People
Information about Novatia Principal Investigators:
Mark E. Hail, Ph.D.
Mark Hail obtained his B.S. in Chemistry from the University of Kentucky (UK) (1984) (go cats!) and a Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry from the University of Florida (1988). While at UK, Mark started his research career with Jim Holler, who at the time, was a young, not-yet-tenured professor of analytical chemistry. Jim was doing very interesting things combining instrumentation, electronics, computers, and chemistry. From there, Mark went on to graduate school at the University of Florida where he worked with Rick Yost on triple quadrupole mass spectrometry, atmospheric pressure ionization, ion-molecule reactions, and high-speed, short-column gas chromatography. From 1989-1993 Mark was at Finnigan Corporation in San Jose, CA working in the Research and Engineering division on the development of triple quadrupole tandem mass spectrometers (TSQ 700x), atmospheric pressure ionization sources (ESI, APCI), as well as on applications of LC/MS. As part of a highly-motivated team of scientists and engineers, Mark helped lead the development and introduction of Finnigan’s first API source in 1992. A number of patents were issued during this period of API source development. The success of this interface helped pave the way for new Finnigan LC/MS products which used this basic API interface design. In 1994, Mark joined Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) in Princeton, New Jersey as a Senior Research Investigator, where he was responsible for the development and implementation of new mass spectrometry technology as part of a multidisciplinary group known as Investigative Analytical Research (IAR). A central theme of the research done as a part of IAR at BMS was the development of automated methods for the characterization of biological drug targets and products, as well as synthetic organic compounds and their impurities, degradants, and metabolites. Mark left BMS in January, 2000 to start Novatia and currently serves as President of the company. For more information about Mark’s background, see his list of relevant publications.
David J. Detlefsen, Ph.D.
Dave Detlefsen holds a B.A. in Biology and a B.S. in Chemistry from Nebraska Wesleyan University (1983) and a M.S. and Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Michigan (1990) where he used molecular biology and a variety of biophysical techniques to explore factors that control biological electron transfer. As a postdoctoral research associate in the Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology Department at Harvard Medical School with Gerhard Wagner he determined the solution structure of a small bacterial cytochrome using homonuclear NMR data and distance geometry methods. In 1991, Dave joined BMS in Wallingford, Connecticut where he was responsible for developing NMR based methods for the structure analysis of biomolecules in support of drug discovery. He introduced novel NMR based strategies for profiling molecular dynamics, binding constant determination, SAR interaction site mapping and mixture analysis. In 1997, Dave became Senior Research Investigator of Analytical Research & Development in Lawrenceville, New Jersey where he played a key role in the implementation of new NMR and analytical informatics technology. Dave joined Novatia in July of 2001 and currently serves as Vice-President of the company where he is focused on the development of rapid NMR methods for pharmaceutical research and better information management tools for scientific research. For more information on what Dave’s been up to, check out his Publication listing.
Kenneth L. Ray, Ph.D.
Ken received his B.A. in economics from Rice University in May 1991. He studied chemistry at The University of Texas at Austin for two years, where he refocused his attention on analytical chemistry and mass spectrometry. He received his Ph.D. in 2000 from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill after developing multiplexing methods for MS/MS and starting work on a field-compensated ion trap in Gary Glish’s group. He joined BMS in October 2000, where, as a member of the Analytical R and D group in Lawrenceville, NJ, he gained experience in structure elucidation, metabolite profiling, and forced degradation studies using LC/MS. Much of his effort was applied to analytical support for the Process Research and Development group in the optimization and scale-up of their syntheses, as well as identification of trace impurities in drug compounds and formulations observed during drug development. During this time, he also developed an interest in information management and using Python for accessing and processing LC/MS data, which he applied to the development of software for mass defect filters. Ken joined Novatia in May 2005 as a Senior Scientist.
Charles Tirendi, Ph.D.
As Head of Analytical Sciences at Lonza Performance Chemicals (LPC), Chuck led a GLP-certified group that was responsible for EPA product registrations, traditional chemical analysis, new chemical entity characterization and method development while also providing the technical expertise for NMR, FTIR and thermal techniques. Additional responsibilities included the preparation and maintenance of the R&D Capital Budget, equipment negotiations and purchases, significant vendor interaction and participation in Sales and Marketing meetings. As a consistent top performer at LPC, Chuck was chosen for numerous leadership programs as well as an advanced development program for potential leaders within Lonza Group. Chuck joined Novatia in April 2006 as a Senior Scientist.
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Hootie, Distinguished Chief Security Officer Emeritus
Hootie (R.I.P. December, 2009) was a yellow Labrador retriever, who was born in Pennington, NJ in June of 1997. He was a graduate of the Canine Academy in Penndel, PA, having completed both basic and off-leash training. Hootie progressed through various stages of increasing responsibility at Novatia before assuming the role of Chief Security Officer in May of 2000. During his leisure time (which consumed most of each day), Hootie enjoyed sleeping, going for walks, chasing a laser beam, and making absolutely sure that every plate was clean before it entered the dishwasher. Hootie passed on in December of 2009 after a brave struggle with bone cancer.
Tucker, Accounts Retrievable Executive
Tucker is a chocolate Labrador retriever, who was born in the Philadelphia area in 2004. Tucker joined Novatia in 2010 after a previous position as a distinguished fellow at Brookline Labrador Retriever Rescue. Tucker does not do Facebook or Twitter, but you can read Tucker’s extensive profile on the Brookline success stories page. Tucker really enjoys going for walks and especially likes all of his chew toys. He likes them so much that he always takes his favorite with him on the walk. Tucker is generally a very amiable fellow unless you decide not to remit your payment on time. At that time, you could find yourself as one of his favorite chew toys. Don’t say we didn’t warn you. The good news is that he is up to date on all of his shots.