To provide product and medical  input AspenBio Pharma created a Medical Advisory Board (“MAB”) consisting of key opinion leaders who are recognized leading thinkers and innovators in the fields of surgery, emergency medicine and health research and policy, the disciplines most directly involved with diagnosing and treating appendicitis.  The board is chaired by the company’s chief operating officer and chief medical officer, Robert F. Caspari, MD. The independent members of AspenBio’s MAB consist of:

David Flum, MD, MPH is a leading gastrointestinal surgeon and outcomes researcher at the University of Washington.  He holds the rank of Professor in the Schools of Medicine and Public Health and serves as the Director of the Surgical Outcomes Research Center (SORCE) at the University of Washington.  He has a Masters in Public Health in the field of health services research.  Dr. Flum serves as Medical Director of the Surgical Care and Outcomes Assessment Program (SCOAP), a quality of care improvement program providing hospital-specific data feedback and best practices regarding processes of care and outcomes across the Pacific Northwest.  He is also one of the Principal Investigators of the Longitudinal Assessment of Bariatric Surgery (LABS) study-the first NIH-funded study in bariatric surgery aimed at addressing fundamental issues in the field.  He is the contributing editor for surgery at the Journal of the American Medical Association, serves on the editorial board of the journal Surgery for Obesity and Related Disease, and is a member of the Executive Leadership of the American College of Surgeons Research Committee.

Douglas K. Owens, MD, MS is a general internist and a Professor of Medicine and of Health Research and Policy at Stanford University, where he directs the Program on Clinical Decision Making and Guideline Development at the Center for Primary Care and Outcomes Research (PCOR).  Dr. Owens also directs the Stanford University-UCSF Evidence-Based Practice Center funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).  Dr. Owens’ research interests include diagnostic test evaluation, evidence synthesis, technology assessment, cost-effectiveness analysis and guideline development.  Dr. Owens has been principal investigator on grants funded by the National Institutes of Health, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), among others. From 2005 to 2009, Dr. Owens was Chair of the Clinical Efficacy Assessment Subcommittee (CEAS) of the American College of Physicians (ACP), which develops clinical practice guidelines for the ACP.  Dr. Owens is a past President of the Society for Medical Decision Making. He was elected to the American Society for Clinical Investigation (ASCI), and the Association of American Physicians (AAP), societies that recognize excellence in clinical research.

David A. Talan, MD, FACEP, FIDSA is Chairman of the Department of Emergency Medicine and faculty in the Division of Infectious Diseases at Olive View-UCLA Medical Center, and Professor of Medicine in Residence at UCLA School of Medicine. He is a Fellow of the American College of Emergency Physicians and the Infectious Diseases Society of America, and a member of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine and the American Society for Microbiology. Dr. Talan received his medical degree from the University of Illinois Medical College in Chicago. He completed his residencies in Internal and Emergency Medicine and fellowship in Infectious Diseases at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) and its associated medical centers. He is board certified in Internal Medicine, Emergency Medicine, and Infectious Diseases. Dr. Talan serves on the editorial boards of the Annals of Emergency Medicine, Emergency Medicine News, and Pediatric Emergency Care and is a reviewer for Clinical Infectious Diseases, Journal of the American Medical Association, and The Medical Letter. 

Steven E. Wolf, MD is the Bob and Betty Kelso Distinguished Chair in Burn and Trauma Surgery, Vice Chairman for Research and Professor in the Department of Surgery at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (UTHSCSA). He serves as Chair for the Institutional Review Board UTHSCSA.  He is Burn Surgeon and Chief of Clinical Research at the United States Army Institute of Surgical Research at Fort Sam Houston and Pediatric Burn Program Director at University Hospital.  Dr. Wolf received his medical degree from UTMB Galveston and completed his post graduate training at the University of Missouri-Kansas City and at Shriners Hospital for Children in Galveston.   Dr. Wolf has previously held the position of Director of the US Army Institute of Surgical Research Burn Center at Brooke Army Medical Center and Assistant Chief of Staff at Shriners Hospital for Children.  He has authored over 150 peer reviewed publications and is nationally and internationally recognized for his work in burn and trauma care and regenerative medicine.  Dr. Wolf received the 2009 Health Care Heroes Outstanding Physician Award. Dr. Wolf is Editor-in-Chief of Burns and on the editorial boards of Journal of Burn Care and Rehabilitation and Surgery News.