A Letter From Our President

ATILLA KONDOROSI

Mr. Kondorosi has been involved with the hospitality and hotel industry for most of his life.  From 1969 through 1985, he held various positions at the international InterContinental Hotels chain, including various senior management roles.  After his transitioning to the USA, he moved into the real estate business and held a variety of positions.  Recently he has held te position of Director of Sales for Prestige Homes, Inc. part of Goldrich and Kest Industries headquartered in California since 1957.  Mr. Kondorosi represented the successful sale of 386 homes in the Bel Air Crest Development, including re-sales over the past several years, various high end listings and sales in prominent locations such as Malibu, Pacific Palisades, Bel Air, Beverly Hills and other parts of the west-side Los Angeles area.

Mr. Kondorosi is also the founder and President of EDKO Trade, Inc., and international real estate and trading company involved in promoting and closing transactions between various companies and individuals located around the world.  Since 2000, he has also been involved in various international and foreign innovative startup companies in various capacities including CEO, board member or in a consulting role.  Mr. Kondorosi received a Juri Doctor degree from Janus Pannonius University in Hungary in international law.  He also was a professor at the Budapest Business School / Faculty of Commerce, Catering and Tourism in Hungary.

In addition, Mr Kondorosi has served on the Board for the Regency Club from 2008 through 2011, a private business organization started by David Murdock 30 years ago in Los Angeles.

Robert Parkhill, Ph.D

Dr. Parkhill directs operations at the Sanofi Pasteur VaxDesign Campus, which designs, develops, and manufactures in vitro models of the human immune system. Their mission is to prevent infectious disease by forecasting vaccine responses before clinical trials, and create a competitive advantage by providing predictive in vitro immunological models and assays.

Dr. Parkhill holds a PhD in Material Science and Inorganic Chemistry for Oklahoma State University.

Donald R. Drake III, Ph.D

Don joined Sanofi Pasteur VaxDesign in 2005 and has served as Director of Immunological Research since 2009. He has had a long-standing interest in the immune system, particularly the interaction between viruses and elements of the adaptive immune system, since initiating his graduate studies at Emory University in Atlanta, GA.

As a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Virginia, he was awarded funding from the Cancer Research Institute and received an Interdisciplinary Training Grant in Immunology from the National Institutes of Health to study CD8+ T cell immunity against influenza virus.

At VaxDesign, Don leads a team developing and optimizing the MIMIC® System to permit the evaluation of human adaptive immunity (cellular and humoral responses) against vaccine candidates, biologics, and other immunomodulators in a pre-clinical setting. He is an author on a variety of patents and peer-reviewed journal publications.

Robert W. Pollack, M.D., R. PH.

Dr. Pollock was originally from Ohio where he majored in pharmacy at Ohio Northern University. After graduation he worked as a pharmacist and attended The Ohio State University where he majored in chemistry and graduated in biochemistry.

In 1992 he attended Wright State University School of Medicine in Dayton Ohio, after graduating from medical school he completed his residency at Orlando Regional Medical Center in anatomic and clinical pathology, then a two year fellowship in clinical molecular genetics at All Children’s Hospital in St Petersburg Florida. After completing his fellowship in genetics, he became Medical Director for Central Florida Blood Bank for 3 years where he took great interest in the stem cell donation program.

After leaving the blood bank, Dr Pollock became Assistant Director in Molecular Genetics for the Centers of Advanced Diagnostics which at the time was a division of Ameripath. After the restructuring of the Orlando operation, Dr Pollock found himself back in blood banking. He was medical director for BloodNetUSA in Lakeland, Florida prior to its merger with Florida Blood Services.

Tisha M. Foster, M.D

Dr. Tisha M. Foster joined Florida’s Blood Centers (FBC) in 2008 and is responsible for therapeutic apheresis, cellular therapies, and FBC’s participation in the National Marrow Donor Program.

She received her undergraduate degree from the University of Central Oklahoma and her medical degree from the University of Oklahoma. She completed her residency at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center and her fellowship at the Medical College of Wisconsin/Blood Center of Wisconsin.

Prior to joining FBC, Dr. Foster served as medical director at BloodNetUSA in Lakeland (Fla.), where her responsibilities included supervision of the Transfusion Service Laboratory at Lakeland Regional Medical Center, donor eligibility, therapeutic apheresis, and ensuring regulatory compliance throughout the blood center.

Richard R. Gammon, M.D.

Dr. Richard R. Gammon joined Florida’s Blood Centers (FBC) in 2005 and is responsible for ensuring that the organization’s medical practices, policies and testing remain at the forefront of the blood-banking industry. He received his undergraduate degree from Gannon University in Erie, Pennsylvania and medical degree from Hahnemann University in Philadelphia.

He completed his residency at The Ohio State University and his fellowship at the University of Virginia. He also serves as an assistant professor of pathology at the University of Central Florida College of Medicine. He has served as President and Technical Committee Chair of the Florida Association of Blood Banks. He currently serves as the Chair of the Scientific Medical and Technical Committee and Chair of the Journal Club for America’s Blood Centers.

He is an assessor and abstract reviewer for AABB and is a manuscript reviewer for the journal Transfusion. He is the co-recipient of a 2011 ABC Foundation Grant for the Get Healthy Wellness Program. Dr. Gammon’s research has been published in various peer-reviewed journals and he has been a featured speaker at numerous national and international conferences on blood banking and transfusion medicine.