Management Team

IBI's management has extensive experience in the commercialization of innovative technologies in the pharmaceutical, research and diagnostic markets.

Joe Hernandez — President and CEO
Mr. Hernandez obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Neuroscience and graduate degrees in Molecular Genetics and Business Administration from The University of Florida. He has been published in several highly-respected scientific journals and presented at numerous scientific meetings. He has held senior level marketing, sales and business development positions at Digene Corporation, Affymetrix, Inc., and Merck. Mr. Hernandez has successfully launched numerous products in the pharmaceutical, research and diagnostic markets. He has in-depth knowledge of market research, competitive analysis and business development.

W. Rigg Mohler, Jr. — CFO
Mr. Mohler has over 17 years of senior financial and operations experience. As a financial advisor to emerging organizations, Mr. Mohler oversees financial reporting and administration and assists with strategic planning, business models, acquisitions and Sarbanes-Oxley compliance. Clients in the biotechnology industry include Advancis Pharmaceuticals and Sequoia Pharmaceuticals. Mr. Mohler recently served as CFO of Whereoware LLC, an early stage software company. Previously, Mr. Mohler worked in corporate finance for Danaher Corporation and subsequently was appointed VP of Finance of a newly acquired manufacturing subsidiary. Mr. Mohler began his career with PricewaterhouseCoopers in its audit and real estate consulting practices. Mr. Mohler holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Accounting from the College of William and Mary and is a certified public accountant.

Ted Olsen — Chief Operating Officer
Mr. Olsen is an operations executive with over 20 years of experience in manufacturing, process improvement and quality systems. He holds a Bachelors Degree in Mechanical Engineering from The Catholic University of America. He began his career at Corning, Inc. progressing through Corning’s manufacturing and engineering function on a variety of business start-ups, expansions and turnarounds. Mr. Olsen has held senior positions at M Cubed Technologies, Corvis Corporation and Carr Lowrey Glass Company. He has a track record of building successful manufacturing operations throughout the world.

V. Shyamala, Ph.D. — Senior Vice President of Research
and Development
Dr. Venkatakrishna Shyamala has extensive experience in commercializing NAT technologies, primer/probe designs and assay development, cDNA library screening, molecular cloning, sequencing and expression. She has also participated in IND and BLA preparations and submissions with broad project and people management experience. Dr. Shyamala has been cited as inventor on a dozen patents and published nearly fifty peer reviewed articles in leading industry journals. She has a PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.

Tom Hazel, Ph.D. — Chief Science Officer, Environmental Business Group
Dr. Hazel has over 12 years of laboratory research and management experience. He has held senior level research positions in a wide range of fields, including molecular genetics and cell culture. Dr. Hazel's area of expertise includes engineering of human cell lines and the manufacturing and storage of cell culture based reagents. Dr. Hazel received a Ph.D. in Genetics from The University of Illinois College of Medicine and completed his postdoctoral work at the NIH. He is named on several pending patents and has over 10 scientific publications.

Brad Thomas — Director of Systems Integration
With over 21 years experience in product development for in-vitro diagnostic instruments, Mr. Thomas most recently held the position of Engineering Project Manager at Canon U.S. Life Sciences leading the development of a microfluidic PCR system. Mr. Thomas has spent much of his career with Becton Dickinson Diagnostic Systems in a variety of project management and lead engineering roles. He played significant technical roles in developing instrumentation systems for blood culture, bacterial ID/AST, hematology, sample preparation, molecular biology, and blood glucose monitoring. Additionally, Mr. Thomas contributed to the BD Operations group through his initiatives which improved production lines for several diagnostic products. He holds 14 U.S. patents, many in the field of optical systems. At Bucknell University, Mr. Thomas attained a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering, and more recently, an Executive MBA from Loyola College’s Sellinger Business School.

William M. Baker — Environmental Sales Manager, Environmental Business Group
Mr. Baker has over 25 years of expertise in the sensor, semiconductor, and communications markets with a concentration of his talents in business development, sales management, and customer service in the security and environmental monitoring industries. Positions throughout his career include senior management and executive level roles in sales, marketing, and business development with many start-up technology companies where he was instrumental in the growth of revenues, raising of outside capital, and eventual liquidity events. Mr. Baker is a frequent speaker for companies at technical and business forums.