Our Team
Novir has assembled a network of professionals to support the crisis at hand, building an unmatched team of health care, medical and operational experts with a focus on quality and clinical relevance and with industry-leading, global experience in pandemic response, patient care and organizational leadership.
Our people truly set us apart.

Alexander Kempe
President
Mr. Kempe has two-and-a-half decades of operating and investment management experience in the healthcare industry, primarily with GE Healthcare (GEHC) in a number of strategic, operational and financial leadership positions in the U.S. and Europe.
He is the former Director of Strategic Alliances & Vice President of Home Health at GEHC. Prior roles include: General Manager of GEHC Americas and Chief Financial Officer and Vice Chairman of GEHC EMEA and GEHC Kretztechnik (NM: KTA). He later founded an investment firm, 37celsius Capital Partners, focused on global digital health companies.
He currently serves in a number of board roles, including as a member of the advisory board at Genia, Sensipass, and VasoGnosis. He served as Chairman of the Board at the World Trade Center Wisconsin (WTCW) and was a member of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT) advisory board.
Mr. Kempe is a native of Sweden, and he received a Bachelor of Science degree from Uppsala University in business administration and economics. He spent four years in the military, including ROTC, serving as a Lieutenant of the Lapland Ranger Regiment in Kiruna, Sweden.

Peter Klug
Vice President, Business and Program Development
Peter Klug, as Managing Director of FRKL Insights LLC, is an advisor to startups, investor groups and trade associations focused on innovating in healthcare.
He spent nearly a decade at Direct Supply and most recently led the commercial development of Direct Supply’s DS smart™ platform from patented idea to commercialization. This system serves to connect a product portfolio directly to residents’ electronic medical records allowing caregivers to be 40% more efficient and eliminating transcription error. Previously, he was a Category Director for Direct Supply’s Clinical and Rehabilitation businesses, focused on providing a portfolio of senior-focused solutions to therapists and nurses in long-term care.
Prior to joining Direct Supply, Peter spent time in management consulting with A.T. Kearney in its healthcare practice, and he worked for a Silicon Valley telemedicine startup, MDvista, developing software to transform pacemakers into real-time monitoring devices. He has lived in Nijmegen, the Netherlands; Lausanne, Switzerland; and Shanghai, China, serving in a variety of leadership roles in operations, supply chain and product management.
Peter has always been interested in serving others in the healthcare field and making a difference, working with providers and clinicians to help patients stay healthier for longer at a lower cost, with higher patient satisfaction. He earned a bachelor’s degree in engineering from Princeton University and a master’s degree in business administration with a distinction in leadership from the Institute for Management Development in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Dirk Steinert, MD
Chief Medical Officer
Dr. Steinert has over 25 years of clinical practice. He is an active clinician, is board certified in Internal Medicine and Pediatrics, and has held various clinical leadership positions, primarily with the Ascension system in Wisconsin.
He is the Medical Director, Quality Specialty Care, for Ascension Medical Group. Previously, he was President of Medical Staff at Community Hospital of Ottawa in Ottawa, Ill., and Chief Resident for Internal Medicine and Pediatrics while at Tulane University. Dr. Steinert also served as Medical Director of Population Health and Chair of the Clinical Practice Council of Columbia-St. Mary’s Hospital, prior to the merger into Ascension Wisconsin. He has also developed knowledge in population health through his involvement as Medical Director for two skilled nursing facilities and as medical advisor for two school districts.
Dr. Steinert supports research in medical devices, medications and clinical work, including advanced care planning for patient-centered outcomes.
Dr. Steinert founded Steinert Consulting LLC, supporting clients in the pharmaceutical industry, as well as home health and nursing, with clinical advice. He serves on the board of the Wisconsin Collaborative for Healthcare Quality and serves on an advisory panel for the Wisconsin Research Education Network. He also is a co-lead for the Ascension Medical Group of Wisconsin Quality Safety and Regulatory Committee, and sits on the Ovation Health Ethics Board.
Dr. Steinert received his Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of Illinois-Chicago, did his residency at Tulane University in Internal Medicine and Pediatrics, and is certified in Management of Healthcare Delivery from the Harvard Business School. He is currently enrolled in a Masters of Business Administration program at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Lubar School of Business.

