Leadership
Executive Leadership
Paul R. Sohmer, M.D. serves as the Company's President and Chief Executive Officer. Prior to joining Viracor-IBT in January of 2011, Dr. Sohmer served as CEO of both public and privately held growth companies focused on laboratory services, medical devices, and biotechnology including TriPath Imaging, Inc., Neuromedical Systems, Inc., Genetrix, Inc., the Pathology Institute, Inc. and, most recently, Orthocon, Inc. During his tenure with the Pathology Institute, he led the first commercial introduction of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for diagnosis and founded the Chiron Reference Laboratory. Within laboratory services, Dr. Sohmer brings a broad range of leadership experience including hospital-based, esoteric reference, and national reference laboratory oversight and direction. A graduate of Northwestern University and the Chicago Medical School, Dr. Sohmer was named the Ernst and Young Carolinas Life Sciences Entrepreneur of the Year® in 2005.
Dr. Altrich is the Clinical Laboratory Director for allergy and immunology. In her previous role at IBT, Dr. Altrich was responsible for new test development in the area of cellular function testing for allergy and autoimmune diseases as well as serving as the Assistant Lab Director for IBT's menu of immunodiagnostic tests. Dr. Altrich joined IBT in 2006 as a Senior Scientist. Prior to joining IBT, Dr. Altrich held an appointment at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville where she specialized in molecular and cellular immunology. Dr. Altrich received her PhD in pathology and microbiology from the University of Nebraska Medical Center where her research focused on tumor immunology.
Alan Cotton serves as Vice President, Sales. Prior to joining ViracorIBT in 2011, Mr. Cotton held a variety of leadership positions at Beckman Coulter Inc. He most recently was the national director of sales, flow cytometry. In this role, he directed U.S. sales operations in both the clinical and research arenas.
Mr. Cotton earned a B.S. degree in Biology from Jacksonville State University and an MBA from Keller Graduate School, Devry University.
Amy Castillo serves as Vice President of Marketing. Amy brings to the company over 20 years of extensive experience in the health care industry. Prior to joining the team, Ms. Castillo was with Cerner Corporation in several leadership assignments for brand development and positioning, national and geographical-based campaigns to new business development programs that included acute and ambulatory care, life sciences, pharmaceutical, employer and government services. Ms. Castillo was also principal with a healthcare management and marketing consulting group working with key influencers across the industry from the American Heart Association, VHA and leading hospitals, health systems and medical device organizations. She is a recognized expert and author receiving multiple industry awards due to her breadth of knowledge in building of integrated business and marketing models for health care delivery. She holds a BES degree from the University of Missouri and Master of Science degree from Baylor University in exercise physiology and a MBA from the University of Dallas in marketing/human resources.
Steven Kleiboeker is responsible for scientific direction and oversight of the company's clinical diagnostic efforts as well as its pharmaceutical research services. Dr. Kleiboeker served as the Chief Scientific Officer and Vice President of Viracor Laboratories since 2006. Prior to joining Viracor, Dr. Kleiboeker was a faculty member at the University of Missouri where his duties included research, graduate teaching, and supervision of three university-based diagnostic service laboratories (virology, serology and molecular diagnostics). His research has focused on viral pathogenesis, phylogenetics and diagnostics and has included projects investigating a broad range of human and animal pathogens. Dr. Kleiboeker has served as both principal investigator and co-investigator on numerous government-funded research grants (USDA, NIH). He has published over 40 scientific articles and monographs and serves on editorial boards and as a reviewer for several prominent virological and microbiological journals. Dr. Kleiboeker received his PhD in Physiology from the University of Missouri and DVM from the University of Missouri.
Rene Pfaltzgraff is in charge of Regulatory Affairs and Quality Assurance with oversight of the company’s compliance program and quality management system. Ms. Pfaltzgraff served as IBT's Vice President of Laboratory Operations, with responsibility for the management of the laboratory as well as for the implementation and maintenance of GLP-level quality systems for clinical trial testing. Before joining IBT, Ms. Pfaltzgraff served as Quality Assurance and Regulatory Affairs Manager at CRLMedinet, a clinical trial and genomics reference laboratory. In her early career she held leadership positions at Osborn Laboratories including: R&D scientist, General Manager of the Medical Devices division, Laboratory Manager and Director of Operations. Ms. Pfaltzgraff holds a BS in Medical Technology from the University of Kansas and an MBA from Baker University.
