Dr. Douglas R. Allen, pediatric cardiologist, UVA Health Children’s – Pediatric Specialty Care Richmond, Richmond
Education: Bachelor’s degree, William & Mary; medical degree, Medical College of Virginia at Virginia Commonwealth University (now VCU School of Medicine); pediatrics residency and pediatric cardiology fellowship, VCU
Family: Married 27 years to Christina Allen, a senior project manager with Sentara Health. Children: Henry, 19, studying international relations with a minor in Korean at the University of Virginia; Sarah, 22, with a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Washington & Lee University and working for CBS19 News in Charlottesville.
Career mentor: The late Dr. Arnold Salzberg, legendary chief of pediatric surgery at VCU.
Dr. Salzberg taught me that being the best physician you could be was important, but being the best man you could be was more important.
Where would you like to travel that you haven’t yet visited? As a bit of a foodie and the cook in our home, I would most like to travel to both France and Italy, primarily to eat my way through their cuisines.
Is there a particular innovation in pediatric cardiology you’re excited about? There has been a growing acceptance that regionalization and development of multi-institutional networks yields better results in the management of congenital heart disease. I am now part of a statewide collaboration including UVA Health, Children’s Hospital of The Kings’ Daughters and Children’s Hospital of Richmond at VCU, through which we are able to confidently provide the highest level of care for our often-fragile patients in the most appropriate and convenient locations.
I strongly believe such cooperation among multiple institutions is the best way to care for children with heart disease and am excited to see such networks develop and thrive.
Dr. Alexander Ellis
Dr. Alexander Ellis
Pediatric and adult congenital cardiologist, Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughters; associate professor of internal medicine and pediatrics, Eastern Virginia Medical Center, Norfolk
Other medical specialties: I am also the co-director of advanced cardiac imaging at CHKD and the director of the adult congenital heart disease program.
Education: Bachelor’s degree, Princeton University; master’s in biology, McGill University; medical degree, Medical College of Virginia/Virginia Commonwealth University; internal medicine/pediatrics residency and pediatric cardiology fellowship, Medical University of South Carolina; adult congenital heart disease training, Children’s Hospital Philadelphia
Family: My wife, Amy Skorupa, and I met in medical school at MCV (literally over a dead body). She is now an adult medical oncologist here in Hampton Roads, specializing in breast oncology. We have two children, Jacob, 20, and Sarah, 17. Jacob is a junior at the University of Richmond, concentrating in political science and leadership and running on the cross-country/track team. Sarah is a senior at Princess Anne High School in the international baccalaureate program and will also be attending the University of Richmond, where she was recruited to play field hockey.
Career mentors: Growing up, my next-door neighbor was Dr. Edwin Myer, chair of pediatric neurology at MCV, and he was a major influence for me to enter medicine, especially pediatrics. Within cardiology, I have had many wonderful mentors and attending physicians at MUSC, but especially Dr. Andy Atz, and Dr. Gary Webb from the Children’s Hospital Philadelphia.
Fan of: I married into a Chicago Cubs household so I certainly cheer for them, but it is often a source of frustration and disappointment (except in 2016!). I am a big fan of music — of many genres — and love to attend concerts or shows. I also love to see my kids’ athletic events — especially track meets and field hockey games.
You worked in Panama’s rainforests. How did you go from that to working in medicine? After college, I knew I did not want to go straight to medical school. My thesis adviser at Princeton offered me the opportunity to do field work for him on Barro Colorado Island in Panama (part of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute). After a few months in the rainforest working on his projects, I was fortunate that he helped me develop my own research project involving climate change and tropical forests, which then became my graduate thesis at McGill.
However, after lugging heavy gas analyzers and other equipment miles into the rainforest every day, dealing with aggressive monkeys and mosquitoes, and especially having to write never-ending grant-funding proposals, I thought I could have a more immediate and concrete impact on peoples’ lives as a physician. If nothing else, I would not get as many bug bites.
What new congenital heart disease treatments are you particularly excited about? I am especially interested in cardiac imaging, whether that be echocardiography or CT/MRI. One of the major advances that our field has had in the last 30 years has been the ability to noninvasively image the heart and great vessels with significantly more clarity/resolution than we have ever had, allowing for better preoperative/transcatheter procedural planning, shorter intervention times and higher success rates.
I am also enthusiastic about new research collaboratives for patients with congenital heart disease. This is a vulnerable, complex population that has previously not benefited from many dedicated research initiatives. Now, there are pharmacologic and medical device trials specifically geared towards patients with congenital heart disease, especially the teenagers and adults living with it.
