Scott Boyer

Scott has been in the pharmaceutical industry since graduating from college. His education includes a B.S. in Business Administration and Management from Morningside College. He has led multi-million dollar sales and marketing efforts for numerous branded drugs for Abbott and Bristol-Myers Squibb. Scott is the founder of OWP Pharmaceuticals, the partner with the ROW Foundation in working to improve the lives of people with epilepsy and associated psychiatric disorders in under-resourced areas of the world.

Kurt Florian, JD

Kurt is the COO and General Counsel of Loan Ecosystem LLC, which provides an efficient and economical platform for the loan syndication process. Kurt has extensive experience in corporate finance and previously was the COO, Counsel, and Chief Compliance Officer for Vanderbilt Capital Advisors, LLC. Kurt was previously a partner at Lord, Bissell & Brook and Katten Muchin Rosenman law firms. Kurt comes to the OWP board with a passion for epilepsy patients, having served as the President and Chairman of the Epilepsy Foundation of Greater Chicago. He has a BA from the University of Chicago and a JD from Duke University School of Law.

Lisa Brown

Lisa is the mother of 5 children and grandmother to 7. Her youngest child, Amanda, died at age of 8 from Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy (SUDEP) and inspires Lisa to bring hope and help to people living with epilepsy in under-resourced areas. Lisa is a graduate of the University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ and has a Paralegal Certificate from Roosevelt University, Chicago, IL. Lisa worked in the telecommunications industry as a tariff analyst and in Regulatory Affairs before enjoying the privilege of being a full time mom. She returned to work as a paralegal and enjoyed 15 years in family law before her recent retirement.

Mike DeLaroche

Mike has been in the pharmaceutical industry for over 30 years. He has held various leadership roles in sales and marketing at Johnson & Johnson, Cardinal and Syneos. He currently serves as Executive Vice-President, Integrated Commercial Strategy at EVERSANA. Mike earned his MBA from Pepperdine University. He is committed to helping maximize the impact ROW has on epilepsy patients in underserved communities.

Mark Petersen, MBA

Mark earned an Executive MBA in Pharmaceutical Marketing from St. Joseph University. He has more than 20 years of experience in pharmaceutical sales and management, including experience as a Director of Communication and Coordination with Astellas Pharma. Away from the job, Mark is involved in volunteer work and serves on the board of directors of a nonprofit serving at-risk youth in inner city Chicago.

Bruce Duncan, JD, CPA

Bruce is a Certified Public Accountant and has a law degree from Case Western. He has more than 30 years of experience at the C-level in accounting and tax management, including a decade at a Big 4 accounting firm and a decade managing the tax department of a Fortune 500 company. Bruce is one of the co-founders of the ROW Foundation.

Patricia A. Gibson, MSSW, DHL, ACSW

Patricia is an Associate Professor in the Department of Neurology at Wake Forest University School of Medicine. She also serves as Director of the Epilepsy Information Service, a nationwide telephone information line for patients and their families. Ms. Gibson has organized numerous state, regional, national and international conferences on epilepsy and is the recipient of national and international awards for her work to improve the care of those with epilepsy.

Marvin A. Rossi, MD, PhD

Dr. Rossi is a neurologist and epileptologist with a doctorate in molecular biophysics. He has more than 25 years of experience within regional NAEC-affiliated specialized epilepsy centers. Dr. Rossi served as Associate Professor and Co-Director of the Multimodality Neuroimaging & Neuroengineering Laboratory, and as Associate Director of Translational Research of the Rush Epilepsy Center at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago. He now serves as Medical Director, Summa Health Comprehensive Epilepsy Center in Ohio.

Emilio Perucca, MD, PhD

For 20 years, Dr. Perucca served as Professor of Pharmacology at University of Pavia (Italy) Medical School and, for 12 years, as Director of the Clinical Trial Centre at IRCCS C. Mondino Foundation’s National Institute of Neurology in Pavia. He has contributed to several advocacy initiatives to improve epilepsy services and funding for epilepsy research in Europe and beyond. He has served many roles with the International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE), including four years as President. Dr. Perucca currently serves as Adjunct Professor at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia.

Carol Coghlan Gavin

Carol Gavin is an experienced attorney and executive with more than thirty years’ experience advising and serving on boards of directors in both the private and non-profit sectors, with particular expertise in corporate governance. At Beatrice Company, she supervised the divesture of subsidiaries and assets, and moved to Tellabs, Inc. where she was Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary, directing all legal services and its subsidiaries globally. Carol served as President and Executive Director of the Tellabs Foundation, a 501(c)(3) private foundation which was founded in 1997 by Tellabs, Inc. from 2013 until its dissolution in December of 2021.

Samuel O. Okpaku, MD, PhD

Dr. Okpaku is the Founder/President of the Center for Health, Culture and Society in Nashville. He is a graduate of Edinburgh University Medical School and holds a Ph.D. in Social Research and Welfare from Brandeis University, Waltham, MA. He has been on the faculties of the University of Pennsylvania Medical School, Yale University, Vanderbilt University Medical and Meharry Medical School Nashville. He’s a Fellow of the College of Surgeons and Physicians Canada and a Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association.

