Meet Our Team

Ms. Vicki Farrar, JD

CEO

Ms. Farrar has 40 years of experience as an attorney representing companies in the medical device and pharmaceutical fields. She has more than 25 years of experience in strategic IP planning and working in local start-up companies. In 2008 she founded Catheter Connections, Inc., a catheter infection control company. Catheter Connections changed the standard of care for infusion therapy and was successfully sold to Merit Medical in 2017. Vicki took the company from inception to sale, along the way developing and commercializing numerous products, completing successful clinical trials, qualifying for GPO contracts, obtaining FDA and CFDA (China) clearance, and a CE Mark, as well as establishing a robust patent portfolio with all patents upheld, and an infringer enjoined. Prior to Catheter Connections, she served as VP of Regulatory and Intellectual Property at Q Therapeutics, Inc., in Salt Lake City; and previously served as Acting CEO and Vice President of Legal, Intellectual Property and Regulatory Affairs at Cognetix, Inc. in Salt Lake City, developing CNS products that required delivery through an intrathecal medical device. Ms. Farrar began her career at the law firm Covington & Burling in Washington, D.C., specializing in medical devices and food and drug law. She has been a partner at several large leading law firms, the most recent being Morrison & Foerster in San Francisco. She is responsible for establishing the strategic position of the Company and overseeing its operations.

Dr. Robert Hitchcock, PhD

Chief Technology Adviser

Dr. Hitchcock is an experienced professor, entrepreneur, and medical device executive who has brought numerous products and technologies to the forefront of clinical medicine. He has worked as an engineer, executive, and consultant at Becton Dickinson, Medtronic, Utah Medical, and Sorenson Medical. He also has entrepreneurial experience, co-founding Catheter Connections in 2008 and helping lead the company to a successful exit in 2017. His laboratory at the University of Utah is focused on medical device development and using those devices in clinical settings to advance our understanding of diagnostics and therapeutics. Bob is the inventor of over 25 patents and is the author or co-author of over 65 peer-reviewed research publications.

Dr. Paul Jeffrey Campsen,
 MD, FACS

Chief Clinical Officer

Dr. Campsen is the Surgical Director of Adult and Pediatric Kidney Transplantation, Living Donor Kidney Transplantation, and Pancreas Transplantation at the University of Utah. His clinical practice span the University Hospital, the Huntsman Cancer Institute and Primary Children’s Medical Center. He received his Bachelor of Arts from James Madison University and his Doctor of Medicine from Eastern Virginia Medical School. He completed his residency in General Surgery at the University of Colorado. Following his residency, Dr. Campsen stayed at the University of Colorado, home of the 1st liver transplant, for his Fellowship in adult and pediatric Multiorgan Transplantation and Hepatobiliary Surgery. Here, he gained expertise in the surgical management of renal, liver, biliary, and pancreatic diseases. Further, he was trained in living donor liver transplantation. Dr. Campsen spent 2 years as faculty at Baylor University Medical Center and Sammons Cancer Center in Dallas, Texas, where he developed a robust practice specializing in transplant surgery for diseases of the kidney, liver, and the pancreas. Further, he was made Surgical Director of the Laparoscopic Live Donor Kidney Transplant Program. Dr. Campsen was recently recognized as a fellow of the American Society of Transplantation with a FAST certificate.

Mr. Lynn Jensen

Vice President of Engineering

Mr. Jensen completed 35+ years with Fresenius Medical Care, a dialysis leader. Most recently, he was Vice President of Global Technology, Product Engineering Center – Cassettes and Tubing Systems. Lynn has been instrumental in the design, development, and market introduction of multiple products in the Renal Therapy field including both Peritoneal Dialysis (PD) and Hemodialysis treatment modalities. He was responsible for driving global technology and innovation projects within the product engineering center at Fresenius. This included building up global technical capabilities/competencies, harmonizing/sustaining global product designs, and developing/rolling out innovation on a global scale. He participated in multicultural, cross-functional activities and applied in-depth problem-solving strategies for projects over a variety of geographic locations.

