerous government panels, including the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Taskforce on the Prevention and Treatment of Obesity. He is a past chair of the NIH Nutrition Study Section. He served as Chair of the World Health Organization Consultation on Obesity in 1997. He is a Past President of the North American Association for the Study of Obesity (NASSO) and is a current regional vice-president of the International Association for the Study of Obesity (IASO). He was also a member of the Expert Panel on Obesity of the National Institutes of Health that developed U.S guidelines for the treatment and prevention of obesity. He serves as chair of the Partnership to Promote Healthy Eating and Active Living (PPHEAL), a public-private partnership to improve nutrition and physical activity patterns of the population. He is a member of several other professional organizations, including the American Society of Clinical Nutrition, the American Society of Nutrition Sciences, the American Physiological Society and the American College of Sports Medicine.
Dr. Hill has published more than 200 scientific articles and book chapters in the area of obesity. His research in the obesity field involves the study of lifestyle factors that affect body weight regulation. In particular, he is interested in how diet and physical activity influence body weight and how high fat diet and inactivity may contribute to the current global epidemic of obesity. Dr. Hill is a cofounder of the National Weight Control Registry, a registry of individuals who have been successful in maintenance of a reduced body weight. He is the recipient of a prestigious MERIT award from NIH. Dr. Hill is a member of the editorial boards of Obesity Research, The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition and The International Journal of Obesity. He reviews for many other scientific journals and lectures widely about the obesity epidemic.
Dr. Hill is co-founder of America on the Move, a national weight gain prevention initiative that aims to inspire Americans to make small changes in how much they eat and how much they move to prevent weight gain. Dr. Hill established The Colorado Weigh, a behavioral weight management program that is offered to the public. He is the author of the Step Diet Book, published in June 2004.
Ellen R. Marram - Ellen is President of The Barnegat Group LLC, a firm that provides business advisory services, and has spent more than 30 years building profitable brands and companies. Ms. Marram was President and Chief Executive Officer of Tropicana and the Tropicana Beverage Group from 1993 through 1998. During Ms. Marram's tenure, Tropicana nearly tripled its shareholder value and was sold to PepsiCo in 1998 for $3.3 billion. From 1988 to 1993, Ms. Marram was President and Chief Executive Officer of the Nabisco Biscuit Company, the largest operating unit of Nabisco, Inc. Ms. Marram's vision and direction led to the 1992 launch of SnackWell's cookies and crackers, which pioneered low-fat snacking and is considered one of the most successful new products of the 1990s.
Ms. Marram was President of Nabisco's Grocery Division from 1987 to 1988, and from 1970 to 1986 she was in marketing management at Nabisco/Standard Brands, Johnson & Johnson and Lever Brothers. Ms. Marram serves as a director of Ford Motor Company, The New York Times Company, Cadburry Schweppes and Eli Lilly and Company. She is a member of the Healthcare Executive Leadership Network, serves on a number of nonprofit Boards including The New York-Presbyterian Hospital and The Families and Work Institute and has served as a Trustee of the Conference Board and as a member of the Board of Associates of Harvard Business School. She is a graduate of Wellesley College and received an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Dennis Cagan - Dennis Cagan has been in the high technology industry as an active and successful entrepreneur since 1967, having founded or co-founded over two dozen different companies. Dennis has been a professional board member, investor, mentor and consultant since 1980. As the founder, Chairman and CEO of the Santa Barbara Technology Group, LLC, Dennis oversees all activities including monitoring portfolio investments, mentoring early-stage technology companies, and selecting new investments. From May 2006 to May 2008 Dennis served as the Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President of TWL Corporation (TWLP.OB) and its subsidiary TWL Knowledge Group, Inc., both based in Carrollton, Texas. Dennis continues as Vice-Chairman responsible for a variety of strategic alliances, M&A, governance and investor relations activities.
Dennis is a nationally recognized authority on information technology, including: the Internet, software, hardware, services and communications, in the disciplines of company strategy, sales, marketing, product development and distribution channels. He has authored a multitude of articles and has spoken widely at industry conferences, to entrepreneurial organizations, and to paying corporate audiences such as Microsoft.
In 1979 Dennis was the keynote speaker at the first COMDEX Show, in Las Vegas. Since 1983 Dennis has been involved as a director or investor with some of Santa Barbara's best-known technology enterprises including Wavefront Technologies (then Alias/Wavefront - NASDAQ, acquired by Silicon Graphics), Software.com (NASDAQ, merged with Phone.com, now OpenWave), Somera Communications (NASDAQ), Supply Solution, Commission Junction (acquired by ValueClick), Bargain Network (acquired by Vertrue), InTouch Health and Blue Casa Communications.
Adolph (Al) J. Ferro, Ph.D. - Dr. Ferro is President and CEO of Artielle Immuno Therapeutics, a privately held autoimmune therapeutics company. Al has been a director of Virogenomics since January 2001 and a director of Artielle since its formation in 2004. He was Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Agritope, Inc. from 1989 to 2000 when Agritope was sold to Exelixis, Inc. Agritope, which is now named Exelixis Plant Sciences, is an agricultural genomics and biotechnology company. Dr. Ferro was President, Chief Executive Officer and a director of Epitope, Inc. from 1990 through 1998, when Agritope was spun off from Epitope. Epitope, which is now named OraSure Technologies, is a medical diagnostics company with several FDA approved products. Prior to joining Epitope, Dr. Ferro was a Professor of Microbiology at Oregon State University and is the author of numerous publications in both the medical and agricultural fields. Dr. Ferro received a B.S. degree in zoology from the University of Washington and a Ph.D. in microbiology from Washington State University.
Eric Kanowsky - Eric Kanowsky has been involved in numerous entrepreneurial activities over the last twenty years. Most recently serving as an advisor, director, and/or investor for numerous early stage technology and medical device ventures. Prior to that he spent time as COO of Vistera, a provider of e-management solutions to franchised businesses. He also filled a similar role at SupplySolution (acquired by Tradebeam), managing the early stages of both organization's growth. Prior to that he was a co-founder and Vice President of Operations at Software.com (Nasdaq:OPWV), where his responsibilities for all operational issues and decision-making included managing multiple technical organizations, facilities and infrastructure departments, and a $10 million capital and expense budget. Prior to that, he was instrumental in building a 150 person manufacturing facility and organization for Carlisle Corporation, and also held engineering and manufacturing management positions for BF Goodrich and Loral. Eric has also served on the Board of Directors of the UC Santa Barbara Center for Entrepreneurship and Engineering Management. He holds an MBA from Indiana University and a Bachelors degree in Mechanical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
