The idea behind Taproot was born on a napkin, when the two founders, Linda and Scarlett, connected their life stories and combined two completely different views of the world. That’s when innovation occurred.
Linda Buscemi is a behavioral expert who began applying her philosophy that “adverse behaviors are reactions from unmet needs” in the area of cognitive disorders, particularly dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. With that notion and using the person’s background, she successfully prevented and decreased adverse behaviors.
Being aware of the high costs of personalized treatment done by licensed professionals, and also the lack of trained caregivers involved in Behavioral Science interventions, there was an urge to scale this model. That’s when Linda approached Scarlett: she needed to automate this approach and enhance its reach. Scarlett, using her strong management and business background, and also having experienced two generations of loved ones lost to dementia, was immediately committed to sharing her business acumen.
TapRoot’s name comes from the belief that tapping into the history and long term memory provides the best opportunity to truly impact quality care. It is within this philosophy that non-pharmaceutical and person centered approaches prevent and decrease adverse reactions.
Using technology to support empathy for the cognitively impaired.
A strong advisory team. The perfect mix of science, technology, and business
Linda Buscemi, PhD, Co-founder, Chief Clinical Officer
Read BioLinda Buscemi, PhD, Co-founder, Chief Clinical Officer
Linda Buscemi, PhD, Co-founder, Chief Clinical Officer. Dr. Buscemi is a licensed behavioral health specialist and subject-matter expert in Alzheimer’s and dementia, who has operated a successful solo practice (Geriatric Institute) since 2011. She has over 20 years in behavior management and caregiver training and has spent the last nine years perfecting her proprietary method of tailored interventions leading to reduced behaviors, less psychotropic medications and fewer hospitalizations. Her healthcare experience spans across insurance payer, physician provider and on-site consultant specialist. Dr. Buscemi has hosted radio, podcast and recently published her first book, Innatious, An Innovative Tool to Strengthen Your Emotional IQ and Improve the Quality of any Relationship through her company ProjectYou by Doc B. She is leading algorithm development and overseeing the user-experience of training modules.
Scarlett Spring, MBA, Co-founder, Chief Executive Officer
Read BioScarlett Spring, MBA, Co-founder, Chief Executive Officer
Scarlett Spring, MBA, Co-founder, Chief Executive Officer. Ms. Spring has over 30 years of executive corporate experience including Fortune 500 pharmaceutical companies Merck and AstraZeneca launching brands Prilosec®, Nexium®, and Crestor®, culminating as National Sales Direction of AstraZeneca Oncology’s $1B portfolio and 200-person sales team. She also served as COO/EVP for the Greater Phoenix Economic Council before being recruited to serve as President/Chief Commercial Officer of VisionGate, an early-stage medical device/IVD company, where she successfully raised $25M in early-stage capital and scaled the company to a team of 45. She is leading commercial and operational elements.
David Schneider, PhD, Chief Technology Officer
Read BioDavid Schneider, PhD, Chief Technology Officer
David Schneider, Chief Technology Officer. Mr. Schneider is a veteran in artificial intelligence, and big data using algorithms to inform machine learning, particularly in the healthcare space. David worked with a startup, iScribe (acquired by what is now Caremark/CVS) creating a handheld point-of-care prescription system, and has also worked as a systems architect at Anasazi Software, Inc. (acquired by Cerner) in indigent and behavioral healthcare tracking. His work also includes presentations on novel methodologies to identify synthetic lethal gene pairs across the entire protein coding gene space (presented as a keynote at Microsoft Ignite 2019, published in Journal of Clinical Oncology 2019 37:15, as well as work in Stroke Mortality feature importance presented at 16th Annual World Congress of the SBMT. His interests include cognitive and contextually aware distributed artificial intelligence, as evidenced with his work at SkyArmour.
Michael Lopez, Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Clarity Software.
Read BioMichael Lopez, Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Clarity Software.
Michael Lopez, Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Clarity Software. Mr. Lopez brings more than 28 years of financial services and technology management experience to his company, providing project management, application support, and software development for his clients.