Mr. Curtis Long

Director of Engineering

Mr. Long is our primary research and development biomedical engineer. Following his service in the United States Marine Corps he earned his BS in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Utah where he gained experience in medical device development and co-invented a patient comfort platform for use with MR-HIFU breast cancer treatment system. He is an inventor on multiple Light Line patent applications and pioneered our proprietary patent pending fiber etching process we implement to create the energy delivery light diffuser. Curtis has been with Light Line since its inception. As Light Line’s Program Engineer he has been instrumental in building our engineering team and directing product development and testing activities, including microbiology.

Ms. Kari Haab

Executive Director of Quality
 and Operations

Ms. Haab has 15+ years of experience in Operations, Product Development and Quality for medical device companies. She has a diverse background in commercializing new technology for industry leaders such as Becton Dickinson, early-stage companies, and transitional research technology from academia. She has scaled operations for rapid growth, led development and launch of new medical devices in the US and Asia, and implemented Quality Management Systems for clinical devices. She has a demonstrated ability in building successful teams and managing profitable operations. Kari holds an MBA in Organizational Leadership from the University of Michigan.

Dr. Dinesh Patel, PHD

Executive Chairman

Dr. Patel is the founding Partner and Managing Director, Patel Family Investments. He was a Founder and CEO of Theratech (acquired by Watson Pharmaceuticals for $350M). As Founding partner and managing director of vSpring Capital, Dr. Patel led the firm’s investments in American Academy, Athena Feminine Technologies, Axial Biotech, Coherex Medical, Exagen Diagnostics, Mediconnect Global, Mirabilis Medica, Numira Biosciences, Lineagen, Q Therapeutics, and ZARS Pharma and Salus Therapeutics which was acquired by Genta (NASDAQ: GNTA) for $30 million.

Ms. Vicki Farrar, JD

CEO

Ms. Farrar has 40 years of experience as an attorney representing companies in the medical device and pharmaceutical fields. She has more than 25 years of experience in strategic IP planning and working in local start-up companies. In 2008 she founded Catheter Connections, Inc., a catheter infection control company. Catheter Connections changed the standard of care for infusion therapy and was successfully sold to Merit Medical in 2017. Vicki took the company from inception to sale, along the way developing and commercializing numerous products, completing successful clinical trials, qualifying for GPO contracts, obtaining FDA and CFDA (China) clearance, and a CE Mark, as well as establishing a robust patent portfolio with all patents upheld, and an infringer enjoined. Prior to Catheter Connections, she served as VP of Regulatory and Intellectual Property at Q Therapeutics, Inc., in Salt Lake City; and previously served as Acting CEO and Vice President of Legal, Intellectual Property and Regulatory Affairs at Cognetix, Inc. in Salt Lake City, developing CNS products that required delivery through an intrathecal medical device. Ms. Farrar began her career at the law firm Covington & Burling in Washington, D.C., specializing in medical devices and food and drug law. She has been a partner at several large leading law firms, the most recent being Morrison & Foerster in San Francisco. She is responsible for establishing the strategic position of the Company and overseeing its operations.

Mr. Greg Fredde

EVP Business Development, Merit Medical

Mr. Fredde has led multiple M&A transactions and has expertise in evaluating competitive markets and new technologies. He has over 20 years of diverse work experience in business, government relations, and public policy issues. He has a proven track record of initiating projects, identifying problems and solutions, setting strategies, building coalitions, and completing complex projects. These projects include: 1) passage of multiple, key pieces of state and federal legislation; 2) negotiation of significant state and local tax incentives and abatements; and 3) the negotiation, analysis, and completion of business agreements including acquisitions, distribution rights, and technology licensing and transfers. He has a broad background in key public policy issues including healthcare, taxation, and natural resources. Finally, he has established relationships with key policymakers, organizations and associations, and staff members.

