Team

Nuclein, LLC was founded in 2017 by experienced biotechnology entrepreneurs Alan Blake and Dr. Richard Crockett. The company’s mission has been to enable simple, affordable, rapid, and accurate testing for everyone.  Nuclein acquired the DASH™ Rapid PCR System in 2023 via a merger with Minute Molecular Diagnostics, Inc., which was founded by Dr. David Kelso, Dr. Sally McFall, and Kara Palamountain.

The company is headquartered in Austin, Texas.

Leadership Team

Alan Blake, Nuclein CEO

Alan Blake

Mr. Alan Blake is Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of Nuclein. Prior to his involvement with Nuclein, Mr. Blake was a Co-Founder and CEO of Yorktown Technologies, which developed and marketed GloFish®, the world’s first widely commercialized biotech animal. Launched in 2003, GloFish grew to become the most visible consumer biotech product in the world, available in more than 7,000 retail locations, including Walmart, PetSmart, and Petco. GloFish was sold to Spectrum Brands Inc (NYSE: SPB) in 2017. Before founding GloFish, Mr. Blake founded and led ClassMap, a venture capital funded startup in the online learning space, managing daily operations of 50 employees. Mr. Blake has also served as a Board Member for numerous companies and nonprofit organizations, and he currently serves on the University of Texas at Austin McCombs School of Business Advisory Council. He graduated with highest honors from the University of Texas at Austin with a Bachelor of Business Administration in finance and holds 25 patents.

Steven Back, Nuclein

Steven Back

Mr. Steven Back is Chief Operating Officer of Nuclein. Prior to Nuclein, Mr. Back held leadership positions in Quality, Regulatory, Engineering and Manufacturing. During his 14 years at Luminex Corporation, he served as Head of Quality and Regulatory across five North American locations, overseeing Quality Management System enhancements, Regulatory Body audits, Product Submissions, Medical Device Report actions (Recalls), Supplier Quality, Production and Incoming Quality, Design Assurance, Documentation and product control and release. As Vice President of Manufacturing at Luminex, he led all aspects of instrument and reagent/assay current GMP (cGMP) compliant manufacturing, which included Incoming Quality, Quality Control, Supply Chain, Warehouse, Instrument Assembly and Reagent/Assay manufacturing. Prior to Luminex Corporation, Mr. Back worked at Abbott Laboratories, holding several leadership positions during his 18-year tenure, including leading Engineering, Manufacturing and Quality organizations. He Graduated with a BSSE from Wright State University, an MSEE from the University of Texas at Arlington, and an MBA from the University of Dallas.

Jim Hully

Jim Hully, PhD

Dr. Jim Hully is Chief Scientific Officer of Nuclein. For the last two decades, he has worked in the IVD sector helping a diverse range of companies clear products through the FDA. Prior to Nuclein, Dr. Hully worked an independent consultant focused on FDA EUA COVID-19 assays, as well as at Nanosphere (now part of DiaSorin), where he led the R&D team developing highly multiplexed IVD assays for 510(k) clearance on the Verigene System. Dr. Hully previously worked at Intelligent MDx, where he patented robust methods for oligo designs resulting in multiple SBIR grants, as well as FDA EUA & 510(k) cleared assays. Dr. Hully’s experience also includes Applied Biosystems (now part of Thermo Fisher Scientific), where he was on the team that launched the novel In Situ PCR system. With post-doctoral work at Genentech and the University of Wisconsin, Madison, Dr. Hully graduated from the University of North Wales, Bangor, with a Bachelor of Science in Zoology, and he earned a Master’s in Science & Doctor of Philosophy from the University of London in Pathology & Toxicology.

Don Thomas

Don Thomas

Mr. Don Thomas is Vice President of Engineering for Nuclein. Mr. Thomas brings over 30 years of product development experience and an expertise in molecular diagnostics, cell-based assays, and semiconductor equipment / automation. Mr. Thomas has extensive experience in Executive Leadership, Project Management, and Quality, and has technical knowledge in areas such as IVD Regulatory Requirements, Microfluidics, Design Controls, and DFM, bringing a well-rounded IVD background to the Engineering team. Mr. Thomas’ decades of IVD experience include positions at Thermo Fisher Scientific, Mesa Biotech, ACEA Biosciences, and Nanogen. Mr. Thomas has Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from the California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo.