Vicki Schluter serves as Vice President and Chief Information Officer. She is responsible for providing innovative technology solutions that enable the company's strategy. Prior to Viracor-IBT, Ms. Schluter was Vice President of Technology for YRC Worldwide, a global transportation service provider. At YRC, she was responsible for the development and support of all applications. This encompassed sales and order placement, freight movement, customer service, human resources and finance, electronic data interchange, and mobile and web applications. Ms. Schluter also led the technology effort to successfully combine Yellow and Roadway as YRC. Prior to leading technology at YRC Worldwide, she held various technical and leadership positions in the Industrial Engineering department of Yellow Transportation. Ms. Schluter holds a BS degree in Industrial Engineering and a Master of Science degree in Industrial Engineering from Iowa State University.
Ray W. Swanson serves as the company’s Chief Commercial Officer. Mr. Swanson has more than 20 years of general management and commercial leadership experience in public and privately held companies in the medical technology and diagnostics industries, including having recently served as CEO of Centice Corporation. A recognized diagnostics industry expert, he has had a highly successful track record in building value for growth-focused organizations including TriPath Imaging, Dade Behring, Baxter Healthcare and J&J. Within laboratory services and the personalized medicine markets, Mr. Swanson brings a high level of expertise gained through developing and managing complex customer networks in this space while at TriPath, in addition to experience gained through a variety of board advisory and consulting engagements during his tenure as a partner with the Technology Commercialization Group. Mr. Swanson holds M.S. and B.S. degrees in Zoology from Eastern Illinois University, an MBA from the University of Iowa and was also named a 2007/2008 Impact Technology and Telecommunications Leader by Business Leader Media.
Matt Urbanek serves as Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. He most recently held these roles at Viracor, with responsibility for the company's finance and logistics functions. Prior to joining Viracor in 2007, Mr. Urbanek was a Vice President at George K. Baum Advisors, LLC, an investment-banking firm that specializes in mergers and acquisitions, raising private capital and financial advisory services for middle-market companies. In this role he initiated and executed mergers, acquisitions, divestitures and financings, as well as business valuations, fairness opinions and board advisory services for clients in the business services sector. Mr. Urbanek earned a BA in business administration and finance and a BS in economics from Kansas State University.
Board of Directors
Dr. McCarthy is President of Scientific Technologies and Solutions, LLC, a consulting company that specializes in assisting growth companies and venture capital firms with business and scientific strategies. He is also a Venture Partner with Ampersand Ventures. From 1987 to 2007 he served as President and CEO, Chairman, and Chief Technology Officer of Focus Diagnostics. Prior to Focus Diagnostics, Dr. McCarthy served in executive leadership roles at Becton Dickinson and Boehringer Mannheim. He serves on the Board of Directors of Magellan Biosciences, PrimeraDx, and ATS Labs. Dr. McCarthy received his PhD in Microbiology from the University of New Hampshire and attended the Advanced Management Program at the Harvard University School of Business. Dr. McCarthy has served on the faculties of the University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Cornell University School of Medicine and The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.
Paul R. Sohmer, M.D. serves as the Company's President and Chief Executive Officer. Prior to joining Viracor-IBT in January of 2011, Dr. Sohmer served as CEO of both public and privately held growth companies focused on laboratory services, medical devices, and biotechnology including TriPath Imaging, Inc., Neuromedical Systems, Inc., Genetrix, Inc., the Pathology Institute, Inc. and, most recently, Orthocon, Inc. During his tenure with the Pathology Institute, he led the first commercial introduction of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for diagnosis and founded the Chiron Reference Laboratory. Within laboratory services, Dr. Sohmer brings a broad range of leadership experience including hospital-based, esoteric reference, and national reference laboratory oversight and direction. A graduate of Northwestern University and the Chicago Medical School, Dr. Sohmer was named the Ernst and Young Carolinas Life Sciences Entrepreneur of the Year® in 2005.
Dr. Aggarwal serves as President and Chief Executive Officer of Instant Medical Diagnostics, a developer and manufacturer of in vitro laboratory testing devices and as Managing Partner of The Channel Group. Dr. Aggarwal has served as CEO of Aureon Laboratories, a company that provides predictive testing for personalized cancer testing for physicians and the pharmaceutical research and development industry. Prior to joining Aureon, Dr. Aggarwal served in executive leadership roles at AAI Development Services, Inc., Quest Diagnostic Ventures, and SmithKline Beecham Clinical Laboratories. His areas of expertise include molecular diagnostics, personalized medicine, clinical development, direct-to-consumer strategies and commercial laboratory operations. Dr. Aggarwal holds a PhD in pharmacology and toxicology from the Medical College of Virginia.
Dr. Burnell is co-owner and President of Milestone Business Management, LLC, a private consulting firm focused primarily on transaction negotiation, post-transaction integration and "turn-arounds' in healthcare and related ancillary industries. Dr. Burnell formerly served as Chief Executive Officer of the Nebraska Heart Institute and the Nebraska Heart Hospital, two organizations with more than 500 employees, including 28 physician specialists providing services in cardiac, thoracic and vascular care. Prior to joining Nebraska Heart in 2006, Dr. Burnell was Chief Executive Officer and Vice Chairman for Eurofins Scientific, Inc., an international biotechnology company providing bioanalytical support service to clients from a wide range of industries. Dr. Burnell received his BS and Master's degrees from the University of Nebraska and holds a PhD in nutrition with emphasis in statistics and biochemistry from the University of Kentucky.
Jared Bartok is a Partner with Ampersand Capital Partners. Prior to joining Ampersand in 2007, Mr. Bartok was a Senior Associate at Wellspring Capital Management, where he worked on a number of leveraged acquisitions and recapitalizations of middle-market companies. Before Wellspring, Mr. Bartok was with JPMorgan Chase & Co. in the Financial Sponsor Group focusing on acquisition finance and exit alternatives for private equity clients. Mr. Bartok holds a B.A. in Economics and Computer Science from Middlebury College. Mr. Bartok currently serves on the boards of Biomedical Structures, MedVenture Technology Corp., Modified Polymer Components, NDC and Viracor-IBT Laboratories.
Dr. Hooper is a Managing Partner of Ampersand Capital Partners, a middle market private equity firm. At Ampersand, he has served as a Director of numerous private companies in the areas of diagnostics, research products, pharmaceutical services and therapeutics. Prior to Ampersand, Dr. Hooper co-founded Aclara Biosciences and served as the company's Chief Scientific Officer. Dr. Hooper received a PhD in Chemical Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley.
Phillip "Flip" Short was the founder of Viracor and served as its Chief Executive Officer from the company's inception in 2000, growing the company from a start-up of four associates to a business with over 100 associates. Prior to Viracor, he was Founder and President of StatScript, Inc., which specialized in drugs for patients with AIDS and other chronic illnesses and which is now one of the largest specialty retail pharmacies in the United States, having been purchased by Chronimed in 1996. Mr. Short received a BA in Business Management from Sam Houston State University.
Scientific Leadership
Linda Flebbe-Rehwaldt is a Senior Scientist focused on new test development for allergy and clinical immunology. Dr. Flebbe-Rehwaldt joined Viracor-IBT laboratories in 2010 and is currently working on developing cellular immunology and immunochemistry assays. Prior to joining Viracor-IBT she held an appointment at the University of California, San Francisco working on gene delivery mechanisms for gene therapy. Her postdoctoral training was at UCSF studying regulatory elements of the human beta hemoglobin complex. She received her PhD from the University of Kansas Medical Center.