Aashit Shah, MD

Dr. Shah earned his medical degree from Smt. NHL Municipal Medical College at Gujarat University in India and completed his residency and a fellowship in clinical neurophysiology at Wayne State University and Detroit Medical Center. He is the Chief of Neurology for Carilion Clinic in the Roanoke, VA area. Dr. Shah has dedicated his professional life to the research, diagnosis and treatment of epilepsy.

Serge Pierre-Louis, MD

Dr. Serge Pierre-Louis attended medical school at the State University of Haiti. He trained in Internal Medicine and Neurology in Cleveland, then in epilepsy in Chicago. He is Associate Professor of Neurology at Rush University Medical Center and Director of the Epilepsy Clinic & the Clinical Neurophysiology Lab at John H. Stroger, Jr. Hospital in Chicago.

Archana A. Patel, MD, MPH

Dr. Patel is a pediatric epileptologist based at Harvard Medical School/Boston Children’s Hospital. Her clinical and research interests are centered around improving care for children with epilepsy in low-resource regions. She leads global neurology efforts at Boston Children’s Hospital, working in regions of sub Saharan Africa, primarily in Zambia and Rwanda.

Paul Regan

Paul has spent his professional career leading nonprofit organizations, with experience in foundations, philanthropy, international relief, associations and partnerships, and health care delivery. He has degrees in psychology and counseling, and a doctorate in organizational leadership from the University of Massachusetts Lowell. As President of ROW Foundation, Paul helps to facilitate efforts — both within ROW and between ROW and OWP Pharmaceuticals — to improve the quality of life for persons living in under-resourced areas.

Ken Koskela

Ken has more than 25 years of experience with international nonprofits, both on staff as well as in a consultancy role. He holds a dual major MBA in International Business and Finance. For Ken, the ROW Foundation is a perfect fit as he was diagnosed with epilepsy at a young age, which has been effectively controlled by medication. He knows the critical importance of effective diagnosis and treatment and the life-changing impact they can have on individuals and families.

Lori Hairrell

Lori earned her degree in Applied Psychology/Business from North Central College in Naperville Illinois. Since graduating, she has been professionally involved in adult education, community education, social services, and refugee relief. Most recently she served as Program Developer for ROW Foundation, from before the first funded program through early 2023.

As a member of the Advisory Council, Lori continues to provide counsel as needed in the areas of programming priorities and partnerships. Her great joy is equipping others to overcome obstacles and gain self-sufficiency.

Jeremy Gudauskas

Jeremy has over 22 years of experience spanning business, nonprofit, and higher education. With degrees in communication and social entrepreneurship from North Central College, he served for 17 years at his alma mater as a senior administrator, founder of the Center for Social Impact, and instructor of social innovation courses. For ROW Global Health, Jeremy builds relationships with donors and philanthropic organizations to help advance the mission.

Steve Coates, FRCP, MBBS

Dr. Coates is Founder and CEO of the UK-based charity TeleEEG, which brings high quality EEG interpretation for epilepsy to under-resourced countries throughout the world. He holds a BSc in Electronics systems engineering from Cranfield Institute UK, and graduated from Newcastle University Medical School UK with an MBBS. He became a clinical neurophysiologist in 2007 and is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians. He is the clinical neurophysiologist for NHS Trusts in the Northeast and Northwest of England.

Tolu Olaniyan, BSc LD Nursing, MSc Epilepsy

Tolu Olaniyan is the CEO of Pretola Global Health and Consulting, an organization that provides specialist training internationally. She is a registered Learning Disability Nurse (RNLD) specializing in epilepsy management. She has an undergraduate degree in Learning Disability Nursing from the University of Southampton, UK and a Masters degree in Epilepsy/Epileptology from Kings College London, UK. Tolu is a program lead in one of the NHS Integrated Care Boards in England. She is also involved in several international projects to address the awareness and treatment gap of epilepsy in low- and middle-income countries.

Matt Litfin, CFA, MBA

Matt has 30 years of investment-related career experience and today is a results-driven, objective leader who uses technology, experience and investment team talent to drive profitability and growth. His education includes a B.S. in Finance (summa cum laude) from the University of Tennessee (Knoxville), and an M.B.A. from Harvard University Graduate School of Business. Matt has worked for large financial services firms such as William Blair and Columbia Threadneedle, was Chief Financial Officer of Sympathy Brands, and has served on many non-profit boards. His health care investing experience is extensive and he is passionate about improving the lives of people with epilepsy worldwide.

Catherine Shaw

Catherine is a passionate global leader motivated by delivering meaningful business results. In the past decade, she has dedicated her career to transforming healthcare through the power of technology and AI – with the aim of improving access and patient outcomes. Passionate about the ROW Global Health mission, Catherine seeks to leverage her privilege of access to treatment and care for her seizure disorder to bring hope and assistance to those with epilepsy in underserved areas.