Mr. Mark J. Ehlert

Mr. Ehlert brings over 40 years of Quality and Regulatory expertise in the fields of Medical Devices and Drug development. He currently serves as an Angel Investor and Board member of startups associated with Medical Technology and Manufacturing.

Mark held C level positions at Baxter Healthcare and continued with them until joining Allegiance Healthcare in 1996 upon their spinoff from Baxter. During his time at Baxter, he worked in Manufacturing and Quality operations encompassing IV fluids, Injectable Drugs, simple Medical Devices and Electronic Infusion Devices. In addition, he spent time expanding Baxter’s presence in Asia and upon returning from Singapore was assigned to the Distribution and Sales areas focusing on restructuring activities.

At Allegiance, Mark was a Corporate Officer responsible for Quality, Regulatory Affairs, EH&S and Research and Development functions and maintained those areas of responsibility when Allegiance was purchased by Cardinal Health in 1999. Mark managed those areas for the Medical Device Manufacturing businesses of Cardinal until the end of 2003 when he left Cardinal to help with the spinoff of Hospira from Abbott Laboratories.

Mark was a member of the Senior Management team that created Hospira and served as the Corporate Vice President of Quality and Regulatory Affairs until the end of 2006 when he headed the Integration team until his retirement upon the acquisition of Mayne Pharma by Hospira.

He is assisting the Company with all aspects of the business, including positioning it for partnerships and ultimate acquisition.

Mr. Kelly Powers

Working Board Member

Mr. Powers is a Board member who assists the Company on an ongoing basis. Kelly, recently retired, was Staff Vice President of Science and Technology for C.R. Bard Inc. in (Murray Hill, NJ). For the prior 14 years, he served as Senior Vice President of Research and Development at Bard Access Systems, Inc. in Salt Lake City (a subsidiary of C. R. Bard). During his tenure as head of R&D, Bard Access Systems was the fastest-growing division of C.R. Bard for more than a decade and became the world market leader in long-term vascular access devices, largely driven by organic internal product development, growing 50X resulting in a billion-dollar business in Utah today and hundreds of engineering and other technical jobs in Utah and other states. Kelly holds over 62 issued U. S. patents in medical devices and other technical areas and more than 200 additional international patents and patents pending. These include notable products such as Dual-Lumen Groshong, Power-injectable ports (PowerPort), polyurethane & power-injectable PICCs (PowerPICC), catheter valves (SOLO), tunneled dialysis catheters (Hemosplit, others) and image-guided catheter placement (Sherlock). Cumulatively, products based on Kelly's patents have generated more than $15 Billion dollars in sales and improved the lives of countless patients and clinicians. He is assisting the Company with all aspects of the business, including positioning it for partnerships and ultimate acquisition.

Mr. John Berg

Mr. Berg has over 30 years of strategic marketing, sales, and business communications experience in both B2B and B2C applications, performing in both in-house and agency environments. He is a board member and the newsletter editor of the Society of Plastics Engineers - Mold Technologies Division and served on the editorial advisory board for Mold Making Technology Magazine. John’s published content includes articles on business and technology best practices that have appeared in many of the plastics industry’s leading publications.

Dr. Mitchell Barneck, MD

Dr. Barneck is one of the original founders of Light Line Medical and co-inventor of the disinfection technology. He is a biomedical engineer, innovator, entrepreneur, and is the Northern Region Ultrasound Director for Emergency Medicine with Utah Emergency Physicians at Intermountain Health. He received his Bachelor of Biomedical Engineering and Chemistry from the University of Utah, his Doctorate of Medicine from Oregon Health and Science University, and completed Emergency Medicine Residency as well as Emergency Ultrasound Fellowship at Orlando Health. Dr. Barneck was the former VP of Clinical Affairs at Light Line and may resume this position when the Company conducts clinical trials. He has focused his career on the creation of improved healthcare systems through medical and engineering advancement. Dr. Barneck previously spent 4 years on the Institutional Review Board at Orlando Health, assisting with research and novel product testing and implementation. He has worked in several research settings including bioengineering, optics, and biology, as well as in clinical medicine. He continues to develop new innovative technologies and publish literature to improve clinical care.

