David M. Denning
Chairman, Managing Director
Rigobert Lapu-Bula, MD
Board Member
In addition to serving as Managing Director of Friends, Dave is an Airbus 320 Captain with Delta Air Lines,
based in Atlanta, with 29 years at the company.
Recently, Dave was a Senior flight instructor and evaluator at Delta Air Lines designated by the FAA to rate pilots on
the MD-88, MD-90. Additionally, he was a subject matter expert, in charge of aircraft manual revisions for the fleet.
He was also responsible for observing, training and evaluating instructors. For 3 years Dave served as a Line Check Airman, specially
trained to conduct and evaluate initial flights with pilots new to the MD-88, MD-90.
Dave worked as a superintendent for D.R. Horton custom homes scheduling, managing, and supervising the building of single-family homes.
Dave served as a Naval Officer and pilot on active duty for 7 years and Naval Reserve for 5 years. Aboard the USS Midway based in
Atsugi Japan he managed the aircraft maintenance division with 40 technicians, one chief petty officer and 2 officers to include
career development, counseling and training. Volunteered for duty as a Landing Signal Officer responsible for the safe and expeditious
recovery of aircraft aboard the ship.
Dave helped establish the Congo Brain Health Initiative which was created to fund research needed to develop tests for the diagnosis and
treatment of brain diseases in populations of sub-Saharan Africa.
Dave has a Bachelor degree in Aeronautical Industrial Technology from Arizona State University.
Dave is Married to Laura Ann Denning with three children. Andrew (Georgia College graduate and third year Dental student University of
Tennessee) Emily (Will graduate May 2021 from Georgia College with a BA in Art History and Museum Studies. Claire
(Is a third-year early childhood education major at Georgia college.)
Dave is a parishioner at Holy Spirit Catholic Church. He is active in the Knights of Columbus council 6517 currently an officer and former
Grand Knight. He also serves as an Extraordinary Minister and a Hospitality Minister.
Dave likes to spend time traveling with family and friends. Boating and skiing on lake Lanier. Going to concerts and learning to
play the guitar.
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In addition to serving as a board member of Friends of CUC, Professor Dr. Rigobert Lapu, MD, PhD, recently founded and
served as CEO of “RL ACCESS Medical LLC” (Accessible-Cardiovascular-Care-Education-Science-Services, registered in
Atlanta GA, USA). It is scaling-up for GLOBAL HEALTH, as a nonprofit branch working at the crossroads of the private and
public sector to improve ACCESS to healthcare in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), which is facing an unprecedented
rising threat and burden from an array of health problems like unhealthy heart condition (aka cardiovascular disease or CVD).
Through the medical school-wide global health journey in leading the creation and advancement of health equity, Dr. Lapu has
further envisioned providing this next generation of learners (MD students, residents, doctoral and master's level fellows) and
other members of the health team with the opportunity to joining him in these efforts in supporting the medical needs of this
second-largest country in Sub-Saharan Africa. As a result, he has strategically started to develop/implement scalable solutions through education-driven
health promotion as an effective tool for global health across sectors (both for-profit and non-profit). He has also taken this more global look by further
providing first-hand skill development and capacity building in relation to addressing these health disparities/inequities/inequalities. He is leading these
efforts to begin focusing on the elimination of these health disparities related to the rising yet neglected heart problems/CVD, as alarmingly found to
disproportionally affecting the underserved urban and rural populations of DRC by the lack/limited accessibility to quality health care.
Dr. Lapu is an accomplished role model of an academic physician clinician-educator-scientist by training and currently working at an academic medical
institution in Atlanta, Georgia (Morehouse School of Medicine, department of internal medicine, section of cardiology, https://www.msm.edu/). For
over 20 years through this type of commitment to medical education outreach, he has had the opportunity to work with people from diverse background,
serving responsibly and being accountable to people. In this role that not only serve the community but also impact and promote health equity, he has
provided much needed support as it relates to research and development (R&D) skills using cutting-edge medical biotech devices. His creative way of
integrating heart imaging-related techniques into various integrated curricula has helped immensely to bridging the gaps between basic science concepts
and clinical reasoning (https://www.msm.edu/about_us/FacultyDirectory/Medicine/RigobertLapuBula/index.php).
