Our Team
Management Team
Bret T. Barnhizer
Chairman of the Board, CEO, and President
As CEO of NanoLogix, Mr. Barnhizer’s corporate style is built on three tenets: lead by example, think outside of the box and empower talent. His leadership philosophy was learned in the military and honed in the oil industry where he managed and was involved in projects that ranged in value from $40 million to over $500 million. He spent 25 years in the oil industry where his leadership led to the adoption of breakthrough applications of technology that have resulted in dramatically improved economics and performance in upstream operations, and are now widely used in the industry. Mr. Barnhizer has provided engineering, operations management and project management services to Chevron, BP, Unocal, Occidental Petroleum and others in the U.S., Europe, Africa and Asia. Before his career in oil, Mr. Barnhizer worked as a steelworker, oilfield roughneck and in building demolitions while attending university on the GI Bill. Mr. Barnhizer is a U.S. Army veteran of the Vietnam War, where he served as an infantry combat medic. Mr. Barnhizer attended Youngstown State University and the University of Colorado.
John W. Tracy, Jr.
General Operations Manager
John Tracy brings to NanoLogix extensive technology and manufacturing management experience gained from over 30 years at IBM and EMC. Mr. Tracy has experienced and managed through 30% organizational growth rates at both companies. Additionally, he managed teams across six states consisting of 12 managers, 150 employees and 1,100 customers. Mr. Tracy is well-versed in the vertical integration of all aspects of the production environment, from customer relations and internal operations to service and sales strategies.
Mr. Tracy started his career in 1979, servicing mainframe computers as a field engineer for IBM where he was promoted to several key management positions, including Field Service Manager and Service Delivery Manager. As a service director for EMC’s Northeast Region, Mr. Tracy led an organization of 150 people, was responsible for $30 million per year in maintenance revenue and supported $160 million in annual sales revenue. At the EMC corporate headquarters, he improved operational efficiencies at a time where the organization was experiencing rapid and global expansion. His work resulted in saving hundreds of millions of dollars in costs, while simultaneously improving service delivery and quality of life for employees. Mr. Tracy personally rolled out this program in North America and the Asia Pacific region while assisting with a similar European effort. Mr. Tracy believes strongly in employee empowerment. He feels that the key to success and productivity is to provide a safe, positive and autonomous working environment where employees can learn and grow.
Daniel Barnhizer
General Counsel
Daniel Barnhizer is an associate professor of law at Michigan State University College of Law, where he teaches and writes in the areas of business, contract, securities, and commercial law. In addition to his academic work, Professor Barnhizer also maintains an active consulting practice in corporate and securities law. Prior to joining the MSU College of Law faculty in 2001, Professor Barnhizer worked as a litigator in Washington, D.C. with the law firms of Hogan & Hartson and Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft, where his primary practice areas focused on corporate governance, securities law, and white collar criminal law. Professor Barnhizer graduated with honors from Harvard Law School in 1995 where he was Managing Editor of the Harvard Environmental Law Review.
Science Staff
Robert-A. Ollar, Ph.d
Sr. Scientist, Research & Development
Dr. Robert-A. Ollar is one of the original co-founders of the NanoLogix back in 1989, developing many of the early patents. He was for many years the head of the Molecular Biology Unit at St. Vincent’s Hospital of New York until its closure in April of 2010. He is an assistant Professor of Neurology at New York Medical College, and is an internationally respected specialist in Mycobacteriology and Molecular Mycobacteriology. He is a member of the WHO Global Stop TB Partnership and also serves as a Foreign Advisor for Mycobacterial and Nocardial Diseases at the Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences in Sevagram India. He has authored numerous articles and edited one of the early textbooks on Molecular Mycobacteriology. He directed the first workshop given by the American Type Culture Collection on Molecular Mycobacteriology.
Dr. Ollar had also served as the Molecular Biologist for the Pancreatic and Biliary Center at the former St. Vincent’s Hospital of New York and focused his research on the Molecular Biology of Pancreatic Cancer. He has recently been cited in the Marquis Publication’s WHO’s WHO in North America for 2012. Dr. Ollar received his B.Sc, Degree in 1970 from Fairleigh Dickenson University, Rutherford, New Jersey, his M.Sc in 1984, from the University Glasgow, Glasgow, Scotland, and his Ph.D in 1993 from the University of Surrey, Guildford, England.
