Dr. John McKeon is both a former practicing Emergency Room Doctor and the founder and CEO of the Indoor Air Innovation & Research (iAIR) Institute, an organization dedicated to advancing scientific research and innovative solutions in indoor air quality (IAQ). His career began with a deep interest in how the built environment impacts those living with asthma and allergies, recognizing the vital role clean air plays in human health.With a proactive, “upstream” approach to addressing indoor air pollution, Dr. McKeon has brought together healthcare professionals, construction experts, and interior designers to create holistic solutions for healthier indoor environments. His leadership extends to building an international intellectual property portfolio, negotiating complex licensing agreements, and promoting healthcare entrepreneurship, reflecting his ability to drive meaningful change across medicine, research, and business strategy.A graduate of Trinity College Dublin in 1996, Dr. McKeon is a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and holds U.S. Medical Licensing credentials. 

Panelists

Dr. Stephanie Taylor is Chief Medical Officer for ThinkLite Air and holds an MD from Harvard Medical School and a master’s degree in architecture. Her career began in pediatric oncology, where she studied cellular growth control and later recognized the important role of the built environment in patient healing and healthcare-associated infections. Combining medical and architectural expertise, she researches how indoor environments and air quality affect clinical outcomes, including infections, inflammation, cognitive impairment, and disease. Dr. Taylor is an ASHRAE Distinguished Lecturer, WFI Advisory Board member, member of the Environmental Health Committee, and technical advisor on Indoor Air Quality for the U.S. Green Building Council.

Mr. Nick Agopian is President of Reviveaire, USA. With 30+ years of Filtration, HVAC & energy-recovery experience, Nick focuses on Indoor Air Quality and improving the human condition indoors. Nick’s has held executive positions of VP for various businesses like Circul-Aire, Dectron Internationale, President and General Manager at SEMCO, a Fläkt Woods company, and Vice President at RenewAire. Nick is highly involved with ASHRAE,where he sits on numerous technical committees, such as ASHRAE 62.1 & 62.2, ASHRAE Position Document - Human Health and Wellness in the Built Environment, TC 2.3, SPC 145P, TRG4.IAQP, TG 9, etc. He’s also served on a special board for filtration part of the National Research Council of Canada (NRC), Additionally, he served on the Board of Directors for the Missouri Innovation Center’s Life Sciences Business Incubator, Board of the local Chamber of Commerce, and Chairman of the Board for the Home Ventilating Institute.Nick's undergrad was in Mechanical Systems Engineering from Vanier, Quebec, Canada, and an International MBA from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business.

Dr. Mehdi Shirmohammadi, Director of Termeh Filtration in UAE, has more than 20 years of experience (academic and industrial) in air filtration textiles, nanofibers and respiratory masks. Mehdi is a recognized expert in textile fibers, high-efficiency filter media, and antibacterial adsorbents, involved in co-leading standard development committees at the ISIRI in writing standards for respiratory masks. During his air purification research, he worked through the chain of air cleaning processes from polymers, textile fibers, filter media, filter elements, filtration systems, testing instruments, and standardization. He has been focused on antimicrobial adsorber filter media since 2010 and has some patents and publications. Mehdi received his Ph.D. in Textile (chemistry and fibers sciences) from IAU, Iran. He is a Certified Filtration and Separation Specialist (CFSS) for air filtration, awarded as WFI’s Student of the Year in 2022.

Dr. Christine Sun, President of the World Filtration Institute (WFI), is a globally renowned technical and market expert in the filtration industry. With 30+ years of experience in academia and industry, she has 100+ publications and patents with deep expertise in technology innovation and business development. Dr. Sun chaired the American Filtration and Separation Society (AFS) (2016–2017) and received the AFS Fellow Award (2019). She served as Technology Director at Donaldson (2011–2013), R&D Manager at Freudenberg Filtration Technologies (2004–2011), and Research Professor at the University of Tennessee (1995–2024). She earned her BS, MS, and PhD in Chemical Engineering from Tsinghua University, China, and an Executive Certificate from the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, USA. Dr. Sun serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of Industrial Textiles and Textile Science & Research Journal.