As an internationally recognized and renowned innovative scholar thinker and executive-level leader, Dr. Lapu has brought his unique
global health perspective since joining the health team here in the U.S. in 1999 under NASA space medicine/life science CONSORTIUM
(by working and travelling between Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, Brigham and Women's Hospital of Harvard Medical School in Boston,
The Cleveland Clinic Foundation in Ohio, NASA Ames Exploration Center in the heart of California's Silicon Valley, etc.) in order to (1) studying
the cardiovascular adaptation to space under conditions of simulated microgavity and (2) hence collaboratively implementing some effective countermeasure
to alleviate some of the cardiovascular health problems (like orthostatic intolerance) astronauts (or humankind) are experiencing during/following
space exploration (a very important contribution from the viewpoint of NASA cardiovascular science, as it has not been readily available in the public
domain of space medicine due to technological difficulties yet valuable to national and international scientific communities).
He earned his medical degree (MD) from the University of Kinshasa in the DRC in
1987 and was selected by the board of internal medicine at the prestigious Catholic University of Louvain in Brussels (Belgium, Europe), where he
completed his postgraduate and PhD training in cardiology. As a cardiologist by training and by virtue of his further postdoc experience, what he
learned and discovered through his peer-reviewed published work has tremendously contributed to the medical world and positively impacted various
communities in many rewarding ways. He has sparked interest in what is now known as “precision or personalized” medicine. In this way, he has
added value to these respective institutions and above all better served the communities medically, academically, and scientifically. This everdemanding
task has helped him fulfill what is traditionally known as academic “triple mission” about (1) providing patient care as well as (2) engaging
in teaching and (3) conducting competitive scientific research in his chosen field of interest.
Dr. Lapu’s executive leadership experience includes his active involvement with various community services on committees/task forces/boards (both
internally and externally from medical/educational/scientific societies) requiring exceptional time commitment/management and handling multiple
tasks:
– Chair and co-chair admission committee facilitating the recruitment and selection of students (Master of Sciences in clinical research program).
– Director and managercoordinating cardiovascular physiology course (in MD integrated curriculum), designing courses like biology of health
and disease (for Master of Sciences in Medical Sciences) and physiology (for the inaugural class of the school’s new physician assistant program),
and managing cardiovascular imaging core laboratory.
– Faculty mentor and professional advisorworking with students in many different settings (both educational and religious in nature) from servicelearning
community to crossroad ministry. In addition to various interest groups for medical students (cardiology, wilderness medicine, global
health), undergraduate “scholar activists” (Spellman College, Atlanta), and echo-tech fellows (Norcross Institute of Allied Health, Atlanta).
– Editorial board teampromoting access to African research (“Annales Africaines de Médecine”) and scientific advisory/review committees
(American Heart Association, Atlanta Clinical and Translational Science Institute).
– The MedShare Africa programglobal health partnership (Atlanta-based humanitarian aid organization gathering leftover medical
supplies/equipment from hospitals all over the U.S. to redistribute them to underserved communities around the world).
– Hugh Gloster fundraiser societyinstitutional advancement annual events including hands-on echo-demo using cutting-edge biotech devices
(helping elevate the school’s impact in the community and provide scholarships for students as well as support for research/community engagement
programs).
Dr. Lapu is a parishioner at the Cathedral Christ the King (CTK Catholic Church, Atlanta). He is active as intercessor prayer warrior. Past service to
the church includes: Volunteering for blessed sacrament chapel (perpetual adoration guardian) and habitat for humanity program at CTK. Leading
various ministries (prayer warrior, evangelization ministry, men of valor ministry secretary, timekeeper usher, choir member guitarist at a charismatic
church in Atlanta-Duluth).
This noticeable sense of creativity (inside and outside his academic arena) is further exemplified by the way he self-taught himself to play guitar.
Playing in the choir has embellished him with team-spirit. Using this tool has been instrumental in reinforcing him with the importance of attentiveness
(dedication, perseverance, and consistent practice) by paying attention to details in everything he does (including these extracurricular activities from
church or sport). He enjoys practicing martial arts (as further grounded by a positive attitude of an “open-mind, open-heart and open-arms” kind of
self-discipline) in effort to maintain a balanced lifestyle.