Huiping Zhu, PhD, Nuclein

Huiping Zhu, PhD

Dr. Huiping Zhu

is Vice President of Assay Development of Nuclein. Prior to Nuclein, Dr. Zhu was Director of Assay R&D at Luminex Corporation, leading molecular diagnostic product development and design verification in support of 510(k) and IVDR submissions. During her career, Dr. Zhu has been awarded an NIH Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant, an R01 and an R21 research grant, and was a key contributor to multiple NIH and CDC research programs. Dr. Zhu has authored over 60 peer-reviewed scientific publications in the fields of molecular diagnostics, human genetics, and developmental biology. She graduated from Peking University Health Science Center with a Bachelor of Medicine (M.B.) degree, and subsequently earned her Ph.D. in Genetic & Molecular Epidemiology there as well.

Miranda Chavez, Nuclein

Miranda Chavez

Ms. Miranda Chavez is Associate Director of Program & Project Management and Customer Support of Nuclein. Prior to Nuclein, Ms. Chavez held Program Management leadership roles at Pattern Bioscience and Luminex Corporation, leading design transfer, and go-to-market, initiatives at each company. She established Luminex’s first Field Quality Assurance department, leading global root-cause analysis, and product resolution efforts, for field-related issues. Ms. Chavez has led EUA, IVD and CE IVD efforts for more than 20 medical diagnostic products and is credited with a CLSI guideline for Newborn Screening Programs. She graduated from Saint Edward’s University with a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry, pre-medical.

Richard Crockett, MD, Nuclein President

Richard Crockett, MD

Dr. Richard Crockett is Chief Medical Officer and a Co-Founder of Nuclein. Prior to Nuclein, Dr. Crockett was Co-Founder and President of Yorktown Technologies, leading the research, development, production, and regulatory efforts of the company, including the successful review of many FDA applications. Beyond Yorktown, Dr. Crockett is an experienced entrepreneur, who prior to co-founding Yorktown, co-founded ClassMap with Mr. Blake. He graduated from Yale University with an Intensive Bachelor of Science in Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, later returning to Yale to earn his Medical Doctorate before surgical residency at Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York. Dr. Crockett holds 21 patents and is published in several peer-reviewed journals.

Jeffrey Stukuls, Nuclein

Jeffrey Stukuls

Mr. Jeffrey Stukuls is Chief Financial Officer of Nuclein. Mr. Stukuls has an accomplished background as a Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer in the technology development, online retail, and services industries. In addition to co-founding and selling his own businesses, including Medwing.com in 2010, his expertise has centered on raising substantial funding and scaling various businesses. Mr. Stukuls was Chief Financial Officer of TrackingPoint, a technology development company which raised over $80M and grew its first-year revenue to over $11M. Additionally, Mr. Stukuls led rapid-growth efforts at Stampede Consulting, which scaled from a team of 10 to over 1,000 people in its first year. He graduated from Bentley University with a Bachelor of Science in Accountancy and a minor in Computer Information Systems, as well as earned an Entrepreneurial Master’s Program Certificate from the MIT Extension School and the Entrepreneurs’ Organization.

Brian Estes, Nuclein

Brian Estes

Mr. Brian Estes is Chief People Officer of Nuclein. Prior to Nuclein, Mr. Estes was Director of Global Human Resources of Artivion, Inc.’s Asia Pacific and Latin America regions, leading global HR operations and rapid-growth global expansion efforts for the Class 3 medical device company. While at Artivion, Mr. Estes led the integration of the company’s acquisitions of On-X, a mechanical heart valve manufacturing facility in Austin, Texas, and Jotec GmbH, a surgical prosthesis and endovascular device manufacturing facility in Hechingen, Germany. Prior to Artivion, Mr. Estes held Human Resources leadership positions at The Advisory Board Company (now Optum) and the Miami Marlins (Major League Baseball), leading rapid-growth and expansion efforts at each firm. He is certified as a Global Professional in Human Resources (GPHR), and Professional in Human Resources (PHR), and graduated cum laude from the University of Florida with a Bachelor of Science in Health and Human Performance.

