SOUTH BEND, Ind.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--F3 LLC today announced the appointment of three new members to its board of directors, including a widely renowned microbiologist with FDA experience, a visionary leader with turnaround expertise and a top investment counselor.
The new board members are:
- Dr. Susan Alpert, who recently retired as senior vice president, global regulatory affairs for Medtronic Corp.
- Bruce Alton Brock, president, Saft Power Solutions B.V.
- Joel Kocen, investment counselor for Kocen Financial Group, Inc.
The ‘Holy Grail’ of health care
Describing rapid diagnosis as “the Holy Grail” of health care, Alpert says she is excited to serve in a role that brings the entirety of her extensive career experience to bear in a way that will have a real impact on the industry.
Alpert, a longtime colleague and friend of F3 co-founder Hal Gutterman, says she was always interested in serving the company.
“When I was at Medtronic, I simply didn’t have the kind of time available that I knew would be needed,” says Alpert, whose depth of experience includes several years at the FDA as director of the Office of Device Evaluation. “This is deserving of a substantial investment of my time, and I told them that when I retired I would approach them. And I meant it.
“Technology such as F3’s holds the promise to decrease the time frame for identifying bacterial contaminants in food or water or performing diagnostics,” she adds. “It’s incredibly important because the sooner you can identify a problem, the sooner you can control contamination and decrease exposure or initiate the appropriate therapy. F3 can significantly decrease the time and increase accuracy.”
In turn, Alpert is confident her extensive experience in regulatory issues will meet an important need for the company.
“How you interface with the regulatory body, how you find out what’s needed, what’s the straightest path into the marketplace, how to work in a highly regulated environment … these are not common skills,” she observes. “It just so happens that this is my background. I bring that aspect to the board, and to the venture itself.
“It’s exciting to me to see the potential of this technology and the commitment of the people who are involved,” she says. “It’s not often that you get to pull all of your history together into one assignment.”
About the new board members
Susan Alpert, Ph.D., M.D.
During her tenure at Medtronic, Alpert was responsible for Medtronic quality, regulatory and clinical compliance efforts, including overseeing health policy and payment. Alpert joined Medtronic in July 2003 as vice president for regulatory affairs and compliance from C. R. Bard, Inc., where she was vice president of regulatory sciences. She was on the board of the Food and Drug Law Institute (FDLI), a forum through which the FDA and the legal, business, academic and consumer communities exchange perspectives on public policy, law and regulation related to products subject to FDA jurisdiction.
Alpert also served on the board of the Medical Technology Leadership Forum (MTLF), an educational organization that focuses on policymakers, the general public and the media, regarding critical issues affecting the development and adoption of advanced medical technology. In addition, Alpert serves on the board of the Women Business Leaders (WBL), a health care organization, and has been president of the Regulatory Affairs Professionals Society.
Alpert served at the FDA, where she held a variety of positions in different centers, including six years as the director of the Office of Device Evaluation. She is a microbiologist and pediatrician with a specialty in infectious diseases and has practical experience in laboratory research and clinical trials.
Bruce Alton Brock
Brock served as chief executive officer, president and managing director of AEG Power Solutions from January 2005 to August 1, 2010. He serves as president of Saft Power Systems B.V. He is a proven executive with over 35 years of experience in creating shareholder value within various industrial and technology-based businesses. He is known in the industry as a visionary leader with significant proven turnaround skills.
Over the course of four years, he has led his management team in turning around the business both operationally and financially. Prior to AEG Power Solutions' responsibility, Brock formed and was partner of the Brock Group, a power electronics technology and strategic leader.
Joel Kocen
Kocen is currently an investment counselor for Kocen Financial Group, Inc. Until 2004, Kocen was president and registered principal of Financial Goal Securities, Inc., in Rancho Mirage, Calif. Kocen previously served as chief financial officer of Kerr Glass Manufacturing, a company that produced approximately six billion glass containers per year. In 1980 he joined Gleason Corp. as chief financial officer.
Kocen served in a variety of capacities at Sybron Corp., including tax director, assistant controller and, eventually, treasurer of this global technology company. He was tax counsel at Anaconda Co. in New York and, prior to that assignment, was a tax accountant and lawyer for Reynolds Metals Co.
About F3
F3 LLC is commercializing groundbreaking technology licensed from the University of Notre Dame that allows for the rapid and direct detection of DNA and other molecules in substances by technicians with minimal training.
Applications include environmental and medical diagnostics, and homeland defense.
The company currently is working on a prototype of a handheld instrument to provide direct, point-of-care measurement for samples from human blood and fluids.
The groundbreaking technology was developed by the world’s leading expert, Dr. Hsueh-Chia Chang, a Notre Dame professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering who is also the company’s chief scientific adviser.
To find out more about the work of F3, go to: