Executive Team
James R. (Jim) Duffie
Founder, Chairman, and CEO
Jim Duffie served in the U. S. Navy from June, 1961 to July 1968, the last 4.5 years of that time, as a NUKE, operating the nuclear reactor and secondary systems on the nuclear submarine, USS Skate (SSN-578), as well as chemist and radiation controls expert. He then studied nuclear engineering at Georgia Tech.
Duffie has had a successful career in real estate and mortgage businesses, spanning more than 40 years. Additionally, he has invested in several start-up business ventures, and helped numerous others access the capital markets over the last 30 plus years. He has many continuing philanthropic interests, some of which will have world changing outcomes. He is an original co-founder of A Better Life Experience, LLC, which is now ABLELIFE BIOTECH, INC., of which he is Chairman, CEO, and CFO. Marketing a water and air purification technology which will save millions of lives worldwide!
Duffie has been married to Mary for 58 years, has 3 sons, 10 grandchildren, and 2 great grandchildren. He is active in his church, the Kiwanis Club of Atlanta, and a lead volunteer with USO Georgia, and other important initiatives!
Henry Grage
CTO
Henry Grage earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Biochemistry (emphasis in Chemistry) from Texas A&M University and a Master of Science degree in Molecular Biology from the University of Texas, MD Anderson Cancer Center (Thesis: DNA Ligase in Cancer). He received additional training in Superior New Product Development at Harvard Graduate School of Business, Managerial Finance at Stanford University and Professional Growth Through Self-Assessment at Hillsdale College. He received the Innovative Technological Breakthrough Award at Roche Diagnostics for work in understanding flow phenomena in architectural test-strip systems.
For over 15-years, he held leadership positions in Research, Development and Engineering for Roche Diagnostics (formerly Boehringer Mannheim GmbH), LifeScan Inc. (a Johnson and Johnson company) and Facet Technologies (a Matria Healthcare company) before beginning his entrepreneurial career in 1997.
He has gained broad experience in the business development, marketing, regulatory and clinical aspects of the medical products industry. He specializes in translational research; bridging the gap between academic concepts/ideas and research that adds industrial value to the technology. He has been a key player in the launching over 30 medical products. Other successful companies and starting-up’s he has been able to add value to include: Cholestech, Maxim Integrated, Unipath, Ltd., Aveta.Life, ABLELife Biotech, OVID Medical, Oculiant, Amira Dx, BioTrack, KOSTech, LXN, Palco MicroSensors, Plantacor, Quantech, Reperfusion Therapeutics (SPT), SpectRx and Transvivo.
He is an inventor on over 30 US and Foreign issued patents in fields covering diverse technologies. Since July of 2017, he has served and Chief Technology Officer to ABLELIFE Biotechnologies, Inc. where he has been responsible for filtration technology R&D. Effluent analysis has been a large part of this work as has been the leading of subject matter experts, at analytical labs, suppliers & CMOs, in the evaluation and advancement of the filters. The result has been improved effectiveness in sanitization of contaminated drinking water in hot and cold high-rise systems.
Board of Directors
Larryi Ding
Founder
AT&T, Alcatel-Lucent,
Booz Allen Hamilton,
Mitsubishi Electric.
Featured by “CEO Today”
as one of the most connected
people in Silicon Valley
ecosystem
Larry Murff
Founder
Guided various stage
start-ups as CFO and COO
through successful exits,
acquisitions, mergers and
public offerings.
Terri Bolyard
Founder
Consultant to startups for
infrastructure and funding.
Experience with initial public
offerings
Henry Grage
Founder
Launched over 30 medical
device products (two
w/>$1B/year sales). Holder
of over 30 patents
ABLE Foundation Corporation dba Pure Water Worldwide
Scientific & Technical Advisory Board
Jennie Ward-Robinson, Ph.D.
Jennie is a senior executive professional with over twenty years leading and advising organizations in the US and internationally. An ambassador for improving quality of life for families, Jennie gained a reputation for innovative partnership and coalition building to foster funding, support research, yield solutions, and inform policies for sustained improvement. Jennie is a recognized leader in public health communications around safe drinking water.
Tim Ford, Ph.D.
Tim is a highly recognized and accomplished microbiologist, research scientist, and leading author in water and public health research. Known for his ardent commitment to improving quality of life for communities, Tim launched a global movement connecting water and health as a salient issue to be addressed through research, solutions, policy, and community engagement.
Laurel A. Royer, Ph.D.
Laurel has more than 15 years combined research, scientific & technical advising expertise across the built and natural environments. A chemist by training, she leverages in-depth knowledge of the chemical sciences for problem solving that balancing innovation and impact. Laurel is a recognized advocate for broadening participation through equitable and just lenses that result in enhanced performance and well-being of all stakeholders.
Shelia Buchanan, SHRM-SCP
Shelia is a senior-level professional who is experienced at directing and administering the development, implementation, and operation of an agency’s administrative functions, including human resources and people management, budgeting, financial control, information technology, marketing and communications. She also has significant experience in delivering national and international medical education convening.