Philip
N. Borer, Ph. D., CEO and Chairman
of the Board
Phil provides the strategic vision that is taking OrthoSystems
from academia to commercialization. His ground-breaking research
is at the
core of OrthoSystems molecular switches which are used to rapidly
detect chemical and biological contaminants, as well as to accelerate
drug discovery. The OrthoSwitch™ concept was developed
at Syracuse University in collaboration with Bruce Hudson as
an ultrasensitive method to detect binding to the nucleocapsid
protein from HIV-1. He is a principal author of SBIR and STTR
grants to support the company's R&D efforts. Also a Professor
of Chemistry at SU, Phil specializes in the structure and stability
of nucleic acids and their complexes with proteins. After receiving
his Ph.D. from the University of California at Berkeley in 1972,
he held a postdoctoral fellowship at Johns Hopkins. He was a
member of the Berkeley team that developed the first rules for
the stability of base-paired RNA and DNA structures. Phil was
also a consultant, staff scientist, then Director of Research
and Development for New Methods Research, Inc. (NMRi), which
created and sold software for use in chemical and biochemical
analysis. He is also a co-founder of Advanced Resonance Technologies,
Inc., which develops products for chemical analysis by nuclear
magnetic resonance.
Bruce
S. Hudson, Ph. D., VP Research & Development and Board
Member
Bruce focuses on high sensitivity readout technologies to
determine the state of OrthoSystem's molecular OrthoSwitches.
His background in spectroscopy and analyzing ligand binding
to macromolecules is a key to our success. Bruce and Phil
have collaborated for many years in anti-AIDS research. While
that focus continues, it became clear that OrthoSwitch
technology had wide application in contaminant sensing and
drug discovery. Bruce is a principal author of SBIR and STTR
grants to support R&D efforts at OrthoSystems. Bruce is
also a Professor of Chemistry at Syracuse University where
he specializes in biochemical applications of fluorescence
spectroscopy and in neutron scattering and diffraction. He
is an expert in thermodynamics and chemical kinetics. He received
his Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1972, and has held positions
at Stanford and the University of Oregon prior to coming to
Syracuse University.
Peter
E. Kent, President and Board Member
Peter directs OrthoSystems' overall market and operational
strategy, including high-level product development and key
industry partnerships. He has extensive experience in successful
startup businesses and generating capital. As President of
New Methods Research, he took the company from a staff of
6 to worldwide sales of $5 million and #140 on the INC 500
list within two years. As Manager of New Product Developments
for Mechanical Technology Inc., he took a research concept
for diagnostic and balancing gas turbine engines to a product
that has been sold to airlines in over 50 countries. Peter
is a licensed Professional Engineer, who has also managed
a public water system, is familiar with methods for monitoring
water quality and has many contacts in this key area for OrthoSystems'
development. He received his BME and MBA from Rensselaer Polytechnic
Institute.
Mark
P. McPike, Ph. D., Chief Science Officer
Mark spearheads the company's research and development efforts,
engineering and testing OrthoSwitches for new target
molecules. A principal author of SBIR & STTR efforts,
he is also the Principal Investigator on a recently awarded
SBIR grant from the Homeland Security Advanced Research Projects
Agency. Mark joined OrthoSystems in 2003 with a strong commitment
to develop rapid and sensitive detectors for chemical and
biological agents. These sensors are directed toward environmental
and terrorist threats to public health, and are a critical
focus for company growth. He received his Ph.D. from Syracuse
University in 2001. Prior to joining the company, Mark was
an American Foundation for AIDS Research Fellow at the Dana-Farber
Cancer Institute at Harvard Medical School, focused on screening
small molecules for anti-viral activity. Mark is an expert
in protein cloning, overexpression, and purification, as well
as in vivo functional assays for anti-HIV drug candidates.
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