Tim Aronson
Sr. Scientist, Research & Development
Mr. Aronson received his B.A. in Microbiology (Specializing in Medical Microbiology) from California State University, Los Angeles. He then completed an M.S. in Biology with Distinction, specializing in Cell and Molecular Biology, from California State University, Northridge. His master’s thesis title was: Construction of a Plasmid Containing the Mouse c-myc Protooncogene. Mr. Aronson is a member of the American Society for Microbiology. He was the Principal Investigator and Project Manager of a project funded by Viridax Corporation (2007-2009) to develop phages for phage therapy of Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections. This work was done at the Olive View-UCLA Education and Research Institute (OV-UCLA ERI) of Olive View-UCLA Medical Center in Sylmar, California. He was the Principal Investigator and Project Manager at OV-UCLA ERI of a project funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (2001-2008) to determine if domestic water purification systems promote growth of Mycobacterium avium Complex (MAC) organisms and Rapidly Growing Mycobacteria (RGM) in potable water. During this time (2006) he was also a Staff Research Associate at the David Geffen UCLA School of Medicine in the Department of Infectious Diseases where he worked on the development of vaccines for tuberculosis. He was Principal Investigator at OV-UCLA ERI (2002-2008)of a contractual agreement with Phage Therapeutics Inc. to produce mycobacteriophage lytic for Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Multidrug-Resistant TB (MDRTB). He was a Research Associate and Investigator at OV-UCLA ERI from 1991 to 1998. Isolates of Mycobacterium avium Complex recovered from potable water in homes, hospitals, and reservoirs were compared to isolates from AIDS and non-AIDS patients using molecular biology techniques. The last year of the project concentrated on recovery of Mycobacterium avium from food for comparison to clinical isolates. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis and PCR finger-printing was used to compare the clinical and environmental isolates of M. avium and determined that these environmental sources are probably a source of M. avium in human infections based on genetic relatedness. These studies were funded by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power and by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and in collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He wrote and co-wrote proposals that have generated $1,584,639 for research from the US Environmental Protection Agency, Viridax Corporation, Phage Therapeutics, and Olive View-UCLA ERI. The majority of his research experience over the past twenty years has been focused on Non-Tuberculous Mycobacteria. Some of his experience includes: pathogen isolation in the clinical microbiology laboratory and the environment, antibiotic sensitivity testing, and a number of molecular biology procedures such as: DNA isolation, plasmid purification, DNA sequencing, gene cloning. pulsed-field gel electrophoresis, PCR, SDS-PAGE, and mammalian cell culture techniques.
Michelle Durkin
Scientist Quality Assurance and Quality Control, Lab Projects Manager
Michelle Durkin joined Nanologix in 2011 as a molecular biologist in the area of research and development. Michelle has done research both as an undergraduate and graduate student in the biology and chemistry departments at Youngstown State University. Though most of her research experience is in molecular biology, she also has experience in genetics and microbiology. Most of her research as a graduate student focused on drug development and treatment of C2C12 mouse myoblast stem cells. Michelle is currently finishing her writing for her master’s degree and intends to graduate this spring.
Board of Directors
Bret T. Barnhizer
Chairman of the Board, CEO, and President
John Chatterton
Director
John Chatterton is one of the world’s most accomplished and well-known underwater explorers. John was co-host on all 57 episodes of the History Channel’s successful series Deep Sea Detectives. He is a consultant to the film and television industries, and has worked with Discovery Channel, PBS, CBS, HBO, 20th Century Fox and Paramount Pictures.
Daniel Barnhizer
Director
Daniel Barnhizer is an associate professor of law at Michigan State University College of Law, where he teaches and writes in the areas of business, contract, securities, and commercial law. In addition to his academic work, Professor Barnhizer also maintains an active consulting practice in corporate and securities law. Prior to joining the MSU College of Law faculty in 2001, Professor Barnhizer worked as a litigator in Washington, D.C. with the law firms of Hogan & Hartson and Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft, where his primary practice areas focused on corporate governance, securities law, and white collar criminal law. Professor Barnhizer graduated with honors from Harvard Law School in 1995 where he was Managing Editor of the Harvard Environmental Law Review.
Jeff Long
Director
Jeff Long is a novelist, historian, advertising writer and human rights advocate. He has written and developed advertising and catalogs for various companies, including Overseas Adventure Travel, Lowe Alpine Systems, Thompson Safaris,and others, and is the founder of Witness Inc., a human rights and foreign aid group.
Scientific Advisory Board
(members listed in alphabetical order)
Megan Barnhizer, D.V.M.
Dr. Barnhizer has been a veterinarian in clinical practice since graduating from the Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine in 1999. Her addition to the SAB comes at a time of increased interest in NanoLogix detection and diagnostic technologies from international and domestic corporations, agencies and organizations with a focus on livestock and animal husbandry.
Sebastian Faro, M.D, Ph.D.
