HYGIEIA - Key Persons

Job Titles:

• Admin
• Member of the Leadership Team
• Vice President, Operations
• Director, Manufacturing

Barry oversees four production managers' teams as well as the Purchasing, Requisition, Facilities and Maintenance Departments. His early contributions include completing transition to automated filling of Hygieia's Crotalus atrox product lines and a three-fold increase of the vaccine filling process. He teamed up with Girish Sarma to establish the poultry research laboratory as well as process development and USDA licensing of six live viral poultry vaccines. He's developed and implemented Hygieia's lyophilization capabilities and expanded production capacity to ten times its original level. He focuses on increasing production capability, making current processes more efficient, and working with the R&D teams to scale-up pipeline products. Before joining Hygieia in 2009 as Production Manager, Barry spent ten years in the biopesticide industry, beginning his career in R & D by isolating and screening microbes as potential sources of novel bioactive molecules to target important plant diseases and pests. He joined the Fermentation and Formulation group where he developed his industrial microbiology skills, and later served as Department Head of this and the Microbiology Departments. He became Project Manager for a novel fungal biofumigant product and founded a Product Support and Technical Improvement Team. As Global Project Manager-Fungicides, he led the cross-departmental team tasked with the commercialization and licensing. He served on the Strategic Planning and Business Development Teams, helped found the Compensation Committee, and was a team leader for the design and implementation of two LIMS projects and a global ERP system. He was responsible for toll manufacturing and the technology transfer process, and his work contributed to the award of several substantial SBIRS Phase 1 and Phase 2 grants. Barry graduated with Highest Honors from the University of California, Davis with a BS in Microbiology (go Ags!) and is a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Honor Society. He completed the Project Management Certificate Program at UC Davis Extension, and attained Level I certification in Crestcom International's Bullet Proof Manager training program. He has contributed to Avian Diseases, Veterinary World, and the proceedings of Western Poultry Disease Conferences, and been featured on NPR's Marketplace. A former Eagle Scout, Barry relishes his experiences as a youth baseball coach and cub scout leader. He's served on the Great Day Preschool Board of Directors and Plainfield Elementary School Site Council, and in 2016 established an ongoing partnership between Hygieia and Esparto High School's Research, Technology, and Biotechnology Program to provide high school students with hands-on industry experience, guest lecture experiences, and internships. Since 2019 he has been a member of the Veterinary Science Steering Committee for Esparto High School's Career Technical Education Program. Barry credits his broad expertise to working at small companies with a culture of collaboration across departments, and with countless mentors and colleagues who take time to teach him something new: questions are encouraged, ideas are considered, and opportunities are given to work and think independently. In his role at Hygieia, Barry strives to put into daily practice this philosophy of growth through synergy.

Job Titles:

• Member of the Leadership Team
• Vice President

If you consume dairy products in the United States, chances are very good that your food has been made safer through work done by Dale Wallis. Dale developed the first commercially licensed coliform mastitis vaccine in 1989, and ever since has been a global leader in mastitis vaccines and so much more. She is a key innovator of vaccine products at Hygieia. Following undergraduate education at San Francisco State University and the University of California, Berkeley, Dale received graduate training first in animal nutrition at the University of California, Davis and then in veterinary pathobiology at the University of Minnesota where she studied the biology of Campylobacter bacteria - a significant animal and human pathogen. At the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, she was the first student to develop and pursue a specialty in poultry medicine. She was awarded the degree of Doctor of Veterinary Medicine in 1988. Dale was a longtime student of and collaborator with epidemiologist George B. E. West. After graduation Dale worked in the veterinary vaccine industry where she focused initially on developing and optimizing poultry vaccines against bacterial diseases. She then learned of a technology known as "J5", proposed for use as, among other things, a vaccine against coliform mastitis in dairy cows. Dale was the first person to successfully develop the J5 technology into a commercial vaccine. Today, J5 vaccine products that Dale has developed are widely used throughout the US as an aid in the production of safe, high quality milk products. Throughout her career, Dale has been at the forefront of the industry, introducing novel technologies and developing first-in-the-world vaccines such as those against Staphylococcus and Streptococcus mastitis agents; a second generation J5, the first licensed vaccine against multiple strains of Campylobacter bacteria that cause sheep abortions, a vaccine against bovine footwarts, novel vaccines and chemotherapies for use against cancers, and the world's first commercial vaccine against a venom. Dale is an epidemiologist with a gift for understanding disease processes in a way that few other people are able, and is strongly driven by her desire to help others.

