THE OKLAHOMAN | OKLAHOMAN.
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Business people: Oklahoma new hires and promotions
Business People
recognizes Oklahoma
firms' recent new
hires and promotions.
To include your
announcement, send
information and a photo
to Business Editor Adam
Wilmoth at awilmoth@
oklahoman.com.
 
BBB of Central Oklahoma
has promoted Leeda Kurtz
to senior vice president of
operations. Kurtz cele-
brated 11 years of working
for BBB in August 2019.
During that time, Kurtz
has performed many
duties including admin-
istration, accounting,
dispute resolution and
operations. She began
her career at BBB in the
accreditation department.
From there, she gained
experience in dispute
resolution and account-
ing before managing the
operations department.
 
Dr.
Rhonda
Sparks, MD,
has joined
Variety Care
as director
Sparks of family
medicine.
Sparks graduated from the
Making sense Diabetes research startup
of flip-flopping advice thrives in Oklahoma
on red meat
Stephen Prescott
I
n between ads for
Burger King’s new
meatless Impossible
Whopper, you may
have caught the recent
headlines about eating
beef. Contrary to
decades of dietary
advice, researchers now
have concluded that
consuming red meat
isn’t so bad after all.
Feel free to grill up
that big T-bone steak
you’ve been saving
for a special occasion.
Heck, have another one
tomorrow. But before
they’re cooked up,
be sure to apply them
to your sore neck, an
ailment occasioned by
yet another case of diet-
research whiplash.
Along with a stiff
neck, you may also be
experiencing déjà vu.
That’s because we’ve
seen this movie before.
Think eggs.
Chocolate. Coffee.
Alcohol. One month, a
“groundbreaking” study
declares a particular
foodstuff beneficial to
our health. The next,
scientists unveil new
research that reaches
exactly the opposite
conclusion.
It’s enough to make
you pile your plate
with whatever you
want, no matter the
consequences. Because
what’s the point of
trying to follow the
latest guidance when
everything could change
tomorrow?
Well, I’m going to
let you in on a dirty,
little secret. It has to
do with those dietary
recommendations we
tend to treat as scriptural
commandments.
You know the ones
I’m talking about. Avoid
dietary cholesterol.
Drink eight glasses of
water a day. Minimize
intake of fats, especially
saturated fats.
Sure, these pieces of
advice all sound sensible.
But if you dig down,
you’ll discover they’re
based on scientific
University of Oklahoma
College of Medicine and
completed her family
medicine residency
at the University of
Oklahoma, Department
of Family and Preventive
Medicine, where she
served as chief resident.
Sparks then completed a
postgraduate fellowship
in academic medicine at
the McClellan County
Medical Education and
Research Foundation in
Waco, Texas. She most
recently served as the
medical director and
urgent care clinician for
the Parkview FirstCare
clinics in Fort Wayne,
Indiana. Sparks is board
certified in Family
Medicine and an active
member of the American
Academy of Family
Physicians.
 
  LeAnn
Wilson has
joined Vann
& Associates
P R + aspects of Medicare’s
Marketing
Wilson a s a n
account
assistant. Wilson joins
V&A after recently
completing a summer
internship with a
foundations that are, at
best, shaky and, at worst,
non-existent.
Take the received
wisdom on fat. For
more than four decades,
nutritionists have spoken
with a single voice on
this issue: Limit fat
consumption to 30%
of daily calories, with
saturated fats at no more
than 10% of total caloric
intake.
This message
originates in the
Dietary Guidelines for
America, which the
government introduced
in 1977. While these
recommendations
had laudable goals —
promoting good health,
helping Americans
reach a healthy weight,
preventing chronic
disease — they lacked
evidence to support
them.
In 2015, a group of
researchers analyzed all
of the studies existing at
the time the government
began promulgating
these recommendations.
In six randomized,
controlled dietary
trials with more than
2,000 participants,
the scientists found
no impact in levels of
coronary heart disease
mortality between those
who ate uncontrolled
diets and those who
limited their intake of fat
and saturated fat.
In other words, the
government issued
guidelines for hundreds
of millions of Americans
that rested on nothing
more than a hunch.
Unfortunately, we all
know how that hunch
played out. Despite
good evidence that
Americans have done
their best to adhere
to these guidelines —
significantly reducing
consumption of red
meat, eggs, butter, whole
milk and animal fats
since that time — obesity
rates have doubled,
and diabetes rates have
tripled. With more than
28 million diagnosed
cases, heart disease
remains the nation’s
leading killer.
You might ask why this
is so. And that’s a great
question. Unfortunately,
the real answer is, we
just don’t know.
In science, the gold
public relations agency
in Oklahoma City.
She also serves as
the vice president for
the Oklahoma State
University Public
Relations Student Society
of America chapter in
Stillwater. Wilson is
expected to soon receive
her bachelor’s degree in
strategic communications
from OSU.
 