Jeff Hester is the company's Assistant Clinical Lab Director for Infectious Disease. Dr. Hester has been a Senior Scientist directing the development of cellular immunology assays at Viracor Laboratories since 2007. Prior to joining Viracor, he was an Assistant Professor and Director of Molecular Diagnostics in the Department of Pathology at the University of Kansas Medical Center where he oversaw the molecular pathology laboratory. Dr. Hester began his career developing diagnostic immunological assays as Associate Director for Research at IBT Laboratories. He received his PhD in Chemistry from the University of Cincinnati and completed his postgraduate training in the Oak Ridge National Laboratory Research Fellowship Program at the United States Environmental Protection Agency.
Joanne Parker is Director of Research & BioPharma Services with responsibilities for oversight of all pharmaceutical research services. Dr. Parker joined IBT in 2007 to help lead the company's custom assay development services for biopharmaceutical clients. Prior to IBT, Dr. Parker was Associate Director of Clinical Immunology at Globeimmune, where she provided support for two vaccines in clinical development. Before joining Globeimmune, she was Director of Immunology and then Director of R&D for Biomira (now Oncothyreon), overseeing the preclinical development of several products, including two cancer vaccines that went to Phase III. Early in her career Dr. Parker was a scientist at Centocor, where she worked on developing monoclonal antibodies for the treatment of cancer. Dr. Parker received her PhD from Hahnemann University in Philadelphia and completed her postdoctoral training at the National Cancer Institute, specializing in the combinations of vaccines, cytokines, and costimulatory molecules for use in cancer therapy.
Dr. Quan joins Viracor-IBT with more than 25 years of management, research, development, operations and commercialization experiences in the biotechnology and diagnostic industries. Dr. Quan will lead the research and development efforts. Prior to her most recent position at On-Q-ity for development of personalized medicine oncology products, Dr. Quan served as the Senior Director at BioMerieux and Tripath Oncology for immunodiagnostic and molecular diagnostics assays. Earlier in her career, Dr. Quan held a variety of technical and managerial positions of increasing responsibility at Chiron Corporation, including Senior Director of Diagnostic Product Development for blood screening and diagnostics business, as well as the Director of Chiron Reference Laboratory. Dr. Quan received her Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley and her Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Marilyn Smith is a Senior Scientist focused on new molecular assay development. Dr. Smith has over 30 years experience in virology, microbiology, and molecular biology and has successfully developed many commercial assays. Prior to joining IBT in 2007, Dr. Smith was Research Associate Professor of Microbiology at the University of Kansas Medical Center, where she worked on viral evolution, pathogenesis, and vaccine studies in a primate model of HIV-1 infection. Earlier in her career, she led a subproject on the development of HIV-1 resistance to antivirals for the UNC AIDS Clinical Trials Unit grant. She earned her PhD at the University of Minnesota and was a postdoctoral fellow at the Clinical Research Institute of Montreal and at the Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Research Center, UNC-Chapel Hill.
Dominic Warrino is a Senior Scientist for the BioPharma Services department and is the lead scientist for a number of projects focused in cellular immunology and large molecule PK, PD, and Immunogenicity assay development. Dr. Warrino joined IBT in 2008 to help lead the company's custom assay development services for biopharmaceutical clients. Prior to IBT, Dr. Warrino was a scientist at Streck, where he launched an IVD cleared blood collection tube for stabilization of cell surface markers and researched the stabilization of circulating tumor cells in whole blood. Prior to Streck, Dr. Warrino served in other scientist roles at Cellcor Labs and Eligix Inc. Dr. Warrino received his PhD in Immunology from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.
Mark Wissel is the company's Assistant Director for Clinical Mycology. Dr. Wissel has been a Senior Scientist directing the development of fungal diagnostic assays at Viracor-IBT Laboratories since 2006. Prior to joining Viracor-IBT, he was a Post-Doctoral Fellow in the Department of Microbiology, Molecular Genetics and Immunology at the University of Kansas Medical Center where he conducted research into the molecular mechanisms of bacterial cell division. He received his PhD in Microbiology from the University of Iowa College of Medicine.