About Us

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Managing Director

Over his career, Mr. Pitarra has served in both public and private companies, beginning first as a research scientist in protein chemistry with Baxter Laboratories. After obtaining his MBA, he moved into financial roles with Beckman Instruments, Max Factor and Coopers & Lybrand. Mid-career he transitioned to smaller enterprises, beginning first as Chief Financial Officer of Humanetics Innovation Solutions.

At Humanetics, after leading a successful turnaround, he then led an M&A transaction with a sale to a British publicly listed company. He was appointed President and Chief Executive Officer, where after the acquisition of the company’s competitor, he led the integration of both entities, moved them both to the Detroit metro area, and in the following four years led the company to become the global dominant factor in automotive safety, selling to every auto manufacturer in the world.

After he left Humanetics, he became Chief Executive of Triflo Medical, a start-up company that developed an innovative heart valve prosthetic device.

In 2005 Mr. Pitarra joined the Polymer Technology Group, a key supplier of biomaterials to the medical device industry. He was part of the negotiating team when PTG was acquired by Royal DSM of the Netherlands, and co-led the establishment of a life science incubator named Emergence. Emergence established ExThera Medical, where he co-founded and served ExThera as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for eleven years.

Mr. Pitarra holds a BS and MS Life Science Engineering from Tufts University, and an MBA in Finance and Marketing from USC.

Executive Vice President

949-326-6948

Ms. Full has a record of growth-oriented, strategic leadership in positioning organizations to obtain key grants, including from the National Institutes of Health and private foundations. She has strong executive-leadership competencies in all areas of the organization; talent for identifying strategy, communicating vision, developing tactical plans, and motivating and empowering individuals and teams to achieve ambitious goals.

She holds a B.A. in Business Administration from Radford University.

Executive Vice President

Ms. Pierce has deep experience in executive management including start-up companies, particularly in
medical technology, biomedical and pharmaceutical, health sciences, medical equipment and
consumer products. 

She began her career in the mental health industry and then lead in the development of a large PPO
organization, and then with Hendrick & Struggles, Inc. Later she was recruited as a Director for
Executive Access in Hong Kong. Moving through several positions she founded her own firm,
University Talent Management which focused on placement of global scientific professionals in the
bioscience,, biotechnology and life and health sciences. She collaborated with global scientific
institutions such as NHI and  renowned educational centers to not only create a proprietary and web-
based state of the art systems but to bring top talent to the firms clients.  

Ms. Pierce returned to the US in 2013 and co-founded a new search firm, Washington Search Partners,
for global clients which see specialized in Asia-Pacific/ASEAN trade. 

Ms. Pierce studied at California State University and UCLA in Business Administration & Management. 

VOLUNTEER EXPERIENCE  

Volunteer Chaplain 

Glendale Adventist Medical Center 

Glendale, California  

Director  

Orange County Mentors for Youth 

Tustin, California  

Director  

Nashville Chapter YWCA Board of Directors 

Nashville, Tennessee  

Chairman,  Fund Raising Committee  

Public Relations Committee  

Director  

Tennessee Chapter of the National Committee for the Prevention of Child Abuse Board of Directors  

Nashville, Tennessee  

Chairman Long-Range Planning Committee  

Public Relations Committee Corporate Development  

Director  

Nashville Metro Council of Directors of Volunteers  

Nashville, Tennessee