Company

Executive Chair

Elizabeth Hutt Pollard

Expertise: Bringing highly specialized products to market and scaling businesses

Elizabeth has extensive experience in commercializing highly specialized genomic and healthcare-related products. She is a C-Suite veteran and has extensive experience bringing to market highly specialized technology and solutions for healthcare. She currently serves as a strategic advisor to several early-stage life science companies and holds leadership positions in YPO, the premier leadership organization of chief executives in the world. Prior to joining Applied Silver, Elizabeth was CEO of NuGEN Technologies, a global leader in genomic sample preparation products enabling scientists and clinicians to discover genetic signatures and predict disease risk and drug response, potentially shortening the path to treatment. Elizabeth has also held US and International management roles with Tripos, Affymetrix, and Life Technologies, during significant growth phases of these life science businesses. Elizabeth spent three years as a research associate at the University of Michigan in the Departments of Hematology/Oncology, where she made the decision to have a broader impact on medical research by transitioning into a career within the commercial biotechnology sector. She holds a B.A. in Chemistry from Michigan State University and an M.S. in Administration from Central Michigan University.

Technology Co-Founder

Sean Morham

Expertise: Identifying market needs and addressing them with novel technology 

Sean is the co-founder, Board Member and Applied Silver’s innovation leader. Sean manages the engineering, manufacturing and regulatory activities to drive innovation and product strategy. Sean is a co-inventor of Applied Silver’s SilvaClean® technology and has multiple patents to his name. In April 2018, under Sean’s leadership, the company received a ground-breaking EPA product label for SilvaClean, making it the first and only antimicrobial residual laundry additive to receive public health claims including recommended use as a helpful addition to hospitals’ infection control programs. Sean is a member of the Silver Task Force North America (STFNA), an industry-wide association created to jointly develop data to support registration review under section 3(g) of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act. He has expertise in materials engineering, regulatory applications and product evolution. He graduated from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo with a bachelor’s degree in materials engineering.

Chief Operating Officer

Priya Balachandran

Expertise: Developing and commercializing innovative products and microbiology

Priya is Applied Silver’s operational leader. Under this role, she oversees all of Applied Silver’s operations including Marketing, Product, Customer Service, Field Service, Manufacturing, IT and HR.  She directly manages corporate and product marketing, customer collaborations and KOLs. Dr. Balachandran is an accomplished health technology executive with experience in commercializing disruptive innovations impacting outcomes in healthcare, biopharmaceuticals, sports medicine, and consumer products. She has expertise in brand management, product management, business development, product marketing, regulatory affairs, and global market development and product development in molecular diagnostics, microbiology, and antimicrobials. Priya is a successful researcher with peer-reviewed publications and patents and Is an active member of the Association of Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, American Society for Microbiology and the Infectious Disease Society of America. She serves on advisory boards for early stage companies. Prior to Applied Silver, Dr. Balachandran held leadership positions at NuGEN Technologies, Thermo Fisher Scientific, and scientific and business roles at Life Technologies. Dr. Balachandran received her Ph.D. from the University of Alabama at Birmingham and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of California at San Francisco.

Strategic Advisor

General Ben T. Robinson

Expertise: Market Development Strategy in Government and Veteran’s Affairs

Appointed in 2019 by Oklahoma Governor Kevin Sitt, General Ben T. Robinson served as the Oklahoma Secretary of Military and Veteran Affairs until January 2022. In this role, General Robinson was responsible to the Governor for the successful execution of the Governor’s policy and guidance to state veteran agencies and support of Oklahoma’s military installations and the Oklahoma Strategic Military Planning Committee. Prior to his Cabinet position, General Robinson was the founder, owner and president of Sentry One LLC, an aerospace consulting company, with clients in Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, and New Mexico. General Robinson previously served as a Boeing Executive, Program Manager, Director of Boeing Aerospace Operations, and Site Executive at the Oklahoma City Boeing site.

General Robinson retired from active duty with the U.S. Air Force as a Brigadier General in 2002. His nearly 34 years of active-duty service includes combat operations in both the U.S. Air Force and the U.S. Army, and during his time in the military General Robinson commanded two flying wings, two flying groups, and a space center. He was a director on the USAF Air Staff and the Vice Commander of Eighth Air Force and held a command pilot rating with nearly 5,000 flying hours in a variety of fixed and rotary wind aircrafts, and over 150 combat missions.