Kim Wutt
Ms. Wutt, a registered nurse, has more than 30 years of long-term care experience in nursing and senior living, specializing in multiple care platforms and operations, informatics and reimbursement programs.
She has held a variety of leadership positions at health care companies throughout the East Coast, Midwest, Pacific Northwest, Florida, and California, including oversight of operations of numerous independent living, assisted living, memory care and skilled nursing across multiple states.
Most recently, Kim was a strategic account executive at Omnicare, CVS Health, a Cincinnati-based national provider of long-term care pharmacy services. Previously, she served as a corporate clinical informatics specialist for Sava Senior Care in Atlanta and as a team leader, clinical services, for Kisco Senior Living in Carlsbad, Calif. She also was the regional director of quality and care management for Chicago-based Enlivant, directing 11 communities in Wisconsin and Michigan.
Kim has a bachelor’s degree in nursing from Chamberlain College of Nursing in Chicago, an associate degree from Valencia (Fla.) Community College, and practical nursing program diploma from Waukesha County (Wis.) Technical College, as well as facility administration advanced study at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
In her free time, she gardening, travelling, boarding and spending time with her family and friends.

Brooke Worzalla
Mrs. Worzalla has strong and wide-ranging experience in human resources at both Fortune 500 and emerging companies, leading in areas like employee engagement, organizational development, staffing, talent acquisition, and recruitment.
She spent the last two years as Director of People and Culture at Bright Cellars, serving as a key member of the leadership team as the company grew from 50 to more than 100 hourly and salaried employees across the country.
Prior to that, Mrs. Worzalla had more than six years of experience at two Fortune 500 companies: Robert W. Baird & Co. and Kohl’s Corp. As a HR business advisor at Baird, Mrs. Worzalla engaged with associates and managers, building strong relationships and maintaining positive employee relations. At Kohl’s, she served as a Senior Analyst for Organization Design and then on the Merchandise Transformation Team.
Mrs. Worzalla has a bachelor’s degree in communications from Truman State University and a Master’s of Business Administration in Human Resources and Business Management from Concordia University.
Sales

Jason Schrader
Mr. Schrader is a sales and marketing leader and entrepreneur with more than 15 years in business development, business strategy and analysis in the healthcare industry, including the last five with surgical device maker Medtronic.
At Medtronic, Mr. Schrader served as an account manager and senior account manager responsible for business development of the Aquamantys Bipolar Sealer and Plasma Blade dissection devices. Prior to that, he worked in various roles at Direct Supply, serving as a customer marketing manager responsible for the development of go-to-market strategies for a more than $100 million line of business.
Mr. Schrader is also an entrepreneur. He founded GymPass LLC, which offers pay-as-you-go access to a network of fitness facilities and classes.
Mr. Schrader is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse with a bachelor’s degree in international business, marketing and German. He received his Master’s of Business Administration from Marquette University in marketing and entrepreneurship and also studied business, international finance and German at the Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences.

Tom Meccariello
Director of Sales and New Business
Mr. Meccariello has more than 30 years of experience in diagnostic imaging product development, global operations management, and Six Sigma quality leadership in the healthcare industry, the majority with GE Healthcare (GEHC).
Recent positions include Director of Global Operations for GEHC’s diagnostic imaging pre-owned business. Here, Mr. Meccariello managed a large global portfolio of DI equipment including MR, CT, PET, XRAY, Vascular, Ultrasound, Nuclear, Mobile and RF products. His responsibilities included pricing, buying, selling and managing global product inventories.
Tom holds several patents. He has managed R&D digital imaging research teams and led strategic quality initiatives for GEHC’s global services parts business, training over 300 people in the Six Sigma quality process. This resulted in saving the service business over $10 million in process efficiencies.
He has lived and worked in Paris, France; Budapest, Hungary; and Haifa, Israel.
He holds a Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering from the Rochester Institute of Technology and has completed all required course work towards his Masters of Science in electrical engineering from Marquette University. He is Master Black Belt-Certified in Six Sigma and Lean quality processes.
Finance
Program Management
Clinical Operations
Regulatory & Quality