Ben Treece

Benjamin Treece

Mr. Benjamin Treece is Vice President of Quality and Regulatory Affairs of Nuclein. Mr. Treece most recently served as the VP of Quality & Regulatory Affairs for diagnostic start-up Veravas, establishing the company’s Quality Management System and as Director, Quality & Regulatory Affairs, for Everly Health responsible for the Everlywell Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) testing portfolio. Prior to these recent experiences, Mr. Treece had a 15-year tenure at Luminex holding positions of increasing responsibility in the Quality organization, ending his Luminex tenure as Director of Quality, where he oversaw all Quality aspects for the Austin-based manufacturing operations that included IVD Instruments, IVD Assays and life science instrument and reagent product lines. In addition, Mr. Treece had global responsibility for Design Assurance and Document Control teams. Prior to Luminex, Mr. Treece began his medical device experience as a Quality Assurance Chemist with an orthopedic implant manufacturer that is now Zimmer-Biomet. Throughout his medical device career, he has served as a Management Representative and was the point of contact for third-party audits, including FDA inspections. He graduated with a BS in Chemistry from University of Texas at Austin and an MBA from West Texas A&M.

Michael Karberg, PhD, Nuclein

Michael Karberg, PhD

Dr. Michael Karberg is Chief Scientist, and a founding team member, of Nuclein. In this role, he has been intimately involved in developing the company’s core technologies since its inception.  With decades of experience, Dr. Karberg has amassed an extensive background in nucleic acid assay development and optimization. In previous roles at Life Technologies and Thermo Fisher Scientific, he managed the research and development of animal health and food safety custom assays and products. He has developed over 100 assays, including those used to detect E. coli O157:H7, Salmonella, type 2 porcine circovirus, and porcine respiratory coronavirus. Dr. Karberg graduated from Ohio State University with a Bachelor of Science in Molecular Genetics and earned a Doctor of Philosophy in Molecular Biology from the University of Texas at Austin.

Michael Catalasan, Nuclein

Michael Catalasan

Mr. Michael Catalasan is Associate Director of Quality for Nuclein. Prior to Nuclein, Mr. Catalasan was Sr. Manager, Quality Engineering at Smith and Nephew, where he led teams across multiple sites in the U.S. and Costa Rica supporting manufacturing operations and R&D for the Sports Medicine and ENT franchises. In addition to his medical device experience, he has held positions of increasing responsibility in the pharmaceutical industry in Operations and Quality, including serving as Quality Management Representative in Missoula, Montana for Baxter and Manufacturing Quality Manager in Austin, Texas for Hospira. He graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology.

Nuclein’s leadership team has proven experience commercializing biotech, including expertise in system and assay research and development, regulatory, intellectual property, engineering and manufacturing.

Nuclein was founded in 2017 by experienced biotechnology entrepreneurs Alan Blake and Dr. Richard Crockett.

Alan Blake, Nuclein CEO

Alan Blake

Mr. Alan Blake is Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of Nuclein. Prior to his involvement with Nuclein, Mr. Blake was a Co-Founder and CEO of Yorktown Technologies, which developed and marketed GloFish®, the world’s first widely commercialized biotech animal. Launched in 2003, GloFish grew to become the most visible consumer biotech product in the world, available in more than 7,000 retail locations, including Walmart, PetSmart, and Petco. GloFish was sold to Spectrum Brands Inc (NYSE: SPB) in 2017. Before founding GloFish, Mr. Blake founded and led ClassMap, a venture capital funded startup in the online learning space, managing daily operations of 50 employees. Mr. Blake has also served as a Board Member for numerous companies and nonprofit organizations, and he currently serves on the University of Texas at Austin McCombs School of Business Advisory Council. He graduated with highest honors from the University of Texas at Austin with a Bachelor of Business Administration in finance and holds 25 patents.

Richard Crockett, MD, Nuclein President

Richard Crockett, MD

Dr. Richard Crockett is Chief Medical Officer and a Co-Founder of Nuclein. Prior to Nuclein, Dr. Crockett was Co-Founder and President of Yorktown Technologies, leading the research, development, production, and regulatory efforts of the company, including the successful review of many FDA applications. Beyond Yorktown, Dr. Crockett is an experienced entrepreneur, who prior to co-founding Yorktown, co-founded ClassMap with Mr. Blake. He graduated from Yale University with an Intensive Bachelor of Science in Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, later returning to Yale to earn his Medical Doctorate before surgical residency at Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York. Dr. Crockett holds 21 patents and is published in several peer-reviewed journals.

Steven Back, Nuclein

Steven Back

Mr. Steven Back is Chief Operating Officer of Nuclein. Prior to Nuclein, Mr. Back held leadership positions in Quality, Regulatory, Engineering and Manufacturing. During his 14 years at Luminex Corporation, he served as Head of Quality and Regulatory across five North American locations, overseeing Quality Management System enhancements, Regulatory Body audits, Product Submissions, Medical Device Report actions (Recalls), Supplier Quality, Production and Incoming Quality, Design Assurance, Documentation and product control and release. As Vice President of Manufacturing at Luminex, he led all aspects of instrument and reagent/assay current GMP (cGMP) compliant manufacturing, which included Incoming Quality, Quality Control, Supply Chain, Warehouse, Instrument Assembly and Reagent/Assay manufacturing. Prior to Luminex Corporation, Mr. Back worked at Abbott Laboratories, holding several leadership positions during his 18-year tenure, including leading Engineering, Manufacturing and Quality organizations. He Graduated with a BSSE from Wright State University, an MSEE from the University of Texas at Arlington, and an MBA from the University of Dallas.

Jeffrey Stukuls, Nuclein

Jeffrey Stukuls

Mr. Jeffrey Stukuls is Chief Financial Officer of Nuclein. Mr. Stukuls has an accomplished background as a Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer in the technology development, online retail, and services industries. In addition to co-founding and selling his own businesses, including Medwing.com in 2010, his expertise has centered on raising substantial funding and scaling various businesses. Mr. Stukuls was Chief Financial Officer of TrackingPoint, a technology development company which raised over $80M and grew its first-year revenue to over $11M. Additionally, Mr. Stukuls led rapid-growth efforts at Stampede Consulting, which scaled from a team of 10 to over 1,000 people in its first year. He graduated from Bentley University with a Bachelor of Science in Accountancy and a minor in Computer Information Systems, as well as earned an Entrepreneurial Master’s Program Certificate from the MIT Extension School and the Entrepreneurs’ Organization.

Jim Hully

Jim Hully, PhD

Dr. Jim Hully is Chief Scientific Officer of Nuclein. For the last two decades, he has worked in the IVD sector helping a diverse range of companies clear products through the FDA. Prior to Nuclein, Dr. Hully worked an independent consultant focused on FDA EUA COVID-19 assays, as well as at Nanosphere (now part of DiaSorin), where he led the R&D team developing highly multiplexed IVD assays for 510(k) clearance on the Verigene System. Dr. Hully previously worked at Intelligent MDx, where he patented robust methods for oligo designs resulting in multiple SBIR grants, as well as FDA EUA & 510(k) cleared assays. Dr. Hully’s experience also includes Applied Biosystems (now part of Thermo Fisher Scientific), where he was on the team that launched the novel In Situ PCR system. With post-doctoral work at Genentech and the University of Wisconsin, Madison, Dr. Hully graduated from the University of North Wales, Bangor, with a Bachelor of Science in Zoology, and he earned a Master’s in Science & Doctor of Philosophy from the University of London in Pathology & Toxicology.

Brian Estes, Nuclein

Brian Estes

Mr. Brian Estes is Chief People Officer of Nuclein. Prior to Nuclein, Mr. Estes was Director of Global Human Resources of Artivion, Inc.’s Asia Pacific and Latin America regions, leading global HR operations and rapid-growth global expansion efforts for the Class 3 medical device company. While at Artivion, Mr. Estes led the integration of the company’s acquisitions of On-X, a mechanical heart valve manufacturing facility in Austin, Texas, and Jotec GmbH, a surgical prosthesis and endovascular device manufacturing facility in Hechingen, Germany. Prior to Artivion, Mr. Estes held Human Resources leadership positions at The Advisory Board Company (now Optum) and the Miami Marlins (Major League Baseball), leading rapid-growth and expansion efforts at each firm. He is certified as a Global Professional in Human Resources (GPHR), and Professional in Human Resources (PHR), and graduated cum laude from the University of Florida with a Bachelor of Science in Health and Human Performance.

