I come out of bio-research in the United States, moved to Kobe, Japan in 2003, found my way into Japan Pharma and then into United States-Japan entrepreneurship in nutrition medicine, establishing a self-funded nutraceuticals startup operating across the U.S., Europe, and Japan, Asterism Healthcare. I am of Puerto Rican descent, from families that migrated to N.Y. as labor and gave everything to provide their children a stable home and an education. I grew up during the inner-city decay of the 1970s and came of age in the 1980s, eventually finding my way into college in the 1990s. For me, the heroin epidemic of Spanish Harlem, became the scourge of HIV/AIDS, followed by the violent age of crack cocaine in the South Bronx. Building a satisfying career and life experience came with education, mentoring— including an internship opportunity through the Minority Biomedical Research Support/Minority Access to Research Careers (MBRS/MARC) programs—self-reliance, and resilience.

My vision is to build a company based on the Japan Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries concept for a “sixth industry”, vertically integrating agriculture, value added skilled production, and marketing/logistics (i.e., sales channel development). Toward that end, our mission is to develop both nutraceuticals and ICT technologies in the service of physicians, the persons under their care, and other end-users who are concerned with a specific condition, preventive care, or achieving personal performance goals. Our corporate culture hews to principles laid out in the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals, natural resource “upcycling”, the principles of justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion, and greater equity in wage standards within industry.