Job Titles:

• Admin
• Member of the Leadership Team
• Vice President, Human Resources

Edward joined Hygieia in 2022, with more than two decades' leadership experience in operations and human resources in the financial services industry, and most recently with a crisis intervention nonprofit. His dedication to encouraging and supporting others aligns with Hygieia's core values - as he says, "It's all about achieving and maintaining that positive work environment". Edward enjoys everything from local arts and dining to NASCAR and football, supporting local theatre groups and the SPCA. "Sacramento has so much to offer, I have lived here for over fifteen years now and while it is home, I never run out of places to experience and explore!" Edward is thrilled to apply his passion for helping others attain professional and personal happiness in the Hygieia community. "I love what I do and want to make sure everyone at the company has the most positive, enjoyable and rewarding experience they can have."

Job Titles:

• Member of the Leadership Team
• Senior Research Scientist / Manager, Aquaculture

As a child of corn and soybean farmers in a small Illinois town, Elizabeth's early introduction to Food Science at an engineering camp, and her first job detasseling corn for a seed company, propelled her towards her goal of using math and science to "contribute to feeding the world." She obtained a BS in Food Science from the University of Illinois, delving into both basic and applied research after undergraduate internships with General Mills and RJR Nabisco. As a UC Davis graduate student, she received a National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship for independent research and attained a Ph.D. in Food Science with emphasis on the biophysics of lipids. After a post-doctoral position with the California Institute of Food and Agriculture, Elizabeth joined the University of Maryland College Park Department of Nutrition and Food Science as an Assistant Professor. In the following years she garnered an International Life Sciences Future Leader Award, a grant from the American Heart Association, and Junior Faculty Member of the Year recognition by the College of Agriculture. After moving to Ohio with her spouse and young children, she worked in the Graduate Biophysics Program and Department of Chemistry at The Ohio State University. Continuing to balance family/work life, Elizabeth joined Hygieia's sister company Red Rock Biologics in 2005, assisting with technical sales and public relations. In 2011 she began consulting for Hygieia, contributing research summaries and data analysis, and in 2017 joined the Hygieia lab to lead development of the aquaculture program. She manages a growing research facility and staff, identifies and facilitates technology transfer between Hygieia and university aquaculture scientists, and contributes to exploratory research. Elizabeth has been awarded numerous fellowships and grants and is a member of the Sigma Xi Scientific Research Society, and Phi Eta Sigma and Alpha Lambda Delta Honorary Societies. She has contributed to publications such as Journal of Lipid Research, Lipids, Journal of Nutrition, Journal of Food Science, Food Technology, Journal of Magnetic Resonance and Biomolecular Engineering, and has been a reviewer for Food and Agriculture institutional publishers. She is a long-time member of the Val Vista Lakes Women's Club, whose mission emphasizes community, camaraderie and charity and promotes a positive environment for women through friendship-building activities and serving the needs of the community at large. She has served two terms on the Club's Board of Directors and chaired several event committees. For several years she spent many hours as a volunteer, costume maker and set builder at Limelight, a local youth community theater. Elizabeth continues to nourish her world, mentoring undergraduate interns and representing Hygieia at career fairs and trade shows.

Job Titles:

• Admin
• Member of the Leadership Team
• Sales

After graduating from UC Davis with a major in Ornithology, Gary worked for Hisex, primary breeder of Brown and White laying hens, where he was in charge of North American Technical Services, and half of US sales. In this capacity he implemented universal vaccine programs for all distributors and spearheaded a new industry approach to vaccinating against gumboro, a highly infectious and lethal poultry disease. Gary went on to Biomune, Inc. a global veterinary biologics company, where he was responsible for Dairy and Poultry divisions in the western states, and pet birds for North America, before joining Hygieia as National Sales Manager for Dairy and Poultry in 2008. Gary's expertise extends far beyond sales - he conceived of Hygieia's innovative trivalent AE+Fowl Pox+Pigeon Pox vaccine and supervises new product poultry safety tests in the field. In addition, he handles pricing, sales forecasts and marketing for existing and new OTC and autogenous products and has contributed articles for Avian Diseases. When he's not enjoying hunting or fishing, Gary breeds show Persian cats who have won Best in the World, National and Regional titles. He is a member of the Pacific Egg & Poultry Association, California Poultry Federation, Association of Avian Veterinarians, National Rifle Association, Cat Fanciers' Association and Safari Club International. Gary savors his time with customers, and takes pride in "shooting straight, being honest, and offering a commonsense approach."