Lori Nisson, Banner Alzheimer’s Institute, Banner Sun Health Research Institute.
Read BioLori Nisson, Banner Alzheimer’s Institute, Banner Sun Health Research Institute.
Ms. Nisson is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker who has spent more than 20 years specializing in leadership and clinical positions supporting the needs of patients and families coping with emotional, movement, memory and behavioral problems. She is a distinguished speaker who provides training and education to professionals, patients and caregivers on topics relating to memory changes, movement disorders and behavioral health concerns. Nisson actively serves on the Desert Southwest Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association Leadership Council, the Governor’s Office on Aging, Arizona Alzheimer’s Task Force and the AZ Dementia Caregiver Alliance. She was awarded a Practice Change Leader in Aging & Health Fellowship in 2018.
Russ Yelton, President/CEO of Yelton and Associates.
Read BioRuss Yelton, President/CEO of Yelton and Associates.
Russ Yelton, President/CEO of Yelton and Associates. Yelton and Associates is a consulting firm that provides community development services to municipalities and scaling businesses. Utilizing extensive business incubation experience and professional contacts, the firm assists business incubation projects, as well as private companies, to scale to obtain angel investment, private equity, as well as venture capital. He has a successful history of assisting municipalities with the development of co-work, incubators and accelerators as well as loan funds, student focused entrepreneurial programming as well as shared facilities.
Maggie Sanchez, MBA.
Read BioMaggie Sanchez, MBA.
Maggie Sanchez, MBA. Ms. Sanchez is an accomplished Senior Executive with 25 years of global success from Fortune 500 (IBM, Microsoft, Vodafone, 3M), and digital startups in tech/telecommunications. With extensive experience living and working in the US, Europe, Latin America and Asia, Maggie was a key member of the first wave of Microsoft’s and Vodafone’s digital transformation. Most recently, she co-founded and served as CEO of UK-based SaaS and data analytics startup that transformed brick and mortar commerce. She is renowned for helping businesses navigate through multiple stages of growth, creating strategic partnerships, and defining transformational business models.
Steve Jorgenson, Principal, President and CEO of Solterra.
Read BioSteve Jorgenson, Principal, President and CEO of Solterra.
Mr. Jorgenson brings a wealth of entrepreneurial success and experience in technology, sales, and strategic alliances. As CEO of Solterra, his primary focus is new acquisitions and development, and strategically expanding the Solterra Senior Living brand the premiere brand in comprehensive life care and wellness services for aging adults. Prior experience includes successfully operating and orchestrating a successful exit from Focal Solutions, a voice and data services firm.
Tad Gary, Chief Operating Officer, Mercy Care.
Read BioTad Gary, Chief Operating Officer, Mercy Care.
Tad Gary, Chief Operating Officer, Mercy Care. Mr. Gary has over 20 years in healthcare and social services and is responsible for overall operations for an Arizona state-wide managed care organization that has $4 billion in yearly revenue, membership of over 450,000 covered lives, with multiple lines of business, including integrated service benefits for Medicaid and Medicare. He also provides support and guidance regarding government relations to assist in efforts to improve member care, the provider experience, as well as the community at large.
Cindy Leach, VP of Long Term Care, Mercy Care
Read BioCindy Leach, VP of Long Term Care, Mercy Care
Cindy has 35 years of long-term care program development, healthcare administration, financial management. She has been an owner/operator of multiple assisted living communities, and skilled nursing facilities in AZ, CO and NV. Cindy is the past president of Arizona Health Care Association (AHCA), and member of the AHCCCS SNF/Assisted Living workgroup group.
Tom Bang, Chief Strategy Officer, SafelyYou
Read BioTom Bang, Chief Strategy Officer, SafelyYou
Tom is an accomplished Baxter International and Cardinal Health senior executive, he currently serves as the CSO for SafelyYou. He has led numerous emerging & stalled enterprises to market dominance and financial success. Notable exits include; Cardinal Health & Optum Health/United Healthcare, and Chicago Pacific Ventures.