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Foster Pharma’s Team Bios


	Larry Acquarulo is founder and CEO of Foster Corporation in Putnam, CT and Las Vegas, NV which designs, develops and manufactures critical polymer compounds for the medical device (neurovascular catheters, angioplasty, etc.), pharmaceutical, and drug delivery industries. Larry graduated from University of Massachusetts, Lowell MA (BS in Plastics Engineering), University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT (MS in Materials Science), and Kennedy Western University, Thousand Oaks, CA (PhD Engineering Management). In addition, Larry has to his credit 5 US and international patents granted and 3 patents pending in the field of nano composites, cross-linkable polymers, lubricated and drug-filled polymers for medical device and industrial use, as well as over one dozen technical papers written and published in leading technical journals such as Medical Device and Diagnostic Industry Magazine, Modern Plastics, Plastics Engineering Magazine, Design News, and Medical Plastics and Biomaterials. Professional memberships include Society of Plastics Engineers (senior member), Connecticut Technology Council, University of Connecticut Institute of Materials Science Associate, Vistage (an international organization of CEO’s), East Haven High School Alumni Association, UConn Alumni Association, and UMass Lowell Alumni Association. Larry is involved in many philanthropic causes including establishing a polymer manufacturing lab at Quinebaug Valley Community College, setting up a foundation at UMass Lowell, and sponsoring a Relay for Life team for the American Cancer Society. Foster has most recently announced its “corporate partnership” with Habitat for Humanity of Northeast Connecticut.

	Dan Lazas President of Foster Corporation’s Pharmaceutical Division comes to Foster from Greene, Tweed & Co. Kulpsville, PA where was the General Manager of the Medical Division, a leader in the manufacture of radiolucent orthopedic instruments. He also briefly served as the Greater China Regional Manager at Greene Tweed’s Taiwan facility, where he lived on short term assignment. Previously, Dan was the President and Founder of two marketing companies, US Gastro Corp. and LMG, providing comprehensive solutions for pharmaceutical and medical technology companies. Prior to this he was the General Manager of Victrex USA and responsible for managing all North American commercial and technical activities for the PEEK polymer business. Dan graduated from the University of North Carolina with a Masters in Business Administration. He also has a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from West Virginia University. Dan and his family currently reside in Downingtown, PA.

	Tony Listro is Vice President, Pharmaceutical Technology. He is an expert in the areas of polymer formulations and polymer processing such as injection molding, extrusion and coating. In addition, he has substantial experience in formulating polymers with various functional additives/ingredients and polymer compounding including continuous mixers such as twin screw extrusion and the Buss co-kneader and batch internal mixers. He has worked on such applications as oral dosage, anti-counterfeiting, controlled release, and other technologies. Tony holds both a BS and MS in Plastics Engineering from the University of Lowell, and an MBA from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. He holds two issued US patents and has authored and/or co-authored eight medical device and pharmaceutical publications. Tony has also presented at several pharmaceutical symposiums. He is a member of the Society of Plastics Engineers, Controlled Release Society, and AAPS.

	Barry Gendron has been employed with Foster Corporation for 15 years. He currently holds the position of cGMP Engineering Technician in the Foster Pharma group. Other positions held include Production Supervisor and Production Scheduler. He also is a certified color matcher. Barry has completed the Paulson Training program for twin screw extrusion, the Leistritz twin screw extrusion workshop and an eighty-hour course for supervision.

	Gowri Dorairaju is working as a product/process development engineer at Foster Pharma. Her responsibilities includes the product and process development of new pharmaceutical products, developing the process validation protocols as per the cGMP standards, performing various characterizations and analyzing the data statistically by using Minitab. She is currently pursuing her Master’s Degree in Plastics Engineering at University of Massachusetts, Lowell, MA. Gowri holds a BS degree in Polymer Engineering from Amrita University, Tamilnadu, India. Her research work in PVC nanocomposites done at UMASS Lowell was selected as one of the best papers and projects by ANTEC and SAMPE. She was presented with the Henry Thomson Scholarship award from the Department of Plastics Engineering, UMass Lowell and was awarded the GOLD MEDAL from Bharathiyar University for securing FIRST RANK at University level during her undergraduate program. Gowri is a member of the Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE). Her areas of interest include melt extrusion for drugs, nanocomposites, medical device manufacturing and compounding.

	Carolyn Prunier is the Executive Assistant to Lawrence Acquarulo, CEO/CHAIRMAN and handles agreements and contracts, pharmaceutical marketing materials/website, cGMP audits, and Company philanthropy, as well as many other various duties. Carolyn holds an AS in Secretarial Science from Quinsigamond Community College, Worcester, MA and a BS in Business Education from Bryant University, Smithfield, RI. She is a certified business education instructor and has taught for many years in the public secondary and college sectors. She has also attained the American Society for Quality’s Certified Quality Improvement Associate designation and certification in HR Management Skills. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of Habitat for Humanity of NE CT.

	Gardner Sherman holds the position of cGMP Senior Engineering Technician at Foster Corporation. He has an Associate of Science Degree from Three Rivers Technical College and was previously employed as a Senior Lead Technician responsible for the development of a combined medical device/drug delivery product in the animal health industry. In 2002 he co-authored a paper “Silicone Rubber Materials for Use in Highly-Filled or Temperature-Sensitive Formulations” which was given at the 2002 Silicone Conference in Akron, Ohio.