ZeaVision Staff - Passionate about Prevention

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Dennis L. Gierhart, Ph.D.
Chairman, CEO, Executive Committee Member
Dennis L. Gierhart, ZeaVision Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and member of the Executive Committee. Dr. Gierhart received his Ph.D. from Cornell University in 1978 in Food and Industrial Microbiology and his B.S. and M.S. degrees from Ohio State University in 1973 and 1974, respectively. From 1986 to 1998, Dr. Gierhart was founder and President of Applied Food Biotechnology, Inc., a food/feed ingredient company. Dr. Gierhart helped build Applied Food Biotechnology from a one-person operation to an international operation with facilities on four continents. In addition to being the company's founder, Dr. Gierhart served in various capacities including President. Prior to founding Applied Food Biotechnology, Dr. Gierhart directed corporate research programs for two Fortune 500 food companies.
In addition to serving as company Chairman, member of the Executive Committee and CEO, Dr. Gierhart's responsibilities at ZeaVision include a leadership role in scientific research and development. In addition Dr. Gierhart is principal in Terra Investments, a real estate company.

Chris Barber
Vice President of Sales & Marketing
Chris joined the ZeaVision team August 17, 2009, as Vice President Sales and Marketing.

Mr. Barber most recently served as a commercial leader within GE Medical Diagnostics, a $1.9 billion division of GE Healthcare and the world leader of diagnostic pharmaceutical imaging agents.
In his twenty-seven year tenure at GE Healthcare and legacy healthcare companies, Mr. Barber held commercial leadership positions of increasing responsibility in a number of businesses, with a proven track record of building effective commercial teams and driving growth thru customer centric focus and actions.

Mr. Barber received a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from University Central AR with executive training at The University of Chicago, University of Michigan, and the GE Executive development center.
“I'm thrilled to be joining ZeaVision, a great business with a history of innovation, service excellence, and focus to provide products and solutions that make a difference in patient lives." Mr. Barber noted. "ZeaVision has unique products & technologies, a growing market position, and highly committed people. I look forward to working with the ZeaVision team to extend these advantages to meet the growing needs of our customers."

Chris, his wife Karen, and three children reside in Chesterfield, MO.

Malcolm Grover
Vice President of Operations
Malcolm has spent the last 30 years holding senior management positions in medical sales, marketing and administration. In the last 20 years, he specialized in customer satisfaction programs, education and training in the field of Ophthalmology. Most recently, Malcolm has been instrumental in developing the educational and informational services of ZeaVision, a nutraceutical company whose focus is Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD), the leading cause of blindness in the United States. Because this debilitating disease is rapidly reaching epidemic proportion as “baby boomers” age, Malcolm has a passion for sharing his knowledge and years of experience by reaching out to those who have been diagnosed with, and those who are predisposed to getting AMD, as well as their family members and care providers.

Sandy Canady
Sandy joined the ZeaVision team in January of 2005 as Administrative Assistant to CEO and Founder, Dennis Gierhart. In addition to upper management support, Sandy provides support to all other key department heads at ZeaVision.

Sandy’s talents are numerous and her contributions have been many. She was instrumental in the design of the new Corporate Headquarters in St. Louis, and in the coordination of the relocation to that new facility which was completed in March of 2005. Sandy has played an important role in launching ZeaVision’s EyePromise product line and more recently, the QuantifEYE program for Optometric practices. She also plays the role of customer service and order coordinator for customers who choose to place orders through the corporate office.

Sandy brings with her 25 years of administrative and business experience in the St. Louis area. She spent 17 years with a large aluminum company as an executive assistant to the Vice Presidents of Marketing, Sales, and Research and Development. Over the last 10 years she has worked for a large security firm and as a loan officer for a large mortgage company.

Sandy has a Bachelor of Science degree in Commercial Art, with a minor in business from the University of Missouri. She also had an interest in finance and decided to continue her education in that area. She currently holds licenses in financial securities, insurance, mortgages and real estate.

Sandy and her husband, John, are very involved with their three teenage sons, playing a very active part in their sons’ high school sports. Both Sandy and her husband love to travel and enjoy playing golf.
Sandy is very excited to be part of a young company that has the potential to make a difference in the lives and health of anyone at risk of developing macular degeneration. She feels that being part of a company that is helping improve the overall health and vision of people of all ages, especially seniors, is not only extremely important but enormously rewarding. She is compassionate toward customers and passionate about the benefits of ZeaVision’s products and programs.

Betsy Ley
Betsy joined the ZeaVision Team in January of 2005 as the Customer Relations Manager. In that time, she has become heavily involved in the areas of Public Relations and Marketing, as well as Sales Support, Graphic Design and Print Production.

Betsy has 25+ years experience in Customer Service. She managed the Customer Service Department for a major Long Distance Company, Com-Link21, which later became LDDS, and eventually MCI WorldCom. She moved on to Maritz Inc. as a Marketing and Business Development Project Coordinator for their CallforceOne Consulting Group. There she was responsible for the design and creation of all corporate presentations, the Consulting Group’s presentations, as well as coordination and compilation of information associated with responses for Requests for Proposals for the Consulting Group. After leaving Maritz, Betsy worked for an aluminum tube manufacturing company as their Corporate Office Manager, Customer Service Manager and Credit and Collections Manager. Betsy was instrumental in reducing outstanding receivables to a new low of just 3%. She also brought the Customer Service Department into the computer age and provided training and support in that area as well. More recently, Betsy held the position of Office Manager for Marketing Direct Inc. After only two weeks on the job, Betsy was asked to coordinate the physical move of MDI to another location. Betsy accomplished the task on-time and well below budget. At MDI, Betsy managed the operations and administration of 35+ people.
Betsy has also followed her entrepreneurial spirit several times and owned her own Desktop Publishing, Software Applications Training and Consulting businesses. Some of her clients included Maritz Marketing, Ever Corporation, Krey Packaging, Marketing Direct and Targeted Marketing Solutions.

