William U. Parfet, MBA, has served since May 1999 as Chairman and CEO of MPI Research, Mattawan, Michigan; a preclinical toxicology research laboratory. He joined MPI Research in November 1995 as Co-chairman.

He was formerly employed with Richard-Allan Medical, Richland, Michigan; a worldwide manufacturer of surgical products. There he served as President and Chief Executive Officer from October 1993 to January 1996.

Prior to that, he served as Vice Chairman of the Board of The Upjohn Company and was President (1991-1993) and Executive Vice President (1989-1991). Mr. Parfet joined The Upjohn Company (now recognized as Pfizer) in March 1973 and was a member of the Board of Directors (1985-2003).

Mr. Parfet serves on various other boards including Monsanto Company, Stryker Corporation, Taubman Centers, Inc., Taubman Medical Research Advisory Board, Lake Forest College, Greenleaf Trust, College for Creative Studies, Michigan Nature Conservancy, and MPI Research.

Previously Mr. Parfet has served as Trustee for the Financial Accounting Foundation, the group that oversees the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) and was a member of the Emerging Issues Task Force (EITF). He also served as the National Chairman of the Financial Executives Institute (FEI) and Commissioner for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.

Mr. Parfet received his BA degree (with honors) in 1970 from Lake Forest College with a major in Economics and his MBA from the University of Michigan in 1972 in International Finance.

He and his wife Barbara and their six children enjoy boating, golf and tennis.

Bill Harrison, BS, is Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of MPI Research and has overall responsibility for daily operations. Before joining MPI Research in 1993, he was Director of Regulatory Affairs and Operations at Pharmaco LSR (formerly Bio/dynamics). Mr. Harrison is a member of the MPI Research Corporate Management Team and the Board of Directors. He is an active member and past-President of the Society of Quality Assurance and serves on the board of the Kalamazoo Valley Community College Foundation. He holds a BS in biomedical engineering from the New Jersey Institute of Technology and has more than 25 years experience in contract laboratories.

Tom Laughlin, MBA, joined MPI Research in September 2009 as Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing, bringing over 30 years of executive experience to the company. Mr. Laughlin earned his MBA from Boston University and received his bachelor’s degree from Dartmouth College. Mr. Laughlin was most recently President and CEO of SunHealth Solutions, LLC, a company that he founded. Prior to that, he had served in many senior management and leadership positions including: EVP and COO of Zila Pharmaceuticals; Senior Vice President for Global New Business at Bayer Inc.; and Corporate Vice President and General Manager for Upjohn’s Consumer Healthcare Division. Mr. Laughlin is a member of the Corporate Management team and oversees Sales and Marketing and Program Management for MPI Research.

Jim Laveglia, PhD, is the Executive Vice President, having joined MPI Research in 1996. As the Executive Vice President, Dr. Laveglia is a member of the MPI Research Corporate Management Team and Board of Directors.  He is heavily involved in the sales and marketing functions for the company and with his many years of experience provides support for the Study Directors when questions arise regarding study design and data interpretation. He earned his PhD at Iowa State University and has more than 33 years of experience as a toxicologist. Prior to MPI Research, he served as Director of Toxicology and Animal Metabolism at Ricerca, Inc. In his numerous leadership positions in the chemical industry and with contract toxicology laboratories, he has directed the activities of toxicologists, pathologists, technical staff, report-preparation staff, and overall corporate operations.

Paul Morgan, JD, joined MPI Research in 2006 and serves as Vice President, and General Counsel and Corporate Secretary. Prior to joining the company Mr. Morgan was a Partner at Varnum, Riddering, Schmidt & Howlett LLP in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Mr. Morgan earned his JD in 1998 from DePaul University College of Law in Chicago, Illinois, following his bachelor's degree from the University of Michigan. As part of the Corporate Management team, Mr. Morgan works closely with the Board of Directors and oversees the Legal Department, the Contracts Department and the Human Resource team at MPI Research. Mr. Morgan is a member of State Bar of Michigan, American Bar Association, and the Association of Corporate Counsel.

Tina Rogers, PhD, MBA, DABT, is the Executive Vice President and Director of Research, having joined MPI Research in August 2007. Dr. Rogers has a unique combination of scientific and business experience. As a member of the Corporate Management Team, Dr. Rogers will continue to lead the initiatives and growth for the company and the Discovery Center. With over 20 years of experience in the CRO industry, she has held key leadership positions, most recently as Vice President of Drug Development at Southern Research Institute. Dr. Rogers received her PhD from the Medical University of South Carolina in molecular and cellular biology and pathobiology, and completed postdoctoral fellowships at Harvard Medical School and Tufts University School of Medicine. She currently serves on the MBA Advisory Board at the Auburn University School of Business and is a member of the Gerson Lehman Group Healthcare Council.

David G. Serota, PhD, DABT, is Senior Vice President of Drug Safety Evaluation and Senior Principal Study Director, having joined MPI Research in March 1997. In this capacity, he oversees over 60 Study Directors, anatomic and clinical pathologists, and program managers, in addition to providing scientific peer review on numerous ongoing testing programs. He is also a member of the Corporate Management Team at MPI Research. Dr. Serota has over 32 years of experience as a toxicologist in the contract toxicology industry, having previously served as Director of Toxicology at Southern Research Institute for 5 years and as Director of Laboratory Operations and Senior Toxicologist at Hazleton Laboratories Vienna (now Covance) for 15 years. He received his B.S. in Pharmacy from Auburn University and his PhD in Toxicology from the University of Tennessee. Dr. Serota is a Diplomate of the American Board of Toxicology and is currently serving as a Councilor for the American College of Toxicology.

Paul Sylvester, CPA, is the Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, joining MPI Research in April 2008 with over 25 years of experience in a variety of business capacities. Mr. Sylvester graduated from Ferris State College with his BS in accounting in 1981 and became a CPA in 1983 while working for the public accounting firm of Arthur Andersen. Prior to joining MPI Research, Mr. Sylvester was the CEO and co-Chairman of Manatron, a leading provider of property tax solutions for local governments in the United States that was sold to a private equity firm in March of 2008. Mr. Sylvester served on the Board of X-Rite, a publicly traded provider of color management systems and was Chairman of the Audit Committee and a member of the Compensation Committee from January 2003 to October 2008. At MPI Research, Mr. Sylvester is a member of the Corporate Management Team has overall responsibility for Accounting and Finance, Treasury Management, Purchasing, Events and Travel and Shipping/Receiving.

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