Leadership Team

Mr. Schroeder has a physics and engineering background, holding an M.S. degree from the University of Illinois in Electrical Engineering. After completing his graduate work, he was employed at the Environmental Research Institute of Michigan (ERIM), as a member of the Optical Science laboratory, working on optical-based sensing technologies for the Department of Defense. In 1992, Mr. Schroeder co-founded NovelTech Systems Inc. of Ann Arbor in order to develop instrumentation for drug discovery, namely the FLIPR system. In 1996, NovelTech was acquired by Molecular Devices Corporation where Kirk served on the executive management team of Molecular Devices, responsible for FLIPR product and applications marketing. In 2001, he was successful in establishing private equity investments in Essen by Merck, GlaxoSmithKline and AstraZeneca pharmaceuticals. In the case of Merck and AstraZeneca, it was the first equity investment in an instrumentation company by either of those companies.

After completing his Masters degree in Electrical Engineering at the University of Michigan, Brad worked for several years as a research engineer at the Environmental Research Institute of Michigan. In 1992 he left to become a co-founder of Noveltech Systems and develop the FLIPR technology. After the sale of Noveltech to Molecular Devices, he led the development of the second generation FLIPR in his capacity as an Associate Technical Director. In 1999 he returned to Michigan to co-found Essen Instruments, where he leads the Engineering and Manufacturing groups. In 2000 he and Mr. Schroeder received the SBS Accomplishment Award for their work on the FLIPR from the Society for Biomolecular Screening.

Vince became the Chief Scientific Officer at Essen Instruments in the fall of 2007. In this role, Vince is working to help develop new assays, biological reagents and instruments for drug discovery. Prior to joining Essen, Vince worked for 25 years in the pharmaceutical industry (Upjohn, Pharmacia and Pfizer). Early in his career, Vince collaborated with Brad Neagle and Kirk Schroeder to invent FLIPR. Vince effectively utilized FLIPR in concert with other instruments and technologies to successfully advance 4 ion channel projects and 2 GPCR projects into late stage discovery and clinical development. These projects include α7 nAChR agonists for cognition, use-dependent inhibitors of voltage-dependent Na channels for mood stabilization and two novel antipsychotic drugs for bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. Vince’s drug discovery research resulted in 11 issued US patents and 38 peer reviewed publications.

Dr. Rock brings with him to Essen Instruments over 25 years of experience neuroscience-related research as an electrophysiologist, pharmacologist and drug discovery scientist at Parke-Davis Research, Pfizer and the University of Michigan. Dr. Rock earned a PhD in Neuroscience from the University of Michigan with his dissertation work combining single-channel patch-clamp recording techniques with a pharmacological approach to delineate the molecular mechanism of polyamine interactions with the NMDA receptor channels. At Parke-Davis and Pfizer, he was a key member of the CNS Therapeutic Area Biology group leading a drug discovery laboratory and line group that delivered electrophysiological and in vitro data from high throughput cell-based and radio-ligand receptor binding assays to drive decisions in ion channel and GPCR drug discovery projects. During his career, he has been involved in CNS drug discovery projects and collaborations that include projects focused on neurological (anticonvulsant, migraine, pain and stroke) and psychiatric (schizophrenia) disorders bringing a number of compounds into clinical development. He has played a major role in all aspects of preclinical drug discovery and development from early target identification to formulation of clinical development strategy and regulatory submissions. He has authored six preclinical pharmacology summaries for regulatory submissions and 25 manuscripts in peer-reviewed journals.

Del has a BSc. in pharmacology from Bath University and PhD in ion channel physiology/pharmacology from the University of Manchester. His postdoctoral work at the Applied Institute of Pharmacology, University of Cambridge focused on the function of P2X ligand-gated channels in the cardiovascular and central nervous system. In 1995 he move to Glaxo-Wellcome (subsequently GlaxoSmithKline) where he spent 14 years in roles of increasing responsibility to Director level in departments including Neurosciences, Biological Reagents, and Assay Development & Compound Profiling. While at GSK, he played a major leadership role in a wide range of ion channel drug discovery programs, culminating in the identification and progression of novel drug candidates including SK/IK channel modulators, and blockers of voltage-gated Na+ and TRP channels. Del was also responsible for the implementation of automated patch clamp technology across the organization and was an early adopter of the IonWorks technology. He left his Director position at GSK to head up the new Essen Instruments European Office in July 2009. Over the last 20 years Del has co-authored > 35 peer-reviewed manuscripts, patents and articles in the ion channel field.

Tim Dale left his previous role as section manager for ion channel reagents and assays at GlaxoSmithKline to head up the laboratory at Essen BioScience, UK. Tim is a highly experienced industrial pharmacologist and leader with nearly 20 years service and track record in applied drug discovery laboratories. Trained initially as an in vivo biologist, Tim moved into ion channel drug discovery and cell-based assays in 1995 where he learned manual and automated patch-clamp electrophysiology and microplate- based fluorescence screening methods. Tim has applied these and other methods to drug discovery programs in the neurology, psychiatry and gastrointestinal therapeutic areas, and contributed to the progression of a number of candidate molecules into clinical studies. His recent focus has included voltage-gated Na⁺, Ca²⁺ and K⁺, Ca²⁺-activated K⁺ and TRP channels. Tim has co-authored 20 publications and patents.

Jim Iuliano is the president and CEO of Azimuth Systems, a leading provider of wireless test solutions for the communications market. Jim has more than a decade