Dr. Thomas Golper, MD, 
FACP, FASB

Chairman / Nephrologist

Dr. Thomas Golper, MD, FACP, FASB (Nephrologist) is the chairman of the Light Line Medical Dialysis Clinical Advisory Board. Dr. Golper is an Emeritus Professor of Medicine (Nephrology) at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, and Consultant Nephrologist, Professor of Medicine, The Robert Larner, M.D. College of Medicine University of Vermont Burlington, VT. He graduated from Indiana University School of Medicine and trained in Internal Medicine and Nephrology at the Oregon Health Sciences University (OHSU). Dr. Golper has previously held academic appointments at OHSU, the University of Louisville School of Medicine, the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. He has held positions on the Board of Directors of the Renal Physicians Association and American Association of Kidney Patients, served as the Peritoneal Dialysis Adequacy Work Group Chair for the first two versions of Kidney Dialysis Outcome Quality Initiative, and remains on the Work Group. He led the Network 9 Peritonitis and Catheter Survival Study and helped form and serve on the International Society of Peritoneal Dialysis (ISPD) Ad Hoc Committee for Peritonitis for many iterations of its guidelines. He was instrumental in the formation of the ISPD North American Research Consortium in Peritoneal Dialysis (NARC-PD). Dr. Golper is currently the course director of Home Dialysis University, Dialysis Section Co-editor of Up to Date and President of the North American Chapter of ISPD. His primary academic interests remain in the field of dialysis and the administrative aspects of nephrology practice. He has published over 250 articles and book chapters.

Dr. Joel D. Glickman, MD, FACP

Nephrologist

Dr. Joel D. Glickman, MD, FACP (Nephrologist) is a Professor of Clinical Medicine at the Perlman School of Medicine of The University of Pennsylvania, where he is Director of the Home Dialysis Programs. He attended Downstate Medical School, completed his internal medicine residency at Montefiore Hospital in the Bronx, and completed his fellowship in nephrology at the Hospital of The University of Pennsylvania. His academic interests focus on clinical outcomes and education in home hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis. Dr. Glickman has been named “Top Doc” in Philadelphia Magazine and in U.S. News and World Report. Nationally, he frequently lectures on chronic kidney disease, home hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis and is an author and/or co-author of more than 15 published articles. He has received several teaching awards, including the Edward D. Viner Teaching Award at Pennsylvania Hospital and is a three-time recipient of the J. Russell Elkinton Faculty Teaching Award from the Renal-Electrolyte Division at the University of Pennsylvania.

Dr. Joseph N. Macaluso, Jr. MD, FACS

Retired Urologist

Dr. Joseph N. Macaluso, Jr. MD, FACS (Urologist), is the retired former Managing Director of the Urologic Institute of New Orleans, one of the largest urology clinics in Louisiana. He is the author or co-author of more than 100 medical publications and made hundreds of academic presentations around the world. In addition to his expertise in adult and pediatric urology, Dr. Macaluso received extensive training in General Surgery, Nephrology and Renal Transplantation. Dr. Macaluso currently serves as an Associate Professor of Clinical Urology at Louisiana State University Medical School. In addition to advising numerous pharmaceutical and medical device companies (including Boston Scientific) over the course of his career, Dr. Macaluso is currently a member of the Clinical Advisory Board at AngelMD where he assesses and advises start-up companies.