General Robinson earned his bachelor’s degree in Industrial Management from Eastern New Mexico University and a master’s degree in Industrial Management from Central Michigan University. In addition, he completed a one-year course of study with MIT as an International Relations Fellow. General Robinson sits on a variety of boards such as New View Oklahoma, Atec, Inc, Project Lead the Way, Force Fifty Foundation, the National Science Foundation, and the USO. General Robinson is also a docent at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, OK.

Board Member

James Copeland

Expertise: Creating and investing in new opportunities for social good

He is a longtime resident, community leader, and philanthropist of San Luis Obispo on the Central Coast of California. Jim began his entrepreneurial career in cooperation with his brother, by taking a single retail outlet in San Luis Obispo and building it into a 36-store sporting goods chain spanning four states. After selling the company, Jim’s attention turned to Copeland Properties, a major Central Coast commercial real estate development company. Jim’s commitment to the Central Coast extends beyond real estate into efforts aimed at improving the quality of life in the community, including projects such as the Cal Poly performing arts center, theatres, restaurants, and museums. Jim has served on the Dignity Health owned French Hospital Medical Center Community Board for over 10 years including as Chairman. A new Cardiac Care Center and Health Education Pavilion bear his name. The Pavilion is a joint effort with Cal Poly University to provide real-world exposure to students studying in medical-related fields.

Sports Ambassador

Ian Williams

Expertise: Sports Marketing and Public Relations

Ian Williams is a current NBC Bay Area Sports analyst and former professional football player who spent all five seasons of his NFL career with the San Francisco 49ers. He played college football at the University of Notre Dame and received a BFA in Film/Cinema/Video Studies. Williams suffered from two ankle fractures while playing in the NFL. Bacterial infections complicated his recovery, required multiple surgeries to eradicate, and ultimately ended his NFL career. He was selected to lead the Applied Silver Athlete Advisory Council and Sports Investor Syndicate in March of 2019.

Strategic Healthcare Advisor

J. Trees Ritter

Expertise: Nationally recognized infectious disease and infection prevention specialist
Trees is a board-certified physician specializing in Infectious Diseases and Internal Medicine. He is the managing partner of Central Coast Infectious Diseases Consultants where he assists other physicians daily with challenging and complicated cases of patient infection. Trees is the Medical Director of the Infection Control Programs for five California Central Coast Hospitals (Sierra Vista Medical Center, Twin Cities Medical Center, Marian Medical Center, Arroyo Grande Community Hospital, and French Hospital Medical Center). He is trained and certified as a Hospital Epidemiologist by the CDC and the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America. In this role, he has oversight of the infection control programs at these 5 institutions and works closely with and provides guidance to other physicians, nursing staff, administrators, and infection control professionals. Trees also serves as the chairman of the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) Clinical Affairs Committee where he oversees a team that sets policy and assists members with many aspects of the clinical practice of Infectious Diseases. He is a Cal Poly Bio Science graduate where he later did graduate work prior to obtaining his medical degree from Western University of Health Sciences. Trees completed his Residency at Highland Hospital/UCSF and his subsequent training in Infectious Diseases at UC Davis in Sacramento, California.

Business Development

Shelley Machens

Expertise: Accelerating market penetration for novel products
Shelley is Applied Silver’s business development leader.  She manages Applied Silver’s commercial activities including channel partnerships and direct sales outside healthcare.  Shelley has extensive experience in introducing innovative products into the infection prevention space.  She is well-versed in navigating complex sales cycles for novel technologies to achieve accelerated customer adoption and high revenue growth. Prior to Applied Silver, Shelley led Client Services at Aerobiotix and sales leadership positions at a number of companies including Abbott Laboratories and Xenex Disinfection Services. Shelley has a bachelor’s degree in Biological Sciences from the University of Missouri-Columbia and an MBA from Lindenwood University.

Board Member

Michael Lyons

Expertise: Brand Growth and Development, Consumer Markets

Mike Lyons, Vice President of Category Development and GM of Brands at Nice-Pak Products Inc., is a strategic business leader with a passion for building brands, driving market share, and developing successful business models that boost sales and accelerate revenue. Mike is responsible for category development and brand building and leads the marketing services function at Nice-Pak. He has 20-plus years of marketing and general management experience through his work with global brands, mid-size organizations, and start-up environments.

