Meet the Team
Zweli Tunyiswa
Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder
Zweli is an experienced healthcare management professional and an entrepreneur with a background in quantitative marketing and data science. He has worked in wound care since 2011 when he joined, helped build, and became a partner at one of the largest post-acute wound-care consultancies in the nation.
It was during that time that he delved into the study of wound care, primarily at the market and institutional level, and secondarily at the clinical level. The challenges of wound care research led to his conversion to a Bayesian, commiserations with Ryan Dirks, and a partnership in the form of Open Wound Research, to bring cutting-edge statistical and data science methods to wound care research.
Ryan Dirks, P.A.
Chief Clinical Officer and Co-Founder
Ryan became interested in caring for patients as a Physician Assistant to extend physicians' hands and provide care in underserved areas. His passion for sports as an NCAA athlete and Olympic hopeful made sports medicine a natural fit. In 2011, he was introduced to skilled nursing wound care and felt a unique calling to provide specialty care in an often underserved area.
The love for this work and increasing demand sparked the idea of starting United Wound Healing, and eventually, his role as CEO led to full-time leadership and administration.
His role as CEO at United Wound Healing, and his longtime relationships with Dr. Frykberg and Zwelithini, led to a mutual agreement that there was a unique opportunity to join their unique skillsets together to bring a new vision to wound care research.
Robert Frykberg, D.P.M.
Chief Research Officer
Dr. Frykberg is a widely respected and experienced wound care clinician, educator, researcher, and speaker. He is a graduate of the California College of Podiatric Medicine, and Harvard School of Public Health, where he obtained his Masters in Public Health (MPH).
In his 46 years of wound care research, he has been involved in more than one hundred publications and studies, where he has brought his considerable intellectual gravitas to bear on the study of wound care, with a focus on diabetic wounds and limb salvage.
Dr. Frykberg's commitment to gold-standard wound research and his experience in the reality of wound care, research and otherwise, is invaluable to Open Wound Research’s mission.
Kieran Bredeson
Research Coordinator
At 26, Kieran resides in Washington State with his wife and daughter. With over 5 years of experience in the medical field, he is currently pursuing additional education in Nursing, a testament to his commitment to professional growth. Outside of work and studies, Kieran enjoys the outdoors, finding joy in activities like hiking, backpacking, mountain climbing, and exploring photography, particularly film.
Luca Sella-Rolando
Data Analyst
Luca is an Applied Mathematics Honors Graduate from the University of Cape Town with particular specialization in Numerical Modelling and Simulation. In the final years of his studies, he was introduced to the field of Data Analytics and Data Science and saw great potential to leverage his programming and mathematical skills to delve into the complex world. He started by gaining experience as a Data Analyst and BI Developer, working in Digital Marketing Analysis and Optimizations, and seek to continue refining his Data skillset on the road to becoming an experienced Data Scientist. He is constantly driven to learning new skills and finding new, creative ways to conceptualize problems allowing others find clarity in complex topics. It is his belief that, through simplicity and logical thinking, an understanding of the world can be obtained and communicated in a manner which is within reach of all who wish to apply themselves.
Dinette de Fouw
Executive Assistant
Dinette is an experienced healthcare professional with a background in networking, management, marketing, and sales. Her passion for healthcare developed through her studies in anatomy and pharmaceuticals and led her to persue a career in the medical industry.
Dinette strives to service the wound care industry by being part of a team that provides thorough, reliable research that is easily accessable, and in doing so, improving the quality and efficacy of wound care.
The opportunity to be part of Open Wound Research arose during the Covid-19 pandemic when she provided families with Polymerase Chain Reaction tests and met Zwelithini as a client, which sparked the idea of collaboration in the future.