Melinda Bartlett
Controller
Ms. Bartlett has more than 15 years of experience in all aspects of finance and accounting in a myriad of industries, and she specializes in creating, instituting, and teaching accounting and finance procedures and practices.
She spent the last two years as Controller in the automotive field, serving as both the overseer of the general accounting/finance function, as well as the financial process architect/advisor while the company reconfigured their product and service offerings.
Prior to that, Ms. Bartlett had the opportunity to work for companies focusing on energy procurement, managed print, and public accounting where she was able to utilize her skills and financial acumen to streamline company organization, processes, contracting, and profitability.
Ms. Bartlett has a bachelor’s degree in Writing from The University of Wisconsin – Whitewater and a Master’s of Business Administration in Accounting from Southern New Hampshire University.

Andy Blanchard
Program Manager
Mr. Blanchard has been creating elegant solutions for complex problems in the healthcare and manufacturing industries for the past 20 years, with experience across operations, technology, business intelligence, quality, and global supply chain.
The majority of Andy’s career was at Direct Supply. While there, he created their first order management portal, established integrations with key supplier partners and drafted and executed technology roadmaps. He encouraged collaboration with supply chain, customer service, marketing, and sales to reduce exceptions, lower net loss, and drive cost out of healthcare.
Andy’s passion lies in working on a business, strategically leveraging technology, process improvement, and analytics to enhance the experience of workers, allowing them to do their jobs faster and better-informed. He holds a Bachelor of Science in information technology from Marquette University.

Robert Di Tullio
Director, Regulatory Compliance
Robert Di Tullio is an experienced industry expert providing custom quality and regulatory solutions to the medical devices industry, specializing in diagnostics, as President of Di Tullio Consulting Inc., since 2013.
He has 46 years of experience in the in vitro diagnostics industry, the last 35 in regulatory, clinical, and quality management. Previously, he was Vice President, Global Regulatory and Clinical Affairs, for Alere Inc. from 2010 until 2013, and held similar positions at ProteoGenix, Sequenom, Siemens Medical Solutions Diagnostics, and Diagnostic Products Corporation. Robert was the Co-Chairman of the AdvaMed Diagnostics Task Force from 2007 until 2013, was the Diagnostics Industry Liaison to the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Advisory Committee from 2011 until 2014, and is a long-time member of the Regulatory Affairs Professionals Society. He was an advisory board member for the medical device graduate degree curriculum at the University of Southern California from 2004 until 2006. Robert received a Bachelor of Sciene in biology from Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia.

Michael Yu
Director, Quality and Compliance
Michael Yu is a licensed clinical laboratory scientist and registered health information administrator with more than 20 years of laboratory experience.
He worked more than 15 years in laboratory management with Kaiser Permanente, as well as with integrated health care systems, standalone acute care hospitals, blood donor centers, and physician office laboratories. Mr. Yu has taught at the UCLA School of Medicine, the Center for Prehospital Care, and the Oregon Health and Science University graduate biomedical informatics program.
He is the founder and owner of CLIA Lab Consultant, where he provides consultation to laboratories and companies worldwide around startup, regulations (CMS, CLIA, FDA, HIPAA, and state), reimbursement, and testing strategies. He is also certified as a Six Sigma Greenbelt and a Quality Improvement Associate from the American Society for Quality.
Mr. Yu holds a Bachelor and Masters of Science in clinical laboratory science from George Washington University and a MBA in healthcare administration from Loma Linda University.