Business Management Team

J. Dean Barry

J. Dean Barry is the Chief Executive Officer of 21st Century Medicine, Inc. He manages the strategic focus of the company’s highly specialized research projects and is responsible for business development.

Mr. Barry brings to the company more than 25 years of successful biotechnology management experience with a history of team building and creating cooperative strategic alliances.

Most recently the President and CEO of VRL, Inc. & Viratest International, Inc. in San Antonio, Texas, Mr. Barry maximized assets, leveraged the companies’ strengths and created value from scarce resources while preparing these companies for strategic acquisition. Previously, Mr. Barry was the General Manager of Southwest Bio-Clinical Laboratories, Inc. He began his career at Medinco, Inc., initially as a Laboratory Manager, then moved up to Regional Director and eventually became Director of Diagnostic Services.

A native of Pennsylvania, Mr. Barry attended "The Pennsylvania State University" and earned Bachelor’s degrees in both Microbiology and Social Psychology and a Master’s degree in Medical Microbiology. Mr. Barry is a published author and has several U.S. patents.

Harvey J. Horswell

Harvey J. Horswell is Chief Operating Officer for 21st Century Medicine. He has operational and financial responsibilities for day-to-day business decisions and fully participates in the strategic mission of the company. He brings more than twenty years of proven leadership experience establishing corporate policy and objectives, designing quality systems and performing risk analysis.

Most recently the Corporate Supply Chain Manager for PGP Industries, Inc. in Santa Fe Springs, CA., Mr. Horswell managed precious metal logistics and directed customer service and material control functions creating doubled profitability. Previously Mr. Horswell served as a General Manger, Quality Manager, Production & Development Manager and Analytic Services Manager.

A native of Iowa and raised in Minnesota, Mr. Horswell holds a B.S. in Chemistry from Ambassador College in Pasadena, California, attended the University of Southern California, and is an ABD, Ph.D. in Chemistry.

He has attended numerous postgraduate seminars on topics from statistics to experiment design and is a member of the American Chemical Society and the American Society for Quality.

Victor V. Vurpillat, Ph.D.

Victor Vurpillat is currently Executive Vice President of 21st Century Medicine in charge of Investor Relations. Dr. Vurpillat brings over thirty years of startup business leadership and has been involved in the founding of fourteen startup companies.

Dr. Vurpillat has served as an Officer, Director or funding source for many high tech startups, including Novell, CompuCom, In Cell, IDR-Reuters, Opt genetics, Span works, Biomarker Pharmaceuticals, and QOL Systems.

A native of California, Dr. Vurpillat holds a BS in Mathematics from California Polytechnic, an MBA from Pepperdine University and a Ph.D. in Human Behavior from Newport University.

He served in the US Naval Submarine Service, is a member of MENSA, a published author and holds seven US patents.

Scientific Management Team

Gregory M. Fahy, Ph.D.

Gregory M. Fahy is Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer of 21st Century Medicine and serves on the company’s Board of Directors. Dr. Fahy prioritizes, develops and directs the company’s research activities. He also manages extramural collaborative research projects.

Dr Fahy applies his 30+ years of experience in the field of cryobiology and cryopreservation to all research here at 21CM. As a scientist with the American Red Cross, he was the originator of the first practical method of Cryopreservation by vitrification and the inventor of computer based systems to apply this technology to whole organs. Before joining 21st Century Medicine, he was Chief Scientist for Organ, Inc and of LRT, Inc.

Prior to that he was Head of the Tissue Cryopreservation Section of the Transfusion and Cryopreservation Research Program of the U.S. Naval Medical Research Institute in Bethesda, Maryland where he spearheaded the original concept of ice blocking agents.

Respected for his expertise and contributions to the advancement of Cryobiology technologies and applications, Dr Fahy is a frequent speaker at national and international scientific meetings and workshops.

A native of California, Dr. Fahy holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from the University of California at Irvine and a Ph.D. from the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta.

He currently holds a joint appointment as a visiting scholar in the Department of Biochemistry at the University of California at Riverside. His scholarly work is highly published and he holds more than 15 patents.

Brian G. Wowk, Ph.D.

Brian G. Wowk is the Senior Physicist of 21st Century Medicine responsible for developing technologies for the control of cryogenic phenomena.

