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Accel Team Member

Alberto Gandini, Ph.D., MBA

Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder

Alberto is a physicist turned biomedical engineer turned entrepreneur. Alberto founded Accel Diagnostics with the goal of enabling patients the chance to live a better life. Following an unconventional professional path, rejecting the conventional wisdom of what one can or cannot do, Alberto has led a team at Carnegie Mellon University through the development of the pScreen™ technology and now through the development and commercialization of the company’s first product.

Prior to his current role as CEO of AccelDx, Alberto was Research Assistant Professor at the University of Houston and Senior Research Scientist at the Biomedical Engineering Department at Carnegie Mellon University. Alberto has authored 30 peer-reviewed publications and holds 4 US patents. He holds a Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Houston and a MBA in entrepreneurship and finance from the Tepper School of Business at Carnegie Mellon University.

Joie Marhefka, Ph.D.

Head of Engineering

Joie is a bioengineer specialized in the field of blood flow, and she mastered microfluidics and diagnostic systems while completing her postdoctoral work at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Not unfamiliar to the challenges of the start-up world, while at Falcon Genomics, Joie developed tools to personalize cancer therapy based on functional genomics. Joie has a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from Villanova University and a PhD in bioengineering from the University of Pittsburgh, and has authored 10 peer-reviewed publications and presented at numerous national and international conferences.

Greg Lewis

Senior Scientist

Greg is a chemist specialized in the development of low-cost point-of-care diagnostic devices. Following graduate school, Greg decided to enter the challenging start-up world to work with new, exciting, emerging technologies. He received his bachelor’s degree in biochemistry/molecular biology from Ursinus College, and a PhD in Chemistry from Penn State University. His graduate research explored the development of instrument-free quantitative diagnostic assays, as well as the application of stimuli-responsive materials for use in additive manufacturing. Greg has authored 13 peer reviewed publications, has filed a patent application (as well a provisional patent), and has presented at numerous national conferences.

Advisors:

AccelDx’s team relies on the guidance of a strong and highly engaged group of advisors that include field leaders, senior executives, and serial entrepreneurs.

James McNally, Ph.D.

Point-of-Care Diagnostics Advisor

Dr. McNally is the former Vice President, Diagnostic Products at Quest Diagnostics, the world's leading provider of diagnostic information services that patients and doctors need to make better healthcare decisions. At Quest, he was responsible for all of Quest’s FDA-regulated products business, accounting for $180 million in annual sales with a portfolio of companies that developed and marketed diagnostic products ranging from waived POC instruments/assays for physician use through moderate and high complexity molecular and immunological products targeting hospital and central laboratories. Prior to joining Quest, Dr. McNally was CEO at Bio-Imaging Research, a quality certified ISO14385 engineering design firm for major manufacturers of diagnostic imaging equipment. Dr. McNally headed the MRI Advanced Technology group at Picker International, where he developed and patented methods to make MRI scanning insensitive to patient motion that remain in general industry use today, and launched image-guided surgery where the company successfully concluded the PMA process with FDA for commercialization of a pioneering system for neurosurgery. Dr. McNally has been awarded ten patents in the fields of MRI, image-guided surgery, x-ray, CT, and food sterilization. He received his Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry from the University of Rochester and a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry and Economics from Duke University. .

Steve Fleck

Product Development Advisor

Steven brings key business and technology leadership through an extensive array of professional experience. A serial entrepreneur, Steve is the CEO of Proximedics, a medical device company that integrates powerful RFID functionality into healthcare products, and was the co-founder and founding CEO of ClearCount Medical Solutions from the formation of the company through commercial launch and deployment of its breakthrough RFID products to hospitals across the U.S. Steve led the development of the first FDA cleared RFID tracking system for use in the surgical operating room, as well as various RFID products for the hospital environment. Steve oversaw ClearCount’s IP strategy and developed the company’s IP portfolio of twelve issued patents. He is a named inventor on eight of those patents. Steve has an MBA from Carnegie Mellon University and a degree in Applied Physics and Bioengineering from Cornell University.

Alan Jernigan.

Business Development Advisor

Alan brings significant expertise in the PoC diagnostic space. Alan is a senior sales and marketing leader with P&L responsibility and an impressive track record for dramatically growing sales rapidly in small, medium and large companies. Strong international and domestic commercialization, strategic planning and execution, product launches, direct sales & distributor partner development, best sales practices and marketing background. Currently Alan is the CEO of a new sensor commercialization division of the molecular research firm Applied Nanotech Holdings Inc. Alan occupied a variety of roles including: Worldwide Sales Training Manager - Point of Care, Chemistry, Hematology, Immunology; Senior Executive, National Accounts Group; Diagnostic Systems Specialist.

Alan’s previous positions include:
Chief Sales and Marketing Officer at One Lambda Inc.
Vice President, Global Sales and Marketing, Thrombovision; Houston, Texas.
Director of Corporate Development, Diagnostic and Life Science Operations, Igen International, Maryland Abbott Laboratory  

(Alan is expected to join the management team as the VP/Business Development)

James Antaki, Ph.D.

Technology Advisor

Jim is Associate Professor at the Biomedical Engineering and the Computer Science Department at Carnegie Mellon University, and a Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering. For over 25 years he has conducted research in the field of blood-wetted medical devices. Dr. Antaki holds 16 patents and has published over 85 papers related to medical device in peer-review journals. Dr. Antaki received his B.S. in Mechanical and Electrical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Pittsburgh.

David Schwartzman,MD.

Medical Advisor

Dr Schwartzman is a Professor of Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh and a member of the UPMC Cardiovascular Institute (CVI). He directs the UPMC Atrial Fibrillation Center as well as the CVI large animal research facility. His expertise and research interests are broad, pertaining to heart and blood vessel-related prevention/reversal, ambulatory monitoring, and minimally invasive surgeries.

SalmanMukhtar, MBA,

Co-Founder and Advisor to the Company

Salman is the co-founder of the company. Salman has held a number of positions at Fortune 500 companies – at Progressive Insurance he served as the Product Marketing Manager with direct responsibility for profit/loss for a product line with over $50M in annual revenues. Within a year, he turned around the business resulting in it being profitable and the 3rd fastest growing region within the division. Prior to Progressive, Salman worked at The DIRECTV Group and Deloitte. At Deloitte, Salman was a part of the Health and Human Services practice and served as the product manager for the first web based preliminary eligibility system for public health in the United States. Computer World Magazine recognized his clients for Technical Innovation in Government. Salman holds a Bachelor’s degree in Management from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a MBA from the Tepper School of Business at Carnegie Mellon University. Salman remains actively involved with the Company’s strategic planning.

In addition to these high-qualified individuals AccelDx has strong connections and active research collaborations with leading academic institutes such as Carnegie Mellon University and University of Pittsburgh.

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