Prior to joining Nice-Pak, Mike spent nine years at Henkel, most recently leading the value detergent portfolio at Henkel with $400M in net sales, creating a new go-to-market strategy to grow the Purex brand. He led the integration for JemPak, a $100M private label laundry and dish product manufacturer with 150 employees acquired in 2018, growing top-and bottom-line revenue and exceeding first-year volume expectations by 5%. He directed the strategy, vision, and design of Henkel’s first US-based innovation center to utilize modular building techniques and integrate technology to service customers for all product categories. Before that, Mike was responsible for Henkel’s priority retailer brand customers in laundry, fabric conditioning, and dish categories with $250M in gross. In a newly created Innovation Director role, he also developed retailer brand strategy and customer-specific marketing plans and drove innovation to capture additional growth opportunities.

During his tenure at Sun Products (which was later bought by Henkel), Mike Initiated a new brand positioning and innovation plan for All laundry detergent, Sun Products’ largest and most profitable business with $550M in retail sales. He started his career at Procter & Gamble where he spent 6 years working across Downy Fabric Softener, Bounty paper towels, and the global Vicks brand.

Strategic Sports Advisor

Daniel Fells

Expertise: Sports Market Development and Public Relations

Daniel Fells is a former professional football player who played for the Atlanta Falcons, St. Louis Rams, Denver Broncos, New England Patriots and New York Giants over the course of his 10-year NFL career. He played collegiately for the UC Davis Aggies. In October 2015, while a member of the New York Giants, Fells was treated for a chronic ankle condition that was later discovered to be a MRSA infection. Fells endured ten surgeries to rid himself of the infection before retiring from the NFL. Fells is an advocate for education and spends time speaking to children and young adults. He also advocates for the humane treatment of animals, lending his time to groups like the ASPCA and Humane Society.

Strategic Sports Advisor

Ronnie Lott

Expertise: Mission-Driven Sports Strategy and Thought Leadership

Ronnie Lott is a businessman, philanthropist, former professional football player and member of the Pro Football, College Football, and USC Athletics Hall of Fame. Lott attended the University of Southern California, where he graduated with a degree in Public Administration. He helped the Trojans win a National Championship and was named a consensus All-American safety in his senior year. He was selected eighth overall by the San Francisco 49ers in the 1981 NFL Draft. Over the course of his 14-year NFL career, he excelled as a cornerback, free safety and strong safety and concluded his playing career as a 4x Super Bowl champion, 10x Pro Bowl selection, 8x First-Team All-Pro, and 2x league interceptions leader. Lott’s post-NFL pursuits, particularly as a private equity investor, led USA Today to call him “one of the most successful athletes at making the transition to business.” He first co-founded HRJ Capital, an investment management platform, serving as managing partner until the company’s acquisition. He later founded Lott Auto Ventures, which currently operates a number of car dealerships in California. In addition to being a member of Applied Silver’s Athlete Advisory Council, Lott is on the advisory board of GSV Advisors, Saama Technologies, Inc. and Eight Partners. He is a consultant for TVU Networks and H. Barton Asset Management group. His foundation All Stars Helping Kids seeks to disrupt the cycle of poverty and encourage innovation by seed funding startup nonprofits in the Bay Area.

Strategic Healthcare Advisor

Sue Barnes

Expertise: National infection prevention thought leader and policy specialist
Sue Barnes, RN, BSN, CIC is a National Infection Prevention Consultant and previously was the National Program Leader for Infection Prevention and Control for Kaiser Permanente’s 7 regions, 35 hospitals and 431 medical offices since 1989. She is Board certified in Infection Control and Prevention and is a nationally recognized figure in the field of infection prevention. In 2013 she established a national Corporate Director’s group and coordinates meetings and communication among the members. Sue participated in the development of the APIC Guide to Elimination of CRBSI, APIC Guide to the Elimination of Infections in Hemodialysis, and APIC Training Program for Infection Prevention in Ambulatory Care. She is the author of the KP HAI Prevention Plus Measures toolkit and is a subject matter expert consultant on HAIs. Speaking engagements have included the AORN Congress 2013, APIC Conference 2012, 2013, Decennial Conference 2012, numerous local, national APIC and national KP web presentations. Presentation topics have included SSI (surgical site infection) prevention, CDI (Clostridium difficile) prevention, IP mentoring, Scope reprocessing, Hand Hygiene, Vascular Access and CLABSI (central line associated bloodstream infection) prevention, simulation as a method of teaching infection prevention principles. In addition Sue has been published in journals including AORN Journal, American Journal of Infection Control, The Joint Commission Source for Compliance Strategies and The Permanente Journal. She served on the National APIC Board of Directors from 2010 to 2012, and was selected to represent APIC on the TAP (technical advisory panel) of the National Quality Forum (NQF) on Healthcare Associated Infections (HAI) and the NQF ESRD Steering Committee. She is currently (2014 – 2015) is President of the SFBA APIC chapter and Secretary for the California APIC Coordinating Council.

