Management Team
Medical Directors

Dr. Newman received a B.S. in Biochemistry at the University of California, Riverside in 1979. She earned a Ph.D. in Anatomy at the University of Washington in 1984, and was a postdoctoral fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology until 1988.

Since 1989, she has been involved in tissue banking at the American Red Cross Tissue Services and the Northwest Tissue Center, both nationally-known human tissue banks that are accredited by the American Association of Tissue Banks (AATB). She served as Technical Supervisor and Associate Director, and was responsible for donor recruitment, procurement, processing, and cryopreservation of all types of allografts.

Prior to founding Veterinary Transplant Services, Dr. Newman was a Research Scientist at the Northwest Tissue Center. She is currently an Affiliate Assistant Professor of Orthopaedics at the University of Washington in Seattle and a Certified Tissue Banking Specialist (CTBS). Her research centers around tissue banking issues, including: cryopreservation of allografts (cartilage, heart valves, skin, and hematopoietic stem cells), viability assessments, clinical allograft outcome studies, and quality assurance validation studies. She now maintains consulting activities for a number of human tissue banks.

She has actively served the American Association of Tissue Banks as a member of the Standards and Procedures Committee, as a tissue bank inspector, and as an elected member of the Board of Governors and Chair of the Tissue Bank Council of that organization. She was the principal author of the AATB Technical Manual for Cardiovascular Tissues (1992) and a co-editor of the AATB Standards for Tissue Banking (1993 and 1996) as well as other publications related to cell and tissue banking.

To see a list of selected abstracts and articles by Dr. Newman, please click here.

Mark received his Bachelor of Science degree in Biology in 1984 and his MBA in 2003, both from Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia.

He comes to Veterinary Transplant Services with over 20 years experience in the field of human tissue banking and transplantation having started his career with LifeNet Health in 1990 and taking on the role of Director of Tissue Operations overseeing day-to-day activities of cardiovascular, musculoskeletal and osteobiologics product manufacturing. Most recently he held the position of Executive Director, Tissue Division, for Community Tissue Services.

Achieving his Tissue Bank Specialist certification in 1991, he is an individual member of the American Association of Tissue Banks and has served on numerous committees, including the Standards Committee and the Professional Education and Training Committee.

Mark oversees day-to-day operations and execution of VTS's Quality Management System.

Tobias received his Preliminary Diploma in Business and Economics from the University of Trier in Trier, Germany in 2003 and his Masters in International Management at Whitworth University in Spokane, Washington in 2006.

He comes to Veterinary Transplant Services with marketing and market research experience. Most recently he held the position of Business Analyst at sirti, a business incubator and consultancy, where he worked on market analysis and marketing strategies for several client companies in the technology sector.

Tobias manages VTS's global product marketing and distribution.

Dr. EB Okrasinski has been a highly respected surgeon in the Puget Sound area since 1992 when he created Veterinary Surgery Services, a fully equipped mobile surgery practice and the only one of its kind in the region. In 2009, he helped create Summit Veterinary Referral Center in Tacoma, WA where he now practices.

Dr. Okrasinski earned his DVM degree at the University of Georgia in 1984. Following 2 years of practicing in Chattanooga, TN, returned to the University of Georgia for an internship followed by a 3 year residency at the University of Tennessee. He achieved his board certification in surgery by the American College of Veterinary Surgeons in 1992.

Dr. Okrasinski has published research on fracture repair, the nutritional support of critically ill animals, and new approaches to the treatment of hemorrhagic shock. He is a charter member of the Society for Veterinary Soft Tissue Surgery, and has been an active member of the Veterinary Orthopedic Society for 14 years. He has lectured at numerous conferences around the country.

Dr. Larry Galuppo is a Professor and Chief of Equine Surgery at UC Davis. He graduated from the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine and completed an internship at Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital. He returned to UC Davis for his residency in equine surgery and subsequently obtained board certification from the American College of Veterinary Surgery.

His area of clinical expertise is in equine orthopedic surgery, including tendon, ligament and joint disorders, with special interest in traumatology and fracture repair. Other interests include minimally invasive procedures such as arthroscopy, tenoscopy and laparoscopy. His research emphasis is on biomechanics of fracture generation, implant design and fracture repair, with a recent focus in novel healing methods for musculoskeletal injuries using regenerative medicine techniques. He regularly lectures at conferences around the country.

Dr. Sean Owens, DVM, Diplomate ACVP, Assistant Professor, is a veterinary graduate of Colorado State University. Following an internship in small animal medicine and surgery, he completed a fellowship in small animal transfusion medicine at the University of Pennsylvania's Penn Animal Blood Bank.

Dr. Owens completed his residency training in clinical pathology at UC Davis in 2004, and worked as a clinical pathologist with IDEXX Reference Laboratories, Inc., for two years prior to joining the faculty at UC Davis where he serves as the VMTH Associate Hospital Director for Laboratory Services as well as the Director of the Transfusion Medicine Program. His research interests include stem cell compatibility issues, blood banking, and transfusion medicine. He lectures at conferences around the country.