Dr. Rajnish Mehrotra, MD, 
FASN, MBBS

Nephrologist

Dr. Rajnish Mehrotra, MD, FASN, MBBS (Nephrologist) is chief of Nephrology at Harborview Medical Center and a Professor of Nephrology and Medicine at the University of Washington. Dr. Mehrotra also serves as the Chairman of the Board of Trustees for the Northwest Kidney Centers and as the Editor-in-Chief of the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology. Dr. Mehrotra earned his M.D. from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences. He completed his fellowship at the University of Missouri-Columbia and completed his Internship and Residency at the Medical College of Pennsylvania/Hahnemann University – Drexel University College of Medicine. Dr. Mehrotra is board certified in both Nephrology and Internal Medicine. Dr. Mehrotra specializes in peritoneal dialysis, hemodialysis and chronic kidney disease. He is the author and/or co-author of more than 200 articles, text book chapters and abstracts. His clinical and research interests include comparative effectiveness of dialysis therapies, patient and technique survival with peritoneal dialysis, decision support for selection of dialysis therapies, mineral metabolism in chronic kidney disease and racial and ethnic disparities in chronic kidney disease.

Dr. Leonard A. Mermel, DO, ScM, AM (hon), FACP, IDSA, FSHEA

Epidemiologist

Dr. Leonard A. Mermel, DO, ScM, AM (hon), FACP, FIDSA, FSHEA (Epidemiologist), is the Medical Director, Department of Infection Control, Rhode Island Hospital, and Professor, Department of Medicine, Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University. He is a world-renowned epidemiologist and author or co-author of more than 300 articles, textbook chapters, and abstracts dealing with infection control and infectious diseases. Dr. Mermel is also a co-author of the US guidelines for prevention and management of intravascular catheter infections and is included in the Highly Cited Researchers List by Clarivate Analytics. He is Co-Course Director of the Annual Fellows Course in Hospital Epidemiology & Infection Control and has lectured at the National Institutes of Health, NASA Johnson Space Center and internationally. Among many other awards, Dr. Mermel recently received the prestigious 2021 Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA) Senior Scholarship Award, to recognize and honor the breadth and quality of his contributions to infection prevention and healthcare epidemiology for more than 15 years. His continuing research interest is the prevention of healthcare-associated infections.

Dr. Jose A. Morfin, MD

Nephrologist

Dr. Jose A. Morfin, MD (Nephrologist) is Director of Ambulatory Kidney Care Outreach & Innovation, University of California – Davis Health and Professor, Division of Nephrology, Department of Medicine University of California – Davis School of Medicine. He also serves as the Medical Director, Home Dialysis for Satellite Healthcare Dialysis Sacramento and as the Medical Director of Dialysis Services, Sacramento County Correctional Facility. Dr. Morfin is the author or co-author of more than 15 medical publications and textbook chapters and has made more than 50 academic medical presentations. Dr. Morfin also served as a member of the Medical Advisory Board for Nx Stage Medical, Inc.

Dr. Lauren Stern, MD

Nephrologist

Dr. Lauren Stern, MD (Nephrologist) is an Assistant Professor of Medicine and Nephrology at Boston University. Her clinical practice focuses on home dialysis therapies, and she is the Medical Director of the Home Dialysis Program at Boston Medical Center, which provides peritoneal dialysis and home hemodialysis for patients with end stage kidney disease. She is the author and/or co-author of more than 10 articles and has been a teaching faculty member in a number of national home dialysis courses and served on a number of committees through the American Society of Nephrology. Dr. Stern received her BS with Honors in Zoology from the University of Florida and her MD from Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. She completed her Internal Medicine Residency, chief residency, and nephrology fellowship at The Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City.

Dr. Bradley A. Warady, MD

Pediatric Nephrologist

Dr. Bradley A. Warady, MD (Pediatric Nephrologist) is Director of the Division of Pediatric Nephrology and Director of Dialysis and Transplantation at Children’s Mercy Hospital Kansas City. Dr. Warady also is a Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Missouri, Kansas City School of Medicine. He also serves on the Board of Directors of the National Kidney Foundation. Dr. Warady received his medical degree from the University of Illinois, Abraham Lincoln School of Medicine in Chicago, IL. He completed his Pediatric Residency at Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City and his Fellowship in Pediatric Nephrology at the University of Colorado Health Science Center in Denver. He has received numerous awards for his contributions and leadership in the field of pediatric nephrology and has authored and/or co-authored more than 450 articles and textbook chapters.