Betsy is a Customer Service expert. She understands the needs and concerns of her customers, understands the needs and concerns of her CSR’s and has excellent training and coaching skills. She was awarded the Eagle Award as Employee of the Year with ComLink21 – an award voted on by her peers and management.

Betsy is dedicated to the ZeaVision Team, has a creative mind and has a tremendous work ethic. She is well-respected by everyone she is associated with, and her reputation for providing outstanding and world-class customer service is well-known throughout the network she has built during her career. Betsy’s focus at ZeaVision is to build a community of support for her customer base, and to increase awareness of the merits surrounding zeaxanthin in combating eye diseases and improving overall health.

Kathy Rymer
Kathy Rymer was excited to begin her new career with ZeaVision in November of 2005. Her position would include sales of a nuetraceutical that targets eye disease, as well as launching the new, innovative program that assesses patient risk for Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD), called QuantifEYE. Kathy is now ZeaVision's National Accounts Manager.

Kathy has had the wonderful opportunity of working in the sales and marketing industry for 14 years. Her career began with SCS Compute, a subsidiary of Thomson Corporation, a major manufacturer and distributor of tax and accounting software. Kathy was responsible for marketing and training of tax compliance software to a large geographic area of accountants. During Kathy’s employment with SCS/Compute she achieved President’s Club each year of eligibility, the highest sales award given for overachievement of sales goals.

In the year 2000, Kathy joined Arthur Andersen, LLP, a big 8 accounting firm that also manufactured and distributed tax compliance software. Her duties included marketing the software, training of the software, and training peers on a professional sales cycle. While at Arthur Andersen, Kathy received awards for achievement of sales goals and awards for sales presentations.

Kathy joined Ciba Vision, a Novartis Pharmaceutical Company in 2003. Ciba Vision is a leading competitor in the eye care industry. Kathy’s responsibilities included marketing several different products including over-the-counter eye care products, as well as the prescription drug, Zaditor, to optometrists. During that time, she also managed a vendor support program and was heavily involved with the training of professional selling skills amongst her peers. She received awards for marketing achievement, product knowledge and professional selling skills.

Kathy is very involved in her church, where she has taught for many years. She is married with 2 boys and is always involved with their activities ranging from sports and school events to cub scouts. She enjoys watching her boys play baseball and she loves to cook.
Kathy graduated from Southwest Missouri State University in 1991 with a Bachelor of Science degree.

Kathy has a true passion for the eye care industry, and thoroughly enjoys working with all of the doctors and their staff. She is excited about the possibilities that the QuantifEYE program can bring to those patients who are at risk of AMD, and is proud to be among the first in the country to market a one-of-a kind, early detection and prevention program that targets this devastating disease.

Christopher Sandt
ZeaVision welcomed Christopher to the company in March, 2009, as a Regional Account Manager. Chris is a New Jersey native covering the Northeast territory. Chris comes from a diversified background in Sales after working as a Realtor with Foxtons North America and most recently in New York City, as an Account Executive with Clear Channel Radio Sales where he sold national radio advertising accounts. Prior to that, Chris attended college in upstate New York before joining the United States Navy in 2002. He was stationed aboard the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CVN-65) and served in Operations Iraqi Freedom & Enduring Freedom.

Chris currently resides in Jersey City, NJ and is an active member of his community involving himself in many volunteer organizations He has a passion for building relationships and he leads an active lifestyle. His family, work experience and time spent serving our country has shaped his core values and sales acumen.

Chris is looking forward to growing the business in the Northeast market. He is proud to be a member of a progressive company that provides excellent preventative care for the vast array of people at risk for AMD. His personality, determination and customer service skills will bode well for ZeaVision’s future growth and market awareness.

Rachel Voss
Rachel joined the ZeaVision team in March of 2006 as the Marketing and Public Relations Specialist. Her objective was to position ZeaVision at the forefront in serving the community by increasing awareness of eye disease and preventative health. Rachel was then promoted to Area Sales Development Specialist where she helped grow the sales of the QuantifEYE® Program nationally. She is now a Regional Account Manager in the Western U.S.

Rachel was Valedictorian of her High School Class and received a scholarship to the University of Missouri – Columbia. She graduated in 2003 with a Bachelors Degree in Business Administration with an emphasis on Marketing. In addition to concentrating on her studies, she was very involved in campus activities. Rachel was a member of the Executive Council, was the Panhellenic Representative of her sorority, and the EL100 Facilitator where she taught incoming freshmen about issues they face when starting college. Rachel was a member of the Gamma Phi Beta National Sorority. While in college, Rachel was appointed to the Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness and Health. She coordinated the “Show-Me State Games Torch Run” for the Jefferson City/Columbia area.

In the summer of 2005, Rachel held an internship with United Parcel Service as a Sales Representative. In only two months, Rachel acquired 14 new accounts totaling $179,000 in new business revenue making her the top intern for the summer.

Rachel plans to continue her education and obtain a Masters Degree in Business.