Blue Spark Technologies Appoints John DeFord to its Board

John DeFord, Ph.D., has joined Blue Spark Technologies Inc.’s Board of Directors. His appointment brings the number of board members to five.
 
“We are proud to welcome John to our company board,” said Norbert Dawalibi, board chairman. “He is bringing a richness of valuable knowledge and experience as well as a distinct perspective that will help us establish TempTraq as the new standard of care for remote patient monitoring around the world.”
 
DeFord spent much of his career in leadership positions, including at Becton, Dickinson and Company (BD) as executive vice president and chief technology officer, where he was responsible for all research and development activities. Some of his other significant leadership roles prior to BD were at C.R Bard (senior vice president, Science, Technology and Clinical Affairs) and Cook Incorporated (president and CEO). Currently, he is chairman and CEO of Samothrace Medical Innovations Inc., a startup company focused on advancing tools for minimally invasive surgery. He also serves on the boards of Nordson Corporation and Nuvasive Inc. He has 30-plus years of medical device experience and to date has worked with 1,200 new medical devices and diagnostics throughout his career. In addition to authoring numerous academic papers and book chapters, DeFord holds 17 patents, issued and pending.

“This is really an inflection point for the company and it’s an exciting time to be involved. I look forward to helping mold the future of their technology,” said Dr. DeFord. “I’m particularly excited to see the technology come together that will make an impact in patient’s lives.”
 
“Blue Spark is growing aggressively and with John’s remarkable talent alongside our existing team, the progression of our company will be fulfilling,” said John Gannon, Blue Spark president and CEO. “In welcoming John, we have much to look forward to as we foster our success with TempTraq® and spearhead technological innovation with exceptional enthusiasm and expertise.”
 
Headquartered in Westlake, Ohio, Blue Spark Technologies develops thin, flexible, wearable remote patient monitoring solutions. Its latest innovation, TempTraq, is the only Bluetooth wearable temperature monitor in the form of a soft, comfortable patch that continuously, safely and comfortably, monitors body temperature for up to 72 hours and sends alerts to Apple- or Android-compatible mobile devices. The company’s TempTraq Connect HIPAA-compliant service supported by Google Healthcare Cloud Platform allows parents and caregivers to monitor body temperature from anywhere. It also allows direct integration with healthcare provider electronic health records (EHR) systems and central nursing stations, providing a secure method of storing patient health care data.