BKD
CPAs & Co. during the building’s
Advisors has
promoted
Mechelle
Meyer to
Meyer director.
Meyer
is a member of BKD
National Health Care
Group with about 20
years of experience in the
long-term care industry.
She is active with Care
Providers Oklahoma and
LeadingAge Oklahoma and
is a regular presenter on
business office and billing
new Patient Driven
Payment Model. Meyer is a
graduate of Northwestern
Oklahoma State University
with a bachelor's degree
in business admin-
istration.
standard for research
is a randomized,
controlled trial. That
means arbitrarily placing
volunteers into groups,
then studying what
happens when you treat
them differently (i.e.,
we’ll feed you folks in
group one lots of red
meat; group two, enjoy
this vegan diet).
As you can imagine,
these kinds of studies
are easy to perform
in mice, tougher in
humans. To get people
to follow a certain type
of diet, especially over a
sustained period of time
that would allow for
long-term observation
of health outcomes,
has proven essentially
impossible.
Instead, researchers
have resorted to the
next best thing. Known
as observational
studies, they rely on
people reporting their
behaviors. Scientists
then look for associations
between those behaviors
and health outcomes.
However, people’s
ability to document their
behaviors has proven
notoriously unreliable.
And just because two
factors are correlated
doesn’t mean one causes
the other. As a result, the
associations “proven”
by one study can just as
quickly be unproven by a
later one.
And that’s precisely
what happened with
the new red meat study.
Whether it’s the final
word on this topic
remains to be seen. But
I’d doubt it.
In the meantime, when
it comes to nutritional
advice, I’d recommend
avoiding extremes. If
research emerges that
seems to encourage a
radical rethinking of our
diets — Eat only eggs!
Never eat eggs! — steer
clear.
When in doubt, I’d
recommend following
author Michael Pollan’s
simple advice: “Eat food,
not too much, mostly
plants.”
A physician and medical
researcher, Prescott
is president of the
Oklahoma Medical
Research Foundation and
can be reached at omrf-
president@omrf.org.
  Andrea
Gossard
has joined
Oklahoma
City-based
Cooper
Gossard Project
Advisors as
a senior project adviser.
Most recently, Gossard
spent her days at the
Oklahoma State Capitol
where she was a senior
project manager with
Manhattan Construction
multi-year restoration.
Gossard received her
Bachelor of Science in
construction science
from the University of
Oklahoma and has earned
a Design Build Institute of
America certification.
 
Isaac
Sanderson
has joined
Edmond-
based
account-
Sanderson ing firm
Arledge
and Associates as an audit
specialist. Sanderson is
a graduate of Oklahoma
Christian University.
 