Don Thomas

Don Thomas

Mr. Don Thomas is Vice President of Engineering for Nuclein. Mr. Thomas brings over 30 years of product development experience and an expertise in molecular diagnostics, cell-based assays, and semiconductor equipment / automation. Mr. Thomas has extensive experience in Executive Leadership, Project Management, and Quality, and has technical knowledge in areas such as IVD Regulatory Requirements, Microfluidics, Design Controls, and DFM, bringing a well-rounded IVD background to the Engineering team. Mr. Thomas’ decades of IVD experience include positions at Thermo Fisher Scientific, Mesa Biotech, ACEA Biosciences, and Nanogen. Mr. Thomas has Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from the California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo.

Ben Treece

Benjamin Treece

Mr. Benjamin Treece is Vice President of Quality and Regulatory Affairs of Nuclein. Mr. Treece most recently served as the VP of Quality & Regulatory Affairs for diagnostic start-up Veravas, establishing the company’s Quality Management System and as Director, Quality & Regulatory Affairs, for Everly Health responsible for the Everlywell Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) testing portfolio. Prior to these recent experiences, Mr. Treece had a 15-year tenure at Luminex holding positions of increasing responsibility in the Quality organization, ending his Luminex tenure as Director of Quality, where he oversaw all Quality aspects for the Austin-based manufacturing operations that included IVD Instruments, IVD Assays and life science instrument and reagent product lines. In addition, Mr. Treece had global responsibility for Design Assurance and Document Control teams. Prior to Luminex, Mr. Treece began his medical device experience as a Quality Assurance Chemist with an orthopedic implant manufacturer that is now Zimmer-Biomet. Throughout his medical device career, he has served as a Management Representative and was the point of contact for third-party audits, including FDA inspections. He graduated with a BS in Chemistry from University of Texas at Austin and an MBA from West Texas A&M.

Huiping Zhu, PhD, Nuclein

Huiping Zhu, PhD

Dr. Huiping Zhu

is Vice President of Assay Development of Nuclein. Prior to Nuclein, Dr. Zhu was Director of Assay R&D at Luminex Corporation, leading molecular diagnostic product development and design verification in support of 510(k) and IVDR submissions. During her career, Dr. Zhu has been awarded an NIH Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant, an R01 and an R21 research grant, and was a key contributor to multiple NIH and CDC research programs. Dr. Zhu has authored over 60 peer-reviewed scientific publications in the fields of molecular diagnostics, human genetics, and developmental biology. She graduated from Peking University Health Science Center with a Bachelor of Medicine (M.B.) degree, and subsequently earned her Ph.D. in Genetic & Molecular Epidemiology there as well.

Michael Karberg, PhD, Nuclein

Michael Karberg, PhD

Dr. Michael Karberg is Chief Scientist, and a founding team member, of Nuclein. In this role, he has been intimately involved in developing the company’s core technologies since its inception.  With decades of experience, Dr. Karberg has amassed an extensive background in nucleic acid assay development and optimization. In previous roles at Life Technologies and Thermo Fisher Scientific, he managed the research and development of animal health and food safety custom assays and products. He has developed over 100 assays, including those used to detect E. coli O157:H7, Salmonella, type 2 porcine circovirus, and porcine respiratory coronavirus. Dr. Karberg graduated from Ohio State University with a Bachelor of Science in Molecular Genetics and earned a Doctor of Philosophy in Molecular Biology from the University of Texas at Austin.

Miranda Chavez, Nuclein

Miranda Chavez

Ms. Miranda Chavez is Associate Director of Program Management and Product Development of Nuclein. Prior to Nuclein, Ms. Chavez held Program Management leadership roles at Pattern Bioscience and Luminex Corporation, leading design transfer, and go-to-market, initiatives at each company. She established Luminex’s first Field Quality Assurance department, leading global root-cause analysis, and product resolution efforts, for field-related issues. Ms. Chavez has led EUA, IVD and CE IVD efforts for more than 20 medical diagnostic products and is credited with a CLSI guideline for Newborn Screening Programs. She graduated from Saint Edward’s University with a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry, pre-medical.

Michael Catalasan, Nuclein

Michael Catalasan

Mr. Michael Catalasan is Associate Director, Quality of Nuclein. Prior to Nuclein, Mr. Catalasan was Sr. Manager, Quality Engineering at Smith and Nephew, where he led teams across multiple sites in the U.S. and Costa Rica supporting manufacturing operations and R&D for the Sports Medicine and ENT franchises. In addition to his medical device experience, he has held positions of increasing responsibility in the pharmaceutical industry in Operations and Quality, including serving as Quality Management Representative in Missoula, Montana for Baxter and Manufacturing Quality Manager in Austin, Texas for Hospira. He graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology.

