Collaboration Partners
Scientific Advisory Board
Rama Rao Amara, PhD
Professor, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Emory Vaccine Center, Yerkes National Primate Research Center of Emory University School of Medicine. His laboratory is focused on the development of vaccines for infectious diseases such as HIV, SARS-CoV-2, TB and HCV. Rama received his PhD studying molecular biology, immunology and vaccine development against TB at the Indian Institute of Sciences, Bangalore in India. As part of his postdoctoral fellowship at Emory, he co-developed a HIV vaccine that completed phase 2a testing in the US. For the past 20 years his laboratory developed multiple vaccine and immunotherapy approaches to prevent and treat HIV infection, and more recently a vaccine against COVID-19.
Kevin Karem, PhD
Kevin is currently The Director of one of FDAs laboratories that ensures the safety of US food imports. He received his Doctorate in Medical Science Microbiology from the University of South Alabama College of Medicine and a bachelor’s degree at the University of Louisville. He did a Post-Doctoral Fellowship at The University of Tennessee in viral immunology and vaccine design. He’s performed and led research in the private sector, academia, and was at the CDC for 20+ years performing infectious disease research. He spent his last 6 years at the CDC as the Global Health Associate Director for Laboratory Science, working to help global partners survey disease. His experience includes Global Health Security applications, emergency operations, and outbreak response. Kevin was involved with responses to many outbreaks including the West African Ebola outbreak, Zika virus in the Americas and most recently COVID19.
Chengzhi Shi, PhD
Chengzhi joined Georgia Tech in August 2018 as an assistant professor. His research focuses on acoustic wave propagation, experimental and physical acoustics, and biomedical ultrasound. Prior, he worked as a graduate student researcher at the Department of Mechanical Engineering of the University of California, Berkeley and Materials Science Division of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory focusing on the study of acoustic angular momentum and the design and realization of acoustic metamaterials and high-speed acoustic communication. His Ph.D. dissertation (2018) focuses on the development of acoustic metamaterials and the physics of the angular momentum of sound. Prior to his Ph.D. study at the Department of Mechanical Engineering of the University of California, Berkeley, Chengzhi completed his M.S. degree in mechanical engineering at the University of Michigan-Shanghai Jiao Tong University Joint Institute in Shanghai, China. His M.S. thesis (2013) focuses on the dynamics and vibration of cyclically symmetric rotating mechanical systems. He serves in the editorial board for scientific journal Shock and Vibrations and has published over 20 scientific papers in prestigious journals including Science, PNAS, and Nature Communications.
Lawrence J. Schoen, P.E., Fellow ASHRAE
Larry Schoen is Principal Engineer for Schoen Engineering Inc., Columbia, Maryland, which was founded in 1995. He is a licensed Professional Engineer in 8 states and the District of Columbia. The mission of the firm is to create and maintain high quality indoor environments, which promote health, comfort and productivity, while using energy and other resources efficiently. He has published numerous technical articles and professional practice guidebooks in the field of air quality, energy use, systems design, and building operations, and has spoken about these subjects to ASHRAE, BOMA, AIA, Centers for Disease Control (CDC), American Bar Association (ABA), ASTM, and numerous other technical, scientific, government and industry organizations.
Ernest Conrad, MS, P.E., BOMA Fellow
Ernie Conrad is the principal in charge of Conrad Engineers. Conrad Engineers is a professional engineering consulting firm, which focuses its services on building mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and fire protection systems design and operations. Ernie Conrad received a MS in environmental engineering and a BS in civil engineering from Drexel University. As a CEM, Mr. Conrad is qualified to perform formal ASHRAE energy audits to obtain financial assistance grants and rebates to design and implement MEP improvements in buildings of all types, including commercial, residential, religious, and historically significant structures. He is a BOMA Fellow and is a professional Mechanical Engineer Licensed in 12 states.
Anita T. Broach, PhD
Anita is a Scientific and Technical Consultant with CSI: Create. Solve. Innovate. LLC, a company she founded in 2015, and advises clients across different industries including new materials development, prototyping, product testing, failure analysis, 3D printing, thin films and coatings, “smart” devices, etc. She has been involved in R&D cycles of several disruptive products and leading-edge technologies and has demonstrated proficiency in selecting (development) and testing various types of materials and product prototypes. Anita has been named as an inventor and co-inventor on more than 30 patents and patent applications pending and has authored many peer-reviewed publications and book chapters. She holds Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering and M.Sc. in Materials Science, both from University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, USA, and M.Sc. in Polymer Science from University of Skopje, N. Macedonia.