M c A f e e & Ta f t h a s
announced the addition
Scott Meacham
W
hen I set out last
week to write
about Aevus
Precision Diagnostics,
it was because this
early stage startup
has a compelling con-
cept for tackling Type
2 diabetes (T2D).
As I heard more about
Aevus co-founders —
Puneet Chadha and Yash
Sagar Santani — I recog-
nized that their story is
also a uniquely Oklahoma
story, a story every
Oklahoman should hear
and repeat.
Puneet and Yash
immigrated to the United
States from India. Both
achieved master’s degrees
from Johns Hopkins
University in Baltimore,
Yash in finance, and
Puneet in health/health
care administration. Yash
speaks five languages;
Puneet is fluent in four.
After graduation, both
accepted jobs in New
York City — Yash in
private equity and Puneet
in health care consulting.
They carried with them
the idea for a diabetes
drug therapy that they
had researched and honed
for business plan compe-
titions while in school.
“Health care and life
science require dis-
ruption,” Yash said,
“something that cre-
ates better treatment
practices, or something
that makes the costs go
down.”
He and Puneet did more
research on diabetes and
on what it would take to
start Aevus — a company
developing a prescrip-
tion management tool
to make determining the
appropriate drug therapy
for Type 2 diabetes easier
for doctors and diabetics
both.
“We decided that we
would be a factor in help-
ing improve the quality of
patient’s lives,” Puneet
said. “We saved our
money and decided to
take the plunge.”
And then they picked
Oklahoma City over New
York.
“It was a leap of faith
backed by the fact that
we are passionate young
entrepreneurs who want
to see the world changed
of recent
law school
honors
graduates
J. Cooper
Davis, Allison
Davis Meinders
Harvey,
Katelyn M.
K i n g , and
Alyssa N.
Lankford as
new associ-
ates. Davis
Harvey is corpo-
rate and tax
lawyer who
graduated
with high-
est honors
from the
University
King of
Oklahoma
College of
Law, where
he was
awarded
the Nathan
Scarritt
Lankford Prize for
the high-
est academic record in his
graduating class. Harvey is
a transactional lawyer who
graduated summa cum
laude with her bachelor’s
degree in accounting from
Oklahoma State University.
She graduated with highest
for good,” Puneet said.
“When we made the
decision to move to
Oklahoma, we did see
shock and despair on
some people’s faces. But
we decided there was no
better time or place to
make this move.”
Yash and Puneet
didn’t know anyone
in Oklahoma, not one.
All they knew was that
our state invests in and
supports entrepre-
neurs through i2E in
partnership with the
Oklahoma Center for
the Advancement of
Science and Technology
(OCAST), we are busi-
ness-friendly, our cost
of living is low, and that
approximately one in six
people in Oklahoma have
Type 2 diabetes.
After six months
here, the entrepreneurs
say they have not been
disappointed in their
Oklahoma decision, not
once.
“We soon realized
that Oklahoma deserves
its good reputation for
being a community. The
Chamber, the Innovation
District, people who
knew people made it
easy for us to network,”
Puneet said. “Every
person has helped us.
Everyone has been kind
and welcoming and open
about referring us to
others who might help.
There are so many people
who have helped us push
the ball forward. In just a
few months, the number
of connections have been
amazing.”
The story of Yash,
Puneet, and Oklahoma
reminds me of another
modern day story of
immigrant entrepreneurs
— Jalal and Mohammad
Farzaneh, the co-found-
ers of Home Creations.
The Farzaneh brothers
came to Oklahoma at the
honors from the University
of Oklahoma College of
Law. King is a trial lawyer
who graduated summa cum
laude from the Oklahoma
City University School
of Law, where she was a
Hatton Sumners Scholar, a
member of Oklahoma City
University Law Review and
the recipient of 13 CALI
Awards for academic excel-
lence. Lankford graduated
with distinction from the
University of Oklahoma
College of Law. While pur-
suing her Juris Doctor, she
served as editor-in-chief
of the American Indian
Law Review, held leader-
ship positions in the Board
of Advocates and the
Organization for Women
in the Law, was named
to the National Order of
Scribes and worked as a
Court Appointed Special
Advocate.
 
RSM US
L LP has
promoted
Kyle Stewart
to partner,
assurance.
Stewart Stewart
has been
honored as a Trailblazer by
the Oklahoma Society of
Certified Public Accountants.
suggestion of a friend and
have since built Home
Creations, building more
than 12,000 homes in our
state as well as creating
hundreds of jobs.
“Oklahomans are the
nicest people you can
find anywhere on the
face of the earth,” Jalal
told me last year. “We
are so blessed that we
stayed in Oklahoma. If
two guys during the Iran
Revolution can come
to the U.S. and build a
business here, there is
nothing to stop anyone in
Oklahoma from being the
most successful person
on the face of the world.”
Oklahoma is a great
place to start a business.
We are welcoming. We
have world-class venture
support services. We are
working to constantly
expand our sources
of capital. We have a
vibrant concentration
of innovators in infor-
mation technology and
bioscience.
But most of all,
Oklahoma is a great
place to start a business
because of Oklahomans.
Oklahomans that wel-
come entrepreneurs
from other countries and
states. Oklahomans who
share business-building
experience and make
connections without
expecting anything in
return.
Oklahomans who are,
well, simply Oklahomans.
Scott Meacham is presi-
dent and CEO of i2E Inc.,
a nonprofit corporation
that mentors many of
the state’s technology-
based startup compa-
nies. i2E receives state
appropriations from
the Oklahoma Center
for the Advancement of
Science and Technology.
Contact Meacham at
i2E_Comments@i2E.org.