Board of Directors

John Butler, PhD, Nuclein Board Member

Dr. John Butler

Dr. John Butler is the recently retired Director of the Herb Kelleher Center for Entrepreneurship at the University of Texas at Austin’s McCombs School of Business. He is also a former Director of UT Austin’s IC2 Institute (2002-2013), which has produced more than 250 companies and helped them to collectively raise roughly $1 billion. In addition to serving on multiple other boards, Dr. Butler is a former Board Manager of GloFish LLC, the General Partner of Yorktown Technologies LP, and he is a noted author in the area of entrepreneurship. Among other career highlights, he was appointed by President George W. Bush to the J. William Fulbright Scholarship Board in 2006 and 2007. Dr. Butler holds a Bachelor of Arts from Louisiana State University and a doctorate in sociology from Northwestern University.

Sanjay Chandra, Nuclein Board Member

Sanjay Chandra

Mr. Sanjay Chandra is a Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Trinity Investors, overseeing more than $7 billion in assets and serving its affiliated companies in a variety of roles and responsibilities. In addition, Mr. Chandra is a Co-Founder and Vice Chairman of American Leather, a furniture manufacturing company with $300+ million in annual revenue. He was a former Board Manager of GloFish LLC, the General Partner of Yorktown Technologies LP. In addition to these roles, he serves in a Board-level capacity at numerous other companies that are affiliated with Trinity Investors. Mr. Chandra also serves on the Engineering Advisory Board for the Cockrell School of Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin. Mr. Chandra graduated with highest honors from UT Austin with a Bachelor of Science in electrical and computer engineering and is a CFA charterholder.

Nuclein’s board of directors has decades of experience leading diverse organizations including technology, research, academics, and medical device manufacturing.

Nuclein’s board of directors has decades of experience leading diverse organizations including technology, research, academics, and medical device manufacturing.

John Butler, PhD, Nuclein Board Member

Dr. John Butler

Dr. John Butler is the recently retired Director of the Herb Kelleher Center for Entrepreneurship at the University of Texas at Austin’s McCombs School of Business. He is also a former Director of UT Austin’s IC2 Institute (2002-2013), which has produced more than 250 companies and helped them to collectively raise roughly $1 billion. In addition to serving on multiple other boards, Dr. Butler is a former Board Manager of GloFish LLC, the General Partner of Yorktown Technologies LP, and he is a noted author in the area of entrepreneurship. Among other career highlights, he was appointed by President George W. Bush to the J. William Fulbright Scholarship Board in 2006 and 2007. Dr. Butler holds a Bachelor of Arts from Louisiana State University and a doctorate in sociology from Northwestern University.

Sanjay Chandra, Nuclein Board Member

Sanjay Chandra

Mr. Sanjay Chandra is a Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Trinity Investors, overseeing more than $7 billion in assets and serving its affiliated companies in a variety of roles and responsibilities. In addition, Mr. Chandra is a Co-Founder and Vice Chairman of American Leather, a furniture manufacturing company with $300+ million in annual revenue. He was a former Board Manager of GloFish LLC, the General Partner of Yorktown Technologies LP. In addition to these roles, he serves in a Board-level capacity at numerous other companies that are affiliated with Trinity Investors. Mr. Chandra also serves on the Engineering Advisory Board for the Cockrell School of Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin. Mr. Chandra graduated with highest honors from UT Austin with a Bachelor of Science in electrical and computer engineering and is a CFA charterholder.

William Cunningham, PhD, Nuclein Board Chairman

Dr. William Cunningham

Dr. William Cunningham is a marketing professor at the University of Texas at Austin, who previously served as President of the University of Texas at Austin (1985-1992) and Chancellor of the University of Texas System (1992-2000). In addition to serving on many public commissions and nonprofit boards, he has been a Board Member of numerous public companies, including currently serving as Lead Director for Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV) and the John Hancock Mutual Funds Board. He has also previously served on the boards of more than a dozen other public and private companies, including as Chairman of the Board of Lincoln Financial Group (NYSE: LNC) and Chairman of the Board of GloFish LLC, the General Partner of Yorktown Technologies LP. His many honors include a Distinguished Alumnus Award from Michigan State University, from which he also received an honorary law degree and the Distinguished Service Award from UT Austin. Dr. Cunningham received a Bachelor of Business Administration in 1966, a Master of Business Administration in 1967, and a doctorate in 1971, each from Michigan State University.