Product Design

Austin Carey

Expertise: Product Design & Mechanical Engineering

Austin is Applied Silver’s lead Design Engineer.  In his role, Austin is responsible for the design, testing, and execution of all product development activities including hardware and software systems for industrial and consumer applications.  Austin works closely with Sales, Marketing, Regulatory and Legal/Intellectual Property to determine customer needs and requirements for new product development.  Austin also works closely with the Technical Support Team to ensure customer success in the field and the Manufacturing Team to ensure product quality.  He joined the engineering team at Applied Silver in 2015 after graduating from Stanford University with a B.S. Mechanical Engineering.  Outside of Applied Silver, Austin is very passionate about sports & the outdoors.  Austin played Rugby for several years both at Stanford and for the Olympic Club in SF, and spends most of his free time camping or hiking.

Systems Integration

Brandon Chadwell

Expertise: Systems design and engineering

Brandon is Applied Silver’s lead Systems design and testing engineer.  He is responsible for integrating hardware and software product requirements, execution and testing of product prototypes and streamlining the transfer into manufacturing.  Brandon comes with deep knowledge in developing commercially ready product configurations, cross-product integrations, engineering-manufacturing interface, database systems integration, systems, and board designs, compliance testing, and board firmware and diagnostics.  Prior to Applied Silver, Brandon has held principal engineer positions at Oracle Corporation, Sun Microsystems, and Intel. He graduated from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo with a degree in engineering technology with a specialization in electronics.  Brandon is an avid traveler and spends his free time exploring different parts of the world.

Strategic Business Advisor

Dave Whorton

Investor and Advisor

In 2006, Dave founded Tugboat Ventures to invest in very early stage software and technology companies led by talented entrepreneurs and actively support them through their entire business lifecycle. Prior, Dave co-founded four companies including drugstore.com and Good Technology. He also invested at TPG Ventures and KPCB—working closely with Amazon, Google, Successfactors, and others in their earliest days. His career began with HP and Bain. Dave has a BS Mechanical Engineering from UC Berkeley and MBA from Stanford GSB.

Marketing

Seth Donrovich

Expertise: EPA-registered Technologies, Product Development, and Marketing Analytics

Seth is Applied Silver’s marketing manager. His responsibilities include designing and executing marketing campaigns, measuring KPIs for marketing initiatives, and supporting sales and business development. Seth has experience in the marketing and commercialization of early-stage aquatic technologies and is skilled at designing programs to maximize customer value. He holds a category F (Aquatics) California Department of Pesticide Regulation Qualified Applicator License (QAL) and is knowledgeable on the use and management of EPA registered products. In his most recent role, Seth served as the product manager for an aquatic biopesticide and was responsible for marketing, sales, and project management. Using his industry expertise, he advised executive level management on strategies for developing the company’s aquatic pesticide portfolio. Seth earned a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Engineering from Lehigh University, a master’s degree in Nature Conservation from the Czech University of Life Sciences, where he published award-winning research on the topic of aquatic invasive species management, and an MBA from the University of California Davis, where he specialized in business analytics and marketing.

Customer Success

Jim Lake

Expertise: Customer Success, Equipment Management

Jim is Applied Silver’s Head of Customer Integration and Success.  He oversees program management of SilvaClean system installations, field service and customer success.  He also serves as a technical sales liasion supporting Business Development.  Jim spent over three decades climbing the ranks of the equipment department with the former St. Louis, now Los Angeles Rams. Having overseen all aspects of equipment, uniforms, apparel, and protective gear to create an environment of optimal performance and safety, Jim is a deft problem-solver in high pressure, quick turnaround situations. He’s a detail-oriented project manager and highly skilled in finding creative solutions and creating efficiency. Most recently, Jim oversaw NCAA and NFL sales for GameBreaker, a producer of soft shell protective gear for athletes of all ages across all sports.

Strategic Laundry Advisor

Frank Dargavage

Expertise: Commercial Laundry Operational Leadership
Frank is an executive with extensive achievements in the chemical and medical industries.   He has expertise in laundry chemistry industry R and D pipeline. He is a Vice President at Angelica Corporation with focus on strengthening customer relationships and supporting commercial growth in the western United States.  Prior to that, Frank served a key role as Vice President, Sales and Channel Partners at Applied Silver, cementing the relationship between Applied Silver, Medline Industries and Angelica to drive product adoption in healthcare.  With a diverse background, including sales, operations, service, and supply chain management, he has a strong history of multi-dimensional achievements.  Frank is a Pennsylvania State University graduate with a B.S in Mineral Economics.