Altogether, Dr. Lapu has consistently displayed inclusive community core organizational leadership qualities in terms of decisiveness/relationship
building, as a foundation of his high-performing teamwork standard. His involvement in church choir or different kind of prayer ministry has helped
positively shaped his perception as a team-player. All this exhilarating experience has made him a well-rounded person and has convinced him of how
much success he can achieve working with people in general and for others in time of needs. In this context, he looks forward to applying his current
evidence-based knowledge/experience to achieve the best likelihood for every task under his care. This allows him to further expand what he does best
and cherishes through teaching: empowering individuals and communities to take some drastic action for their health. In this way, he is getting above
and beyond a committed higher education leader advocate to becoming a reliable change agent and system influencer using the dynamic healthcare
ecosystem.
His Linked-In profile can be accessed by Clicking Here. His Facebook page can be accessed by
Clicking Here.
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Travis Lloyd is a board certified Family Practice physician in Atlanta, Georgia where she has been practicing for 18 years. Dr. Lloyd graduated from the University of Nevada School of Medicine and completed her Family Medicine residency at the University of California San Diego.
Dr. Lloyd is a parishioner at St Thomas More church in Decatur, Georgia where she has been active in the Hagar House ministry, providing meals for homeless families. She also volunteers with the Dekalb County Board of Health.
Dr. Lloyd enjoys spending time with her husband and two sons. Her husband, Michael, is a the Director of the Cardiac Electrophysiology Fellowship program at Emory University. She has a son who is a junior at Auburn University and a son who is a senior at Marist School in Atlanta.
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Born in a small town, west of Kinshasa in The Democratic Republic of Congo (Former Zaire), Vuvu is a true citizen of the world.
Vuvu is A multi-lingual quality professional with experience in technical audits and consumer goods quality, safety and regulatory matters coupled with a strong agricultural science background. He interfaces effectively with customers with national and international experience. Vuvu has assessed technical programs at various Coca-Cola business units across the globe. He is an excellent relationship builder with exceptional communication, interpersonal and project management skills.
Vuvu consulted with Winrock International and USAID for the farmer-to farmer program, training local farmers, food processors and distributors in various regions of West Africa on produce packaging, bulk distribution techniques, construction of affordable and sustainable medium-technology storage facilities for local crops, while also holding workshops on market distribution of horticultural products throughout the region. He had also consulted with the World Bank in Washington DC, developing a proposal on storage and marketing of fresh agricultural products as part of the irrigation project in the Fadama region of Nigeria.
Vuvu served two consecutive terms of three years each on the board of Directors of Books for Africa (Books For Africa), a Saint Paul, MN-based nonprofit organization whose goal is to end book famine in Africa. In his academic life, Vuvu chaired several student organizations; University of Alexandria, Egypt; Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Chania, Greece; and Cornel University, Ithaca, NY. Vuvu was also a founding member of the African Diaspora Network, a network of Coca-Cola employees and friends whose mission was to support the Coca Cola’s 2020 vision roadmap by fostering engagement, growth and community giving amongst Africans and friends of Africa within The Coca Cola Company system. As the chair of the network, he was heavily involved in various philanthropic projects (medical and academic) throughout Africa. He also is a founding member of Funds DRCongo, a pro-bono organization whose mission is to build small entrepreneurship in Congo, by giving micro-credits to qualified entrepreneurs.
At present Vuvu is employed by the Coca-Cola Company, North America Operating Unit as a QSE (Quality, Safety, Environment) Authorization Manager, conducting assessment of supplier and manufacturing facilities, either to approve their status or to identify weaknesses in their quality system that need correction or improvement in order to maintain continuity of supply and/or production at facilities across North America.
Vuvu Is a Certified Quality Auditor and a member on the American Society for Quality (ASQ), American Society of Testing Materials (ASTM) and ISBT (International Society of Beverage Technologists).
Vuvu Holds a Bachelor of Science in Soil and Crop Sciences from the University of Alexandria in Egypt, a Master of Science in Postharvest Technology from the Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Chania (Crete) and Aristotle University in Thessaloniki, Greece in Postharvest Technology, and a Ph.D. in Postharvest Technology (Food Quality and Marketing) with minors in Agricultural Economics and Agricultural Engineering from Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. Vuvu is fluent in seven languages including English, French, Greek, Arabic (good working knowledge) and many other African languages.
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