Dr. Faro brings more than 50 years of medical experience and an extensive body of knowledge concerning obstetrics, gynecology and infectious diseases to the NanoLogix Science Advisory Board. Dr. Faro is Chief of Obstetrics and Gynecology at LBJ Hospital in Houston, Texas. He is also the current Vice Chair of the Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences Department at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. Dr. Faro received his PhD in botany at the University of Iowa and completed his postdoctoral fellowship training at the New York Botanical Garden. He then completed medical school and residency training at Creighton University. He served as Director of Infectious Disease at both Louisiana State University and the Baylor College of Medicine, and as Department Chair for the University of Kansas and Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center.
Dr. Faro is not only a member of a number of professional societies, but also currently serves as Immediate Past President of the Infectious Disease Society for Obstetrics and Gynecology. He has published at least 149 articles in peer-reviewed medical publications and served as Editor in Chief of Infectious Diseases in Obstetrics and Gynecology for 13 years. He is also an editor of the current editions of the following textbooks: Infectious Diseases in Women; Benign Diseases of the Vulva and Vagina; and Infections in Pregnancy.
Upon joining the NanoLogix Scientific Advisory Board, Dr. Faro said:
“I am delighted to become a member of the NanoLogix Scientific Advisory Board. This is an extremely exciting time working on the development of diagnostic tests to identify pathogenic bacteria in a rapid manner. This work will revolutionize the process of identifying disease-causing bacteria. It will facilitate not only identifying bacteria causing disease, but will allow for a more direct approach in choosing appropriate antibiotic therapy.”
Allan Katz, M.D.
Dr. Allan Katz brings to the advisory board more than 40 years of experience in the fields of women’s health and pregnancy, including the management of high-risk pregnancies. He is a Robert K. Creasy Professor and Vice Chairman of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Texas Medical School in Houston. Dr. Katz is also Chief of Gynecology Hermann Memorial Hospital. Dr. Katz is a Vietnam veteran, having served in the U.S Army as a flight surgeon. Dr. Katz completed his residency in OB/GYN at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York. Dr. Katz holds a doctor of medicine degree from the Medical College of Virginia.
Upon joining the NanoLogix Scientific Advisory Board, Dr. Katz said:
“As an Ob/Gyn physician, I have seen the face of medicine change dramatically over my 40 years of practice. Here at the University of Texas at Houston, we have been fortunate to have access to technological advancements, and have enjoyed seeing these advancements change patients' lives for the better. When I first started practicing medicine, for example, operating with the aid of a robot would have seemed like science fiction - now we routinely perform robotic procedures and send patients home the next day with virtually no pain. Advancements like this are just one of many in which we have directly observed patients' lives improve by our treatment.
The technology offered by NanoLogix is exciting, as it promises more rapid results in a time when it most matters to the patient. We have relied far too long on traditional culture-based technology, and have had no choice but to treat with our strongest, most powerful antibiotics, while waiting sometimes days for culture results to return. This practice has undoubtedly contributed toward the development of microbial resistance, at the same time diminishing our ability to effectively treat patients with serious infections. Working with NanoLogix provides for the chance to be directly involved with technology never before seen. The potential of this technology is vast, it extends beyond GBS and MRSA and it can be performed by almost anyone in any corner of the world. I am excited to be joining the scientific advisory board, and look forward to being directly involved along with Dr. Sebastian Faro in helping to continue the remarkable progress of NanoLogix.
Cliff Watts, M.D.
Dr. Watts has been an Emergency Room physician for nearly 35 years. During his tenure at Boulder Community Hospital, Dr. Watts has often been on the front-line of treating patients with life-threatening diseases, and has a practical understanding of the needs in rapid response medicine. His contribution to the board is based upon extensive practical experience in urgent care, public health and time-sensitive response to treatment.
Gwen R. Acker Wood, Ph.D. J.D
Dr. Gwen R. Acker Wood is a registered patent attorney with expertise in the areas of biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, biomechanical devices, medicinal chemistry and life sciences. Dr. Wood’s practice focuses on preparation and prosecution of U.S. and foreign patent applications, patent searching, patentability and infringement/freedom-to-operate opinions, due diligence analyses and U.S. and foreign patent portfolio strategy and management. Dr. Wood has been a practicing attorney for more than nine years, and worked for large law firms in Pennsylvania and Ohio before opening Acker Wood IP Law.
Dr. Wood has an M.S. in hematology and a Ph.D. in neurophysiology. Prior to becoming a patent attorney, Dr. Wood was a research scientist, receiving two postdoctoral scholarships to conduct research in the areas of neurochemistry and psychoimmunology, respectively. In addition, she served as an adjunct professor at the following institutions in the following disciplines: biology, nutritional science and advanced pathophysiology at New York University, and biology and advanced pathophysiology at Duquesne University.
Dr. Wood is admitted to practice in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the State of Ohio, the United States Patent and Trademark Office, and the Western District of Pennsylvania.