Vitalant’s leadership spans decades of education and high-level expertise among professionals from both health care and nonprofit backgrounds dedicated to forever changing the experience of transfusion medicine.

Katie Pushor

Chairperson, Board of Trustees

Katie Pushor brings 30 years of experience in business and community leadership to her new role with Vitalant, having served as a director of publicly traded companies since 1998. She previously led Vitalant's Finance and Investment Committee. Currently, she owns and operates an executive coaching practice, Inner Capital, in Scottsdale where she coaches business leaders across the U.S. for companies including Salt River Project, J.P. Morgan Chase and Arizona State University. Pushor was president and CEO of the Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce and the executive director of the Arizona Lottery. She spent 10 years with MicroAge, Inc. as its executive vice president and chief marketing officer. Pushor holds a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from the University of Colorado at Boulder.
 

David Green

President & Chief Executive Officer

Prior to being named President & CEO of Vitalant in 2017, Green led the Vitalant blood services division for three years. Green spent 14 years as president and CEO of Mississippi Valley Regional Blood Center in Davenport, Iowa. A leader in the national blood banking community, he has served as chairman of Blood Centers of America and president of America’s Blood Centers. He is an Army veteran and received a bachelor’s degree from Knox College and a master's degree from Central Michigan University.

 

Linda Matthews

President, BioCare

Linda Matthews joined BioCare, a Vitalant for-profit subsidiary  in 2001. Under her leadership BioCare sales have increased by nearly 1500 percent. Matthews has cultivated a culture that is steeped in customer and patient care that includes high touch and highly responsive customer service. BioCare’s business model has allowed for success in both the acute and non-acute market segments and resulted in contracts with the nation’s three largest Group Purchasing Organizations which will fuel BioCare’s continued growth and expansion into the foreseeable future. Matthews has a bachelor of science in finance from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC and a master of business administration from Emory University, Atlanta.
 

Robert Van Tuyle

President

Most recently president of the Vitalant’s West Division, Robert Van Tuyle previously served as CFO and then president and CEO of BloodSource in Sacramento. A CPA, Van Tuyle has more than 20 years of experience in executive management and has served on the boards of America’s Blood Centers, the International Plasma Fractionation Association and the National Blood Foundation, among others.
 

Maureen Musselman

Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer

Maureen Musselman joined Vitalant in 2020, bringing more than 25 years of diverse financial leadership experience, including many years with American Express, and most recently in an executive leadership role with a large Phoenix-based nonprofit. As CFO, she directs the organization’s financial strategies and oversees the accounting and finance functions, risk management, supply chain, and internal audit. Maureen holds a bachelor’s degree in accountancy from Arizona State University and an MBA from Columbia Business School in New York.


 

Bhavi Shah

Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Assistant Secretary

As a member of executive management, Bhavi Shah oversees the legal department and is responsible for areas of legal compliance and for providing legal counsel to executives and governing boards on mergers and acquisitions, governance, strategic planning, operations, human resources, regulatory compliance, risk management, intellectual property and litigation. Prior to joining Vitalant, Shah served as assistant general counsel at Phoenix Children’s Hospital, associate counsel at Cold Stone Creamery and worked at the law firm of Snell & Wilmer, LLP. She received her law degree from the University of Kansas School of Law and belongs to the American Health Lawyers Association, the Association of Corporate Counsel and the Arizona Association of Corporate Counsel.
 

Mary Beth Bassett

Executive Vice President, Chief Quality Officer

Mary Beth Bassett joined Vitalant in 1996 after serving the blood banking industry since 1976 in varying capacities. In October 2017, Bassett was named president of AABB, the leading international nonprofit association dedicated to transfusion medicine and cellular therapies. She is a former president of the Gateway Community Blood Program and CEO of the American Red Cross National Testing Laboratory, both in St. Louis. Bassett has a bachelor of science in microbiology from South Dakota State University and a medical technologist degree from St. Joseph Hospital School of Medical Technology, Sioux City, Iowa.

 

Anthony Bobos

Executive Vice President & Chief Information Officer

Prior to joining Vitalant in 2017, Mr. Bobos has served as a Chief Information Officer and Chief Security Officer at Aurora Diagnostics. Prior to joining Aurora Diagnostics, Mr. Bobos served various leadership roles for BloodCenter of Wisconsin from February 2003 to January 2015 including Chief Technology Officer where he was responsible for overseeing the technology for their five service lines. Mr. Bobos has also served in leadership roles at Click Commerce, Inc., Tribune Media Company and System Software Associates, Inc.. Mr. Bobos earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Saint Joseph’s College and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee.
 

Peter Michaelson

Executive Vice President and Chief People Officer

As the EVP and Chief People Officer at Vitalant, Peter guides the human resources department to inspire a culture of care and comfort for all employees. His team delivers a Total Rewards program, inclusive of benefits, retirement, wellness and PTO; talent acquisition; organizational development and succession planning; culture transformation; labor relations and employee relations and serves as chair of the Employee Retirement Committee. Since joining Vitalant in 2014, Peter has led merger and acquisition activities in relation to welcoming more than 2,500 employees into the Vitalant family.
 

Dirk Johnson

Executive Vice President & Chief of Staff

Dirk Johnson joined Vitalant in 2016, bringing more than 25 years of blood banking experience with him, holding executive roles for QualTex Laboratories and BloodSource. As Chief of Staff, his focus lies in operations, supply chain, facilities and special projects. Johnson served as the Past President of the California Blood Banking Society, Board Member for America’s Blood Centers and Board Member for Blood Centers of America. He earned bachelor's degree from California State University, Chico and an MBA from the University of Phoenix.
 

Medical Leadership

Dr. Michael P. Busch, M.D., Ph.D.

Senior Vice President, Research & Scientific Affairs; Director, Vitalant Research Institute

Dr. Michael Busch is one of the world’s leading transfusion medicine scientists, well-regarded for his ground-breaking work in such transfusion-transmitted diseases as HIV and West Nile virus and protection of the nation’s blood supply from these and other emerging pathogens. In addition to his leadership as Director of Vitalant Research Institute, Dr. Busch is a member of the Transfusion Transmitted Diseases Committee of AABB, the Research and Development Advisory Committee of Canadian Blood Services and several World Health Organization panels.

 

Dr. Ralph R. Vassallo Jr., M.D.

Executive Vice President, Chief Medical & Scientific Officer

Dr. Ralph Vassallo oversees medical direction in the areas of donor suitability and donor care, the clinical services and consultation we provide to hospitals and initiatives at Vitalant Research Institute. Previously, Dr. Vassallo was the chief medical officer of the American Red Cross Blood Services’ East Division, having served in various Red Cross medical leadership roles for 12 years. He received his bachelor’s and medical degrees from the University of Pennsylvania. He completed a residency in internal medicine and a fellowship in hematology/oncology at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.