Management & Advisory Teams
The Aeroscena® Management Team
Mark Kohoot: Founder and CEO
Mark founded Aeroscena in 2010 with the mission of advancing aromatherapy via the use of scientific research and rigorous testing for use in clinical settings.
Over the past decade, Mark has grown the company from the kernel of an idea – the result of his work with Dr. Michael Roizen, Chief Wellness Officer at the Cleveland Clinic and current medical advisor to the company – to a leading force in the adoption of evidence-based aromatherapy within the healthcare community.
Today, Mark is focused on scaling up Aeroscena’s impact on wellness through partnerships with industry leaders that will allow the company’s deep understanding of the science of scent™ to be brought to a much larger audience.
Prior to founding Aeroscena, Mark spent more than three decades in international marketing and business development, including serving as Channel Development Director at Eastman Kodak where he was responsible for restructuring the worldwide channel strategy of its billion-dollar Consumer Digital group.
Mark’s international leadership experience includes a series of pan-European executive roles at AT&T and Lucent Technologies. In addition, he spent several years as the Executive Director of the French American Chamber of Commerce, holds a degree in international business from Ohio State University, and later undertook graduate studies in Marketing at the Ecole Superieure de Commerce (now Audencia) in Nantes, France. Besides his native English, Mark also speaks French and Dutch.
Mark lives with his wife in Cleveland, which allows him to be in close proximity to the Cleveland Clinic Innovation Lab, where Aeroscena is headquartered.
Shannon Eggleton: Vice President
A member of the Aeroscena team since 2013, Shannon serves as second-in-command and chief advisor to the CEO, as well as directing all marketing and communications efforts for both Aeroscena and the company's Ascents® Clinical Aromatherapy brand.
Her past roles have included various merchandising, marketing, operational and creative positions with companies including Home Shopping Network (HSN), Borders Group, Inc. and American Greetings. She holds a B.S. in Behavioral Psychology from Western Michigan University.
Zack Grasso: Clinical Programs Director
Zack heads up Aeroscena's business development team, working directly with hospitals and other clinical organizations to help implement their aromatherapy programs.
His past roles have included roles in clinical settings, including those focused on children's mental health. He holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Virginia (UVA) and is currently involved with both biology and data science programs at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU).
Howard L. Levine, M.D., Director, Cleveland Nasal-Sinus & Sleep Center
Howard L. Levine, MD, is the Physician Director of the Cleveland Nasal-Sinus & Sleep Center. He is on the adjunctive staff of the Head and Neck Institute of the Cleveland Clinic Foundation and the former head of the section of nasal and sinus disorders of the Cleveland Clinic Foundation.
After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania, Dr. Levine attended Northwestern University School of Medicine, trained in general surgery at University Hospitals of Cleveland Ohio and in otolaryngology at Northwestern University Medical Center. Howard is a fellow in the American Rhinologic Society and was its President (2006-2007). He has lectured throughout the world on nasal and sinus disorders and authored over 100 peer-reviewed articles and textbooks. He has also been an investigator in minimally invasive sinus procedures such as Balloon Sinuplasty and office procedures to manage snoring and sleep apnea.
Dr. Levine served as the Vice-President of Medical Affairs for Acclarent, an Ethicon, Johnson & Johnson Company from 2010-2016. He has been frequently named in “Best Doctors in America” from 1992 to the present, “Top Doctors in Cleveland”, and “America’s Top Doctors”.
Dr. Michael F. Roizen, Chief Wellness Officer, Cleveland Clinic and Chairman of The Tanya I. Edwards MD Center for Integrative Medicine
Michael F. Roizen, MD, is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Williams College and Alpha Omega Alpha graduate of the University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine. He performed his residency in internal medicine at Harvard's Beth Israel Hospital and completed Public Health Service at the National Institutes of Health in the laboratory of Irv Kopin and Nobel Prize winner Julius Axelrod. He is certified by both the American Board of Internal Medicine and of Anesthesiology.
