Isomark, LLC Management Team

Dave Kruse, MBA
CEO

Mr. Kruse is an entrepreneur that enjoys the chaos involved with early stage startups. Mr. Kruse started out buying and redeveloping two small apartment buildings soon after college. Since then, he has worked with an angel network reviewing business plans and helped start a fashion social network and GIS site location company. He has also worked on different real estate development projects. Dave has an MBA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison (2005) and an undergraduate accounting degree from Luther College (2000).

Mark E. Cook, Ph.D.
Board Chair and Founder

Dr. Cook is a professor in the Animal Sciences Department at the University of Wisconsin-Madison with affiliate appointments in Molecular and Environmental Toxicology, Nutritional Sciences, and Food Microbiology and Toxicology. Dr. Cook has over 20 US patents which have been licensed by the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation to seven companies. Currently all licensees have a product in the market based on Dr. Cook's patents. Dr. Cook currently serves as a Director of aOva Technologies, one of three companies that he has helped found.

Warren P. Porter, Ph.D.
Board Vice Chair and Founder

Dr. Porter is a Professor of Zoology in the Department of Zoology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison where he has been conducting research on early detection of infection with stable isotopes for 10 years. He is a joint patent holder of Isomark's stable isotope diagnostic technology along with Dr. Mark Cook and Isabelle Treichel. Dr. Porter and members of his laboratory have authored more than 160 peer-reviewed articles in scientific publications. He has served on review panels for the National Science Foundation and the EPA. He earned his BS degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, his MS in Ichthyology and Ph.D. in Physiological Ecology from UCLA. Dr. Porter was a NASA predoctoral fellow at UCLA and an NIH postdoctoral fellow at Washington University in St. Louis for two years before joining the University of Wisconsin-Madison faculty as an assistant professor of Zoology.

Daniel E. Butz, Ph.D.
Board Secretary and Founder

Dr. Butz is a assistant scientist in the Department of Zoology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison where he works on early detection of diseases using metabolomic and isotopic approaches. Dr. Butz received his Ph.D. in Nutritional Science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2005 for his research on nutritional treatments of cachexia and autoimmune arthritis. He has authored eight refereed publications, a book chapter, and is an inventor on five patents or patent applications. In 1998, Dr. Butz graduated magna-cum laude from Edgewood College with a BS in Natural Science and Mathematics. Dr. Butz has also worked as a volunteer high school teacher in impoverished regions of eastern Kentucky.

Fariba M. Assadi-Porter, Ph.D.
Board Treasurer and Founder

Dr. Assadi-Porter is an Assistant Scientist in the Department of Biochemistry and Nuclear Magnetic Facility (NMF) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison where she is developing leading technologies for biomoleculer NMR analysis. Dr. Assadi-Porter has an active record of scientific publications and has served as Co-PI on three NIH grants. She has three US patents, one of which is on "Noninvasive measurement and identification of disease using stable isotopes and biomarkers in breath" - directly related to Isomark's business plan. Dr. Assadi-Porter earned her BS degree in Chemistry and her PhD in Biomolecular Chemistry from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Dr. Assadi-Porter has also worked for the past 10 years as a Post-Doc and then as an assistant scientist at the Department of Biochemistry and Nuclear Magnetic Facility at Madison (NMRFAM), University Wisconsin-Madison.

Michael R. Shortreed, Ph.D.
Director and Founder

Dr. Shortreed is an Associate Scientist in the Department of Chemistry of the University of Wisconsin-Madison where he is developing leading technologies for biomolecule analysis. Dr. Shortreed has authored 24 refereed scientific publications and served on a federal advisory panel at the National Science Foundation. Dr. Shortreed earned his BS degree from Purdue University in West Lafayette, IN and his PhD in Analytical Chemistry from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Dr. Shortreed also worked for three years as a Post-Doc at Iowa State University in Ames.

Hamid R. Eghbalnia, Ph.D.
Director and Founder

Hamid R. Eghbalnia, PhD and Professor at University of Cincinnati is engaged in research aimed at a novel methods for integrating computational and experimental approaches to study biological systems. His research interests include the study of systems responses to acute and chronic inflammatory agents using molecular markers, and technologies for rapid determination of biomolecular structures and complexes. Computationally-enriched experimental investigations are at the leading edge of research in biodiscovery efforts. Dr. Eghbalnia contributes to Isomark by bringing a mix of broad skills, ranging from engineering startup experiences to innovative ways of leveraging existing knowledgebases in order to maximize the impact of diagnostic data. In addition to a his scientific and computational expertise, his prior involvements with high-tech startups complements the business knowledge of Isomark team.

Marco Tonelli, Ph.D.
Director and Founder

Dr. Tonelli is a staff researcher at the National Magnetic Resonance Facility at Madison (NMRFAM) of the University of Wisconsin-Madison where he is developing novel technologies for studying biological systems using NMR. Dr. Tonelli earned a Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Chemistry from the University of California-San Francisco in 2003 and a M.S. in Pharmaceutical Chemistry from the University of Pisa, Italy, in 1991. He is one of the inventors in the US patent on "Noninvasive measurement and identification of disease using stable isotopes and biomarkers in breath" - directly related to Isomark's business plan.