H David Shockley, Jr, Nuclein Board Member

David Shockley, Jr.

Mr. H. David Shockley, Jr. is the founder and CEO of Movair, Inc, (formally known as International Biophysics Corporation). Movair, based in Austin, Texas, is a medical device development and manufacturing company that has been producing life supporting medical devices for 30 years. He is also the founder and Chairman of Organicare, a pharmaceutical drug developer and manufacturer in Austin. Mr. Shockley and Movair have developed many products over the last three decades, with several of these products becoming “spin-off” companies that were ultimately sold. He began his career in 1988 at Cardio Metrics, where he rose to president prior to its sale. He has formerly served as a director for numerous other health-related companies that were successfully sold. Mr. Shockley attended the University of Texas at Austin, where he received a bachelor’s degree in Biology. He is very active in philanthropic organizations.

Walter Narajowski, Nuclein Board Member

Walter Narajowski

Mr. Walter M. Narajowski served as Chief Operating Officer of Minute Molecular from 2020 until the 2023 merger with Nuclein. Mr. Narajowski serves as Partner at LabDx, a biotech consulting company. He has over 25 years of senior level medical device and in vitro diagnostic (IVD) industry experience, including serving as Board member MDXHealth (MDX:EURONEXT), Sr. Vice President & General Manager for Roka BioScience (ROKA:NASDAQ), President/CEO and Board Member of Pathway Diagnostics, a biomarker development and testing company sold to Quest Diagnostics in 2008, and Vice President & General Manger of Focus Diagnostics, an Infectious Disease Reference Laboratory and IVD company. Mr. Narajowski also spent over 20 years with Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) in various positions of increasing responsibility, including Vice President and General Manager of critical care products, General Manager of Physician Office Diagnostics, and Director of Research and Development with Abbott Diagnostics. Mr. Narajowski received his M.S. in bioengineering from the University of Utah, and his B.S. in electrical engineering from the Illinois Institute of Technology.

Advisory Board

David Kelso, PhD, Nuclein Advisor

David Kelso

David Kelso, PhD, serves as a Clinical Professor of Biomedical Engineering in the McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science at Northwestern University. Dr. Kelso is a cofounder and was the prior Chief Executive Officer of Minute Molecular Diagnostics, Inc. He was Chief Scientist at Baxter Healthcare’s Pandex Division from 1986 to 1992 after founding Pandex Laboratories. Professor Kelso was also a cofounder of an intrapreneurial group at Abbott Laboratories, which developed the TDx system and created the company’s therapeutic drug monitoring business. At Abbott, he also developed the first microprocessor-controlled enzyme immunoassay analyzer, Quantum, leading the industry away from radioactive assays.
Sally Mcfall

Sally McFall

Sally McFall, PhD, serves as the Director of Research of the Center for Innovation in Global Health Technologies (CIGHT) in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Northwestern University and as the Deputy Director of the Administrative Core and Director of the Technology Development/Refinement Core C-THAN. Dr. McFall possesses a broad background in molecular and clinical microbiology and has co-developed point-of-care assays and instruments with CIGHT’s engineering team. She is also one of the co-founders and prior Chief Scientific Officer of Minute Molecular Diagnostics, Inc.

The Nuclein advisory board provides expertise in fields including biotechnology, regulatory, fast-growth enterprises, marketing, and communications.

The Nuclein advisory board provides expertise in fields including biotechnology, regulatory, fast-growth enterprises, marketing, and communications.

