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SPERM HY-LITER ™
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Independent Forensics is a unique DNA research and analysis laboratory with a powerful record of breaking through barriers in commercial science. Our experience team has over 60 combined years experience in the DNA and related scientific fields. |
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Management Team
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Jack Keehma, Chief Operating Officer |
Jack Keehma, Chief Operating Officer / COO
Jack brings more than 17 years of proven business development and managerial experience to IFI. Prior to co-founding IFI, he was Director of Sales at the successful start-up venture, Integrated Genomics of Chicago, where he launched the company's premier genomics subscription database "ERGO" and formed numerous strategic alliances. In his 13 years at Perkin Elmer, Jack started as a sales representative in the Midwest where he achieved recognition as the top revenue producer for his product line and was named Salesman of the Year for North America. He then performed business development for Tropix of Boston, a new acquisition of the Applied Biosystems Division, where he took sales from distributor based to a direct sales force and launched their High Throughput Screening service business for pharmaceutical development. His next assignment was to manage the Chromatography Product line in the Central Region where he established a major account focus finishing first in North America over the previous year and was promoted to Director of Sales for North America for five product lines, LIMS, Chromatography, UV Spectroscopy, Infrared and Polarimetry, including Technical Support and Service with a span of control of 200 employees. Jack has two Bachelor of Science degrees earned from Illinois State University in Medical Technology and Psychology.
Dr. Karl Reich, Chief Scientific Officer / CSO
Karl Reich grew up in New York City and had an urban childhood. He received his undergraduate degree in Chemistry from Cornell University in rural Ithaca. He then worked in several laboratories as a technician, before going back to school and obtaining his doctorate in Molecular Biology from UCLA [through a quirk, his graduate research was performed at Harvard Medical School].
Dr. Reich’s postdoctoral training included work at the Institut Pasteur, Paris France and at Stanford Medical School in Stanford California. He then spent five years in the Pharmaceutical Division of Abbott Laboratories. This experience awakened his interest in the commercial opportunities of science. Subsequently he has worked in a number of biotech ventures all related to genomics, genetics and DNA. He is presently the Chief Scientific Officer of IFI where he oversees the laboratory and directs the research and development efforts.
Karl has more than 20 years of scientific experience in chemistry, molecular biology and biochemistry. He was originally trained as a chemist and an undergraduate degree from Cornell. His graduate training was in molecular biology at ULCA and Harvard Medical School. In addition he has significant post-doctoral training at Institut Pasteur (Paris) and at Stanford Medical School. Karl has industrial management experience from his years at Abbott Laboratories where he directed numerous molecular biology projects in anti-infectives and diabetes. He has published more than 20 research papers in first line scientific journals, and has received allowances on two molecular biology related patents.
Dr. Pravatchai W. Boonlayangoor, Technical Leader and Laboratory Director
Dr. Boonlayangoor is Laboratory Director at IFI. Dr. Boonlayangoor comes to IFI with over 20 years of experience expertise in Molecular Genetics, Forensic Sciences, Paternity Testing and Histocompatibility testing. He was the Laboratory Director at the DNA & Immunogenetics Institute, Illinois Masonic Medical Center and an Adjunct Professor of Forensic Sciences and Immunogenetics at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Dr. Boonlayangoor started and directed the Cook County Hospital's Paternity Blood Testing Program in 1981, thus pioneering the implementation of blood testing for parentage determination. Under his direction, this center became one of the largest testing programs in the country, providing state of the art technology such as high resolution electrofocusing and DNA typing. Dr. Boonlayangoor has made significant contributions to the field of DNA testing both scientifically and legally: he co-authored The State of Illinois New Parentage Act, Section 11 of Chapter 40, which details the legal basis for parentage determination in the state of Illinois. He is the author of more than 30 publications and is an active participant in all aspects of the laboratory.
IFI's staff has significant experience in consulting on the process and procedures of DNA forensic testing and can explain the science of DNA and it's use in paternity and forensic testing.