Job Titles:

• Member of the Leadership Team
• Vice President, Research and Development
• Member of the American Veterinary Medical Association

Girish joined Hygieia in 2009, and oversees research activities, product development, and related regulatory activities leading to viral vaccine licensing (both live and inactivated) through the USDA. Throughout his career, Girish has worked on research and development of vaccines for livestock, companion animals and poultry, and licensed more than 72 products through the USDA in addition to helping register several vaccines outside the United States. His most notable contribution to the animal health industry is the "O"/India/R2/75 strain of FMD (foot-and-mouth disease) virus type "O", developed from his research at IVRI in Bangalore, India in the late 70's. India and other countries in the Asia-Pacific region continue to use this virus strain for manufacturing vaccines against FMD. Since Girish's move to the United States in 1985, he has worked on many viral vaccines for poultry, some the first of their kind to be licensed by the USDA. Some of the vaccines he developed are trivalent MD, liposome adjuvanted inactivated NDV+IBV, drinking water-administered turkey coryza, inactivated MG+NDV+IBV, combined fowl pox+pigeon pox+AE, and drinking water-administered CIAV. He also developed a monoclonal antibody based rapid diagnostic test kit for canine heartworm. Girish has worked for Ceva-Biomune, Tri Bio Laboratories/ Hoechst Roussel Vet, Vineland Laboratories/IGI, Inc., Tokyo University of Agriculture & Technology as a postdoctoral fellow, Indian Veterinary Research Institute as postgraduate research scholar, and Assam Agricultural University as Associate Professor of Microbiology. Girish has published extensively in peer reviewed research journals, and routinely presents research papers at conferences in the United States and abroad. He has received several awards including the Pennsylvania Governor's Export Excellence Award, Ten Years Outstanding Service Awards from both Tri Bio/HR Vet and Hygieia, Japan's Monbusho Scholarship, and the Assam Agricultural University Gold Medal as a highest scoring student of his DVM class. Girish is a member of the American Veterinary Medical Association and the American Association of Avian Pathologists, and maintains many connections with India's vaccine industry. A former long-distance runner and university yogasana champion, he enjoys speed-walking and hiking. Most of all, he deeply savors his time in the lab, doing research and finding innovative solutions for disease prevention. Both professionally and personally Girish is always eager "to embrace happily every gift time brings."

Job Titles:

• Member of the Leadership Team

Job Titles:

• Admin
• Founder
• Member of the Leadership Team
• President
• Industry Leader

Jim is a biotechnology industry leader with a forty-year track record of disease research, invention, and delivery of novel drug and vaccine products for animals and people in need. His passion for bringing new solutions to challenging diseases has driven him to create a rapidly growing laboratory group which deftly combines scientific insight with artistic creativity for remarkable results. Jim initially trained in engineering and business with an emphasis on leadership and management techniques. His scientific work started in 1980 with one of the first clinical demonstrations of lysine as an effective antiviral compound and continued with investigation of antiviral chemotherapies with Richard Shope Jr. at the University of Minnesota. While at Minnesota, Jim extended the scope of his research to include cancers in collaboration with Robert McKinnell, and then later at the University of California at Davis with Dieter Grüenwedel. At Davis, Jim pursued graduate training in analytical chemistry, microbiology, and toxicology in support of work on transition metal biochemistry, particularly organomercurials. He developed several novel analytical techniques during this time. Concurrently, Jim formed Hygieia Biological Laboratories to pursue commercial applications of his work. Shortly after establishing Hygieia, Jim was joined by Dale Wallis, with whom he collaborated on Hygieia's second-generation J-5 vaccine development, dramatically improving the effectiveness and safety of this widely used dairy mastitis product. Since that time, Jim has assembled an increasingly sophisticated and growing team that has produced numerous vaccine and pharmaceutical innovations. Notably, these include discovery of a candidate causative agent for papillomatous digital dermatitis - the most economically devastating dairy cattle disease - and the world's first vaccine for that condition, a novel approach to cancer vaccine development, and the world's first commercial vaccine against a venom. Jim takes pleasure in tackling disease problems of all kinds and is engaged in the development of solutions for some of the world's most significant disease problems. He also takes time to look at special needs that are often ignored by the industry: Hygieia regularly develops vaccines for zoological collections including products for diverse species - several endangered - from primates to reptiles to a pigmy hippopotamus. In his spare time Jim enjoys sailing and flying sailplanes.