Doctor Wowk came to the company from the Institute of Bio diagnostics of the National Research Council of Canada where he studied magnetic resonance imaging. He was previously a graduate student and medical physics researcher at the Manitoba Cancer Treatment and Research Foundation (now Cancer Care Manitoba). He also studied and taught in the Physics Department of the University of Manitoba.

Dr. Wowk, now a U.S. citizen, is a native of Winnipeg, Canada and has earned B.Sc., M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in physics from the University of Manitoba. He has published thirteen peer-reviewed articles on vitrification, cryopreservation, and medical physics topics, three book chapters, and holds several patents. Dr Wowk has spoken on cryobiology and biophysics related topics at numerous national and international scientific meetings.

Yuansheng Tan, Ph.D.

Doctor Tan is the senior neurophysiologist spearheading 21st Century Medicine’s neurologic tissue preservation research project. He designs, oversees and performs neurophysiology based experimental protocols.

Dr. Tan came to 21st Century Medicine from Princeton University in Princeton, N.J., where he completed a post doctoral program in experimental neurophysiology, studying the neuronal basis for learning and memory.

A native of Inner Mongolia, Dr Tan holds a B.S. from Nankai University, China, a Masters degree in Biometry and Statistics, and a Ph.D. in Environmental Health and Toxicology from SUNY Albany.

He has published more than a dozen papers on toxicology and neurophysiology in peer-reviewed journals, and has made presentations at the Annual Meetings of both the Society for Neuroscience and the Society for Toxicology.

Steven F. Mullen, Ph.D.

Steve Mullen is the senior reproductive cryobiologist heading up 21CM’s assisted reproduction technology program. Dr Mullen designs, oversees and conducts research using animal models to develop improved procedures for mammalian oocyte vitrification, with the goal of translating these advances to both veterinary and human clinical applications;

Doctor Mullen earned his BS in biology from the University of Minnesota, and his Ph.D in Reproductive Cryobiology from the University of Missouri, in Columbia MO.
Dr Mullen comes to 21CM after recently completing a postdoctoral program studying reproductive cryobiology in the well respected cryobiology lab of Dr. John Critser.

Steve has been a visiting scholar at the Oregon Regional Primate Center, currently serves as President of the International Cryobiology Young Inventors Society, and has published ten peer reviewed papers relevant to human reproduction and cryopreservation.

Xian Ge, M.D.

Xian Ge is the Chief Pathologist at 21CM. Dr. Ge oversees and performs surgery and diagnostic testing in support of the neurologic tissue preservation, and whole body cryopreservation research projects.

Dr. Ge comes to 21st Century Medicine from Catholic University in Belgium where she performed as a surgeon. She was previously a visiting scholar at Centre Hospital and University of Lille, France where she was deeply involved in anoxic heart studies, and earlier was involved in both pancreatic islet cell cryopreservation and porcine transplant research in Liaoning Province, China.

A native of China, Xian earned her Medical Doctor degree from the Institute of Medicine of Liaoning Province, China and a Doctor of Medicine in Pathology from Humboldt University in Berlin, Germany.

Roberto C. Pagotan, M.D.

Dr Pagotan is the Lead Transplant Research Surgeon at 21st Century Medicine. He performs and consults on organ transplant surgeries while participating in the scientific research mission of the company.

Dr Pagotan comes to 21CM from the University of California, Irvine Medical Center by way of the Armed Forces Medical Center in Quezon City, Philippines.

Dr Pagotan studied at La Salle University College of Medicine where earned his M.D.
He then performed his internship and surgical residency at Jose Reyes Memorial Medical Center in Manila.
Dr Pagotan is a board certified general surgeon who has performed many varied gastrointestinal and thoracic surgeries and provided trauma surgery consultations to a number of Military hospitals and Medical Centers in the Philippines before joining his family here the U.S. in 2006.

Adnan Sharif, M.D.

Dr Sharif is a Senior Research Surgeon and Scientist at 21st Century Medicine, helping to develop new surgical models. He is currently involved in experimental cardiovascular perfusion projects and whole blood replacement research.

Dr. Sharif comes to 21CM from UCLA where he was an instructor in the biochemistry department. Previously, Dr Sharif performed general surgery at Kings College Hospital in London, England, and before that, was a district officer with the World Health Organization, managing the campaign to eradicate polio in the Mandan District of Pakistan.

Dr. Sharif earned his BS from the University of Peshawar, Pakistan, and his M.D. from Xian Jiao tong University, School of Medicine, in China. Adnan speaks 5 languages and is finalizing his MBA in Health Care Management.