Dr. Danielle Culbert, gastroenterologist, hepatologist and president of Tidewater-Suffolk division, Capital Digestive Care, Suffolk
Education: Bachelor’s degree, William & Mary; master’s of biomedical science and medical degree, Eastern Virginia Medical School; internal medicine internship and residency, Virginia Commonwealth University; gastroenterology, hepatology and nutrition fellowship, Ohio State University Medical Center
Family: Married for 22 years to David Culbert, with three children. Oldest son, Dylan, is 18 and a freshman at Savannah College of Art and Design, and our 13-year-old twins, Austin and Addison, are in eighth grade at Nansemond Suffolk Academy in Suffolk. Also, a 3-year-old golden retriever named Bocephus
Career mentors: The late Dr. Fred Thomas, Ohio State University Medical Center, and Dr. Todd Stravitz, VCU
Which TV shows about doctors get it really right or wrong? They all get it so incredibly wrong. The fact that residents go into work and leave work with the sun shining is in itself absurd!
How would you change patient behavior? It would be for patients to be kinder to themselves. Especially as women, we expect too much from ourselves, and sometimes we just need a break. We cannot be everything to everyone all the time without that taking a tremendous toll on our health, particularly our gastrointestinal health.
Tysons-based tech company MicroStrategy and its subsidiaries continued to grow their cryptocurrency cache in December, nearing $8 billion in bitcoin holdings.
The company and its subsidiaries purchased about $615.7 million worth of bitcoin — approximately 14,620 coins — in cash from Nov. 30 to Dec. 26, according to MicroStrategy’s Wednesday filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
MicroStrategy and its subsidiaries held about 189,150 bitcoins as of Dec. 26, which it purchased for about more than $5.89 billion total. The average purchase price per bitcoin was approximately $31,168, including fees and expenses. As of 12:47 p.m. Friday, bitcoins were selling for $41,719.61 per unit, valuing MicroStrategy’s total bitcoin holdings at about $7.89 billion. That’s a drop from Thursday’s closing price of $42,614.65 per unit.
Also included in the SEC filing, as of Dec. 26, MicroStrategy received approximately $610.1 million in net proceeds from selling more than 1.07 million class A common shares through its sale agreement with Cowen and Co., Canaccord Genuity and BTIG, a deal it agreed to Nov. 30. As of 12:55 p.m. Friday, shares were trading for $619.25, down from Thursday’s closing price of $667.88 per share.
MicroStrategy announced its first bitcoin purchase in August 2020, saying it had converted $250 million from its cash holdings to more than 21,000 bitcoins, making it one of the first public companies to convert its cash treasury reserves into cryptocurrency as a store of value.
MicroStrategy founder and Executive Chairman Michael Saylor, who stepped down as CEO after the company’s August 2022 earnings report, is currently facing a lawsuit from Washington, D.C., alleging he defrauded the city of more than $25 million in income taxes. Although in March a D.C. Superior Court judge dismissed part of the lawsuit that could have netted D.C. up to $150 million, the city can proceed with the part of the lawsuit seeking $25 million.
Linda Green, the Danville-based Institute for Advanced Learning and Research’s vice president of economic development, as well as executive director of the Southern Virginia Regional Alliance, will serve as president.
Gregory Hitchin, director of economic development and tourism for the City of Waynesboro, will serve as vice president. Garrett Hart, director of economic development for Chesterfield County, will serve as treasurer. Matt Johnson, assistant director of economic development for Charlottesville, will serve as secretary, and Christina Winn, executive director of Prince William County Department of Economic Development and Tourism, will serve as immediate past president.
New members to VEDA‘s board include Pamela Bailey, director of economic development for Bedford County; John Matthews, deputy director of the Joint Industrial Development Authority of Wythe County, and Nicole A. Talton, economic development coordinator with Isle of Wight County. The board has five officers and nine directors who serve three-year terms. The officers usually progress through the positions of secretary, treasurer, vice president and president.
The nonprofit, nonpartisan organization has more than 500 members, including local, regional and state economic development professionals.
A halal meat business, 5 Pillar Meats, will invest more than $1.7 million to build an abattoir and red meat processing facility in Prince Edward County, a project expected to create 12 jobs, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced Thursday.
The new building, which will be located on a 3-acre site in the Prince Edward County Business Park in Farmville, will be nearly 3,000 square feet. It will provide processing services for Southside Virginia livestock producers, focusing on beef, lamb and goats.
The Prince Edward-based 5 Pillar Meats is an extension of Green Bay-based Abdus-Sabur Farms, which has produced livestock and vegetables since 1982, according to 5 Pillar Meats Chief Operations Officer Sekou Abdus-Sabur. This project will be the company’s first meat processing facility.
5 Pillar Meats will have two sources of meats: animals harvested in the facility and meat purchased from a local wholesale distributor, Abdus-Sabur said in a statement. Animals harvested will be halal, meaning prepared in a way that is sanctioned by Islamic law, unless a customer specifically asks that the meat not be halal.
The company, which will source its livestock from Virginia farms, will offer wholesale and retail cuts processing to restaurants, hotels, grocers and retail consumers, especially those seeking halal meats. The company will also sell fresh cut meats at its small on-site retail store.
