Ascend Performance Materials has appointed a medical advisory board to provide counsel on its Acteev technology platform. Comprising internationally recognized experts in the fields of PPE evaluation, viral pathology, epidemiology and infectious diseases, the board will provide scientific review and advice on end applications of Acteev technology, including masks, filtration, fabrics and engineered plastics.

“This medical advisory board brings together some of the most distinguished researchers and medical experts from around the world,” said Dr. Vikram Gopal, Ascend’s senior vice president and chief technology officer. “We launched Acteev as a novel way to help fight the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, and this team of advisors will be invaluable as we seek to rapidly develop Acteev to its full potential.”

C. Raina MacIntyre, MBBS Hons 1, FRACP, FAFPHM, M App Epid, Ph.D., is a professor of biosecurity at the University of New South Wales and head of the Global Biosecurity program at the Kirby Institute for Infection and Immunity. She is Director of Australia’s NHMRC Centre for Research Excellence in Integrated Systems for Epidemic Response. She earned her medical degree from the University of Sydney and Ph.D. in epidemiology from The Australian National University.

Karoll Cortez, M.D., M.H.S., is an infectious disease physician at Greater Baltimore Medical Center. Previously she served as Medical Officer in the Infectious Control Devices branch of the Center for Devices and Radiological Health for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and as a physician scientist at the National Cancer Institute and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease at the National Institute of Health. Dr. Cortez received her medical degree from the Universidad Central de Venezuela and master’s from the Duke University School of Medicine.

Christopher McDevitt, Ph.D., is an Australian Research Council Future Fellow and principal investigator in the Chemical Biology of Bacterial Pathogens Laboratory at the University of Melbourne, Department of Microbiology and Immunology. He completed six years of postdoctoral research at the University of Oxford after earning his Ph.D. from the University of Queensland, Australia.

Aartjan te Velthuis, Ph.D., is an assistant professor at Princeton University, Department of Molecular Biology. Previously, he was a Wellcome Trust Henry Dale Fellow and group leader at the University of Cambridge, Department of Pathology. He did his postdoctoral training at the Sir William Dunn School of Pathology at the University of Oxford. Dr. te Velthuis received a Ph.D. in molecular virology from Leiden University in the Netherlands.

Ascend Performance Materials makes high-performance materials for everyday essentials and new technologies. Its focus is on improving quality of life and inspiring a better tomorrow through innovation. Based in Houston, Texas, and with regional offices in Shanghai, Brussels and Detroit, it is a fully integrated material solutions provider with eight global manufacturing facilities in the United States, Europe and China. The company’s 2600-person global workforce makes the plastics, fabrics, fibres and chemicals used to make safer vehicles, cleaner energy, better medical devices, smarter appliances and longer-lasting apparel and consumer goods. Ascend is committed to safety, sustainability and the success of its customers and its communities. 

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