Board Member

Leopold Selker

Expertise: Developing healthcare administration best practices and policy
Leo is a Research Scholar in Residence at Cal Poly and former President of the NorthShore University Health System Research Institute, the nation’s ninth largest comprehensive hospital-based research program (NIH Funding). Prior to NorthShore, he was Dean of the College of Applied Health Sciences at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He has held over 50 national-level appointments and is a recognized authority on aging-related health policy, health promotion and disease prevention, and gerontology. A former Scholar in Residence at the Institute of Medicine, National Academy of Sciences (NAS), Leo has served as a member of its Committee on Health Promotion and Disability Prevention and the NAS/NRC Planning Committee on the National Information Infrastructure in Healthcare. He has held consultative appointments with numerous foundations including the Pew Charitable Trusts, The Kellogg Foundation, the Commonwealth Fund, and the Hartford Foundation. He received his MS from Duke University, Graduate Diploma (IGS) at Stockholm University, PhD from Texas A&M University, and MBA from Northwestern University – Kellogg School of Management.

Strategic Business Advisor

Scott McNealy

Expertise: Thought Leader on Technology Business Scalability and Strategic Development

Scott was a founder of Sun Microsystems in 1982 and assumed the role of CEO in 1984. In its first six years, Sun grew to over one billion dollars in annual revenue, attaining the status of the fastest growing company in the US from 1985-1989 and in 1995, it was voted one of the 100 best-managed companies in the US. In 2006, with revenues at $14 billion and nearly 38,000 employees, Scott relinquished the CEO title. Mr. McNealy continues to advise Fortune 500 companies and is Chairman of the B2B social networking company, Wayin. He has served on the boards of major multinational companies such as General Electric. Scott holds a BA from Harvard and an MBA from Stanford.

Strategic Hospitality Advisor

Thomas Klein

Strategic Technology Advisor

Dr. Greg Lowry

Expertise: Developing next generation materials and environmental processes

Greg is a Professor of Environmental Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, PA and Deputy Director of the Center for Environmental Implications of Nanotechnology (CEINT). Greg conducts multidisciplinary laboratory and field research in the emerging field of environmental nanotechnology. His work is aimed at understanding how a nanomaterial’s properties affect their reactivity and fate in the environment, and how these properties map onto their potential for exposure risk. He also exploits the novel properties of nanomaterials to develop new technologies for environmental remediation. Greg teaches courses on physicochemical processes of organic chemicals in aquatic systems, environmental engineering, and environmental nanotechnology. He currently serves on the National Research Council committee to develop a federal research strategy for environmental health and safety research for engineered nano materials. He earned his Ph.D. from Stanford University.

Advisor: Sales Support Strategy

Karen Considine

Expertise: Seasoned life sciences professional in marketing, alliance management, building a global and sustainable technical support organization and developing products

Karen supports Applied Silver’s sales team. She most recently nearly a decade with Thermo Fisher Scientific, developing strategic next-generation sequencing marketing programs. As a market development manager, she spearheaded the disruptive marketing of the Ion Bus, a mobile laboratory to make scientists aware of how NGS was being democratized and made accessible through the semiconductor sequencing technology and amplifying the message with videos and social media.

Karen also spent 13 years with Affymetrix, Inc., starting as sales support for their GeneChip technology and climbing the ranks to overseeing relationships with strategic alliance partners using the GeneChip technology and platform. She has also worked for Stratagene Cloning Systems and Perkin-Elmer Applied Biosystems.

Karen completed her undergraduate studies in biochemistry at Smith College and received a Masters of Science in Molecular Biology from the University of Texas. She is passionate about education, particularly women’s education and science, and enjoys spending her time on photography, cooking, volunteering, and traveling.

Strategic Sports Advisor

Jeff Tanaka

Expertise: Sports Medicine

Jeff Tanaka is an athletic trainer and sports medicine specialist with over 20 years of experience in professional sports. He most recently worked with the Chicago Bulls for 12 years, serving as the Head Athletic Trainer and previously, an Assistant Athletic Trainer. Before that, he worked as an Assistant Athletic Trainer with the San Francisco 49ers and at UC Berkeley. Jeff received his master’s degree in athletic training from San Jose State University, and his bachelor’s degree in physical education and kinesiology from California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo. He currently serves as the Head Athletic Trainer for Chicago Fire FC in Major League Soccer.