About Us
Dr. Jennifer DeLaney and Dr. David Katzman saw firsthand the risks that health care workers faced from treating patients with COVID-19 and decided to protect their colleagues. They developed a prototype of a Powered Air-Purifying Respirator using a CPAP machine and respiratory supplies. With the help of teams of engineers from Hunter Engineering and the Veterans Health Administration and funding from the St. Louis community, this prototype was transformed into one of 6 PAPRs approved by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health for use during the Public Health Emergency.
Jennifer DeLaney, M.D.
Dr. DeLaney graduated from Georgetown University Magna Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa. She attended Washington University School of Medicine and was awarded the Four School Physician-Scientist Scholarship. She did her her Internship and Residency at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis. She is a Board -Certified Internal Medicine Physician, a member of the American College of Physicians Board of Governors for the State of Missouri, and the President-Elect for the Barnes Jewish Hospital Medical Staff Association. She is a member of the Voluntary Faculty for the Washington University School of Medicine and volunteers at Casa De Salud, serving uninsured people in the St. Louis Community.
David Katzman, M.D.
A St. Louis native, Dr. Katzman is a graduate of Brown University and St. Louis University School of Medicine. He completed his internship and residency in Internal Medicine at Washington University in St. Louis where he was selected to serve as Chief Resident at Barnes Hospital and John Cochran Veterans’ Hospital. He founded his preventative medicine practice in 2003 which focuses on wellness and improving the quality of life of his patients. He serves on the voluntary faculty of Washington University and provides care for the underserved in the City of St. Louis.
Hunter Engineering Staff Pictured with Dr. DeLaney and Dr. Katzman
Hunter Engineering
Hunter Engineering is a global leader in Automotive Service Equipment products. They took our prototype concept and used their expertise in engineering and manufacturing to design a Powered Air-Purifying Respirator to protect our frontline healthcare workers. This respirator is one of six that NIOSH has approved for use in the Public Health Emergency. Hunter’s engineers and operations personnel have spent countless hours on this project because they are dedicated to making our country safer in everything they do.
Veterans Health Administration (ADAPT Team)
In early March, when COVID-19 arrived in the US, the Veterans Administration Puget Sound Health Care System (VAPSHCS) was on the frontlines. The Seattle VHA Agile Design and Production Transformation (ADAPT), a multi-disciplinary team supporting hospital operations for veterans during this pandemic, received reports from the field that the use of Powered Air Purifying Respirator (PAPR) systems had sharply increased with the emerging spread of the pandemic. To ensure that healthcare workers had access to the protective equipment they needed, a VHA ADAPT team - Joseph Iaquinto, PhD; Arri Willis, MS; Darren Li, MS; and Alex Berardo-Cates, MS - developed a US sourced, universal PAPR hood, which they combined with Dr. Jennifer DeLaney’s respirator to create the Hunter VHA-ADAPT PAPR system. The Hunter - VHA ADAPT PAPR is being developed under a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with the VA.
From Left: Joseph Iaquinto, PhD; Ari Willis, MS; Darren Li, MS; Alex Berardo-Cates, MS