“We are happy to have the opportunity to offer this service to small and large producers alike who have had limited access to USDA-inspected processing of their livestock. Now, both will be able to market to the public,” 5 Pillar Meats CEO Qadir Abdus-Sabur said in a statement. “Families, local restaurants, hotels and others can enjoy locally raised, harvested and processed meat/meat products. We look forward to serving our community.”
The Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services worked with the Virginia Tobacco Region Revitalization Commission, Prince Edward County and the county’s Industrial Development Authority to secure the project. Youngkin approved a $50,000 grant from the Governor’s Agriculture and Forestry Industries Development Fund, which the county will match locally. The Virginia Tobacco Region Revitalization Commission is granting the project $75,000.
“I thank 5 Pillar Meats for their investment in Farmville and in Southside Virginia livestock producers,” Youngkin said in a statement. “This is the type of project that the AFID grant program was designed for as it creates rural jobs, encourages economic development and promotes agriculture, Virginia’s largest private industry.”
Herndon-based HawkEye 360 has acquired RF Solutions from Westminster, Colorado-based Maxar Intelligence, the satellite analytics company announced last week.
Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.
It’s the first acquisition for HawkEye 360 and gives the company ownership of two new satellites, intellectual property and a data archive. The company now has a constellation of 23 satellites that detect, characterize and geolocate radio frequency signals. The additional satellites will enable HawkEye 360 to expand frequency coverage and the broader range will enhance customer understanding of the signal activity occurring in each region of the world, according to a company news release.
RF Solutions formed from the Aurora Insight acquisition that Maxar Intelligence completed in January 2023.
“The on-orbit assets and expertise of the RF Solutions group from Maxar Intelligence brings a complementary capability to HawkEye 360,” HawkEye 360 President Rob Rainhart said in a statement. “Our existing satellites do very well at precise geolocation and characterization of signals. This technology from the former Aurora Insight team will allow HawkEye 360 to quickly scan gigahertz of bandwidth to efficiently map active frequencies at a regional level. We look forward to rapidly integrating these powerful capabilities and talented personnel into the company to further accelerate the value we bring to our clients.”
HawkEye 360 had about 175 employees before the acquisition and will add 11 more as part of the deal, according to the company.
In October, HawkEye 360 closed its Series D-1 funding round with another $10 million, for a total of $68 million in the round. HawkEye 360 plans to launch another dozen satellites in 2024. In January, three HawkEye360 satellites went into orbit during Rocket Lab’s first launch in the United States, which took place at NASA’s Wallops Island facility. The company plans to have 20 clusters with three satellites each by 2025.
Goat milk products maker Bates Family Farm will invest roughly $1 million to relocate its manufacturing facility to a Russell County-owned building in Lebanon, a project expected to create 12 jobs, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced Wednesday.
“We’re creating agriculture-based jobs and selling Virginia-made products,” Bates Family Farm co-founder and CEO Joseph “Joe” Bates said. The jobs encompass multiple skills, he said, with most employees moving between the processing and farm sides depending on the season.
The Russell County-based manufacturer will move its skin care products manufacturing from a roughly 4,000-square-foot building on the farm to the 40,000-square-foot former Acme grocery store building, according to Bates. Bates Family Farm will then convert its current manufacturing building into a creamery to expand its dairy operation within a year to 18 months, he said, producing bottled goat milk and cheeses.
“What’s happened is our herd has grown over the years,” Bates said. “We’ve gone from basically 30 goats to about 200 goats at the moment, and of course, we’re getting a lot more milk, so now, our sales can’t keep up with our milk production,” which prompted the expansion.
Over the next three years, the company expects to increase production to $2 million worth of agricultural product (the value of the milk, not the finished products).
Shannon and Joe Bates established the company in Lee County in 2013 and later moved it to Russell County. Bates Family Farm’s skin care products include soap, lotion, lip balm and body cream and are sold in more than 1,000 retail and specialty stores across the U.S. The company offers 26 scents, Joe Bates said.
The Virginia Coalfield Economic Development Authority provided the Russell County Industrial Development Authority with three loans for the purchase and renovation of the former Acme building in Lebanon: up to $500,000 in July 2021, up to $200,000 in February 2022 and up to $250,000 in March.
The Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services worked with Russell County and the Russell County Industrial Development Authority to secure the project. Youngkin approved a $70,000 grant from the Governor’s Agriculture and Forestry Industries Development (AFID) Fund, which Russell County will match locally.
“I am pleased to see this AFID award assist in the relocation and expansion of Bates Family Farm, a Virginia home-grown, agricultural business, founded by one of our country’s veterans,” Youngkin said in a statement. “This project increases economic development activity in Russell County, provides new jobs in a rural area and demonstrates our support of the commonwealth’s dairy industry and to Virginia’s entire agricultural community.”
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