Dr. Roizen is the Cofounder and Chair of the RealAge, Inc., Scientific Advisory Board. He is 62 calendar years of age, but his RealAge is 42.8.Dr. Roizen has given more than 1,400 lectures to professional medical groups and has been recognized with over 20 professional lectureships. He has often appeared in the national media, with frequent appearances on The Oprah Winfrey Show, Today, 20/20, CBN, CNN, CBS, Good Morning America, Canada AM, The Montel Williams Show, Larry King Live, and has developed and produced four PBS fundraising specials (his fundraising special The RealAge Makeover was one of the top two PBS special fundraisers in 2006, now with well over 5,000 showings in 100 TV markets). His most recent two PBS specials: YOU: On a Diet, and Longevity Factors, have both received critical acclaim, as well as widespread distribution.
He and Dr. Mehmet Oz write a monthly column for Reader’s Digest; a quarterly column for the nursing magazine Every Woman; and a daily syndicated newspaper column distributed by King Features Syndicate. Drs Roizen and Oz also record one hour a day of radio for Oprah and Friends for satellite radio and cable.
Additionally, Dr. Roizen helms a 2-hour, 26-station terrestrial program entitled YOU: The Owner’s Manual Radio Show, live every Saturday. He has been featured in Fortune, O (the Oprah Magazine), Glamour, Cosmopolitan, Good Housekeeping, Ladies’ Home Journal, Biography, People, US, Men’s Health and Prevention.
Pierre Schaeffer, SVP Marketing, CMO, Thales Group
Throughout his career, Pierre Schaeffer has designed and implemented successful strategies to capture new growth opportunities in a range of high-tech industries.
He began his career at Apple in 1989 and later served as regional director for Apple Europe's publishing, entertainment and new media business. In 1997, he joined Eastman Kodak, where he developed and led the marketing strategy for the consumer digital business for eight years. In 2009, Pierre Schaeffer was appointed Vice President, Marketing, for the Michelin Group, where he drove a global transformation in the tire maker's marketing model to accelerate growth from emerging markets and services.
In 2011, Pierre Schaeffer founded Marketect LLC, an international management consulting practice based in the Washington DC area, helping companies successfully harness innovation, find market leverage and deliver growth.
Pierre Schaeffer graduated from the Ecole Supérieure de Physique et Chimie Industrielles de Paris (ESPCI) and received a post-graduate degree in Artificial Intelligence from Paris VII University. He followed Apple's Executive MBA program at the INSEAD business school near Paris.
Stephen J. Petras, J.D.; Retired Partner, BakerHostetler
Mr. Petras brings decades of extensive domestic and international legal experience and leadership to Aeroscena®. After retiring as a partner at BakerHostetler, he founded NeXT1 Inc., in 2019, and now serves as its director. Mr. Petras is the Director of the Cox International Law Center of Case Western Reserve University School of Law.
Stewart Kohl, CEO, The Riverside Company
Mr. Kohl is Co-CEO of The Riverside Company, a global private equity firm focused on acquiring and investing in growing businesses valued at up to $400 million. He was an early investor in Aeroscena® and continues to advise the company in many capacities.
Kelly Emerton, Ph.D; Sr. Director Product Development Cleveland Clinic; CEO Tatara Vascular
Dr. Emerton is Sr. Director of Product for Cleveland Clinic Innovations & CEO of Tatara Vascular, LLC. She has an extensive background in medical device development, including bringing these products to market. Dr. Emerton holds a Ph.D from City College at the City University of New York.
Jennifer Roizen, Ph.D., Organic Chemistry, Caltech; Post-Doctoral Fellow, Stanford; and Assistant Professor of the Roizen Research Group at Duke University
Dr. Jennifer Roizen brings a decade of experience in chemical research to Aeroscena. Dr. Roizen earned a Bachelor of Arts with honors in Chemistry from Williams College, and a doctorate in Organic Chemistry from the California Institute of Technology. Dr. Roizen held a Kirschstein-NRSA Postdoctoral Fellowship at Stanford University, with sponsorship by the National Institutes of Health.
Currently, Dr. Roizen serves as an Assistant Professor of Chemistry at Duke University. Her research focuses on the development of a new method of chemical synthesis, with wide-ranging applications in multiple areas of medicine and health, including the treatment of cancer. She has secured many awards and honors for her contributions to science.Dr. Roizen is a scientific advisor for Aeroscena®, which provides portable aromatherapy with a health-based purpose, and YouBeauty.com, a site that promotes healthy behaviors by educating visitors about the science of beauty. Aeroscena has elicited her support with their long-term vision of scent-delivery as a simple and inexpensive way to improve the quality of healthcare, and life.