David Kelso, PhD, Nuclein Advisor

David Kelso

David Kelso, PhD, serves as a Clinical Professor of Biomedical Engineering in the McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science at Northwestern University. Dr. Kelso is a cofounder and was the prior Chief Executive Officer of Minute Molecular Diagnostics, Inc. He was Chief Scientist at Baxter Healthcare’s Pandex Division from 1986 to 1992 after founding Pandex Laboratories. Professor Kelso was also a cofounder of an intrapreneurial group at Abbott Laboratories, which developed the TDx system and created the company’s therapeutic drug monitoring business. At Abbott, he also developed the first microprocessor-controlled enzyme immunoassay analyzer, Quantum, leading the industry away from radioactive assays.
Sally Mcfall

Sally McFall

Sally McFall, PhD, serves as the Director of Research of the Center for Innovation in Global Health Technologies (CIGHT) in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Northwestern University and as the Deputy Director of the Administrative Core and Director of the Technology Development/Refinement Core C-THAN. Dr. McFall possesses a broad background in molecular and clinical microbiology and has co-developed point-of-care assays and instruments with CIGHT’s engineering team. She is also one of the co-founders and prior Chief Scientific Officer of Minute Molecular Diagnostics, Inc.

David V. Milligan, PhD, Nuclein Advisor

David Milligan

David V. Milligan, PhD, is currently Chairman and co-founder of Xoult and Ekatra, and a Director of Inspirotec and Madrigal Pharmaceuticals (MDGL). Dr. Milligan began his career with 3M Company and subsequently joined Abbott Laboratories, where he held various R&D and business management positions. In 1996, Dr. Milligan retired from Abbott Laboratories as Senior Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer. Dr. Milligan then joined Bay City Capital, a life sciences investment firm, where he is now an advisor. He has served as a director of a substantial number of early-stage companies including Reliant, Vicuron, Icos Pharmaceuticals, and Caliper Diagnostics, all of which achieved successful exits via acquisition by major companies.

Alan Richey, Nuclein Advisor

Alan Richey

Alan Richey serves as Senior Vice President for Dell Technologies where he leads Dell’s Global Products, Operations and Solutions Legal teams. Mr. Richey brings a broad network and expertise in intellectual property support, supply chain strategy and management, international distribution, manufacturing, regulatory, trade compliance and logistics. Prior to joining Dell, Mr. Richey was Associate General Counsel for Micron Technology where he was responsible for providing support for Micron’s global manufacturing and product organizations and served as an associate for Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, where his practice focused on business litigation and commercial matters.

Robin Robinson, PhD, Nuclein Advisor

Robin Robinson

Robin Robinson, PhD, serves as President, Chief Executive Officer and Board Member of Esperovax, Inc. Dr. Robinson is a respected authority on the development of breakthrough biomedical technologies, and a seasoned expert in consummating collaborations with leading US government agencies, Fortune 500 companies, academic research groups, and foreign governments, for which he was cited in 2018 as one of the top 100 innovators in medicine by The Medicine Maker. Notably, Dr. Robinson was appointed as the first director of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, managing an annual budget of $1.35 billion and a staff of 250 scientists and medical experts.
William J. Rutter, PhD, Nuclein Advisor

William Rutter

William J. Rutter, PhD, is the Founder and Chairman and CEO of Synergenics, LLC. Previously, Dr. Rutter was co-founder and chairman of Chiron Corporation, a major biotechnology company which is well known for the development of recombinant DNA-based vaccines, including Hepatitis B, for the discovery of Hepatitis C, and the first sequencing of the HIV-AIDS virus. Chiron pioneered the development of quantitative DNA-based diagnostic tests measuring viral load, which has played a major role in protecting the blood supply, and also in developing drugs for treatment of these diseases. Chiron was acquired in two stages by Novartis and its antecedent company Ciga-Geigy. Dr. Rutter has served on the boards of Novartis and several biotech companies. Dr. Rutter has published 381 scientific articles and holds 26 patents and patent applications.
Jack Schuler, Nuclein Advisor

Jack Schuler

Jack Schuler serves as a Director of Biodesix (since 2008) and Accelerate Diagnostics (NASDAQ: AXDX). Mr. Schuler served as a director of Ventana Medical Systems, Inc. from 1991 and as Chairman of the board from 1995 until Ventana’s acquisition by Roche in 2008. Prior to Ventana, Mr. Schuler was President and Chief Operating Officer of Abbott Laboratories, a diversified health care company, which he joined in 1972 and where he held various management and marketing positions, also serving as a director from April 1985 to August 1989. Additionally, Mr. Schuler has served as a director of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT), Medtronic (NYSE: MDT), Stericyle (Chairman) (NASDAQ: SRCL), Chiron Corp., and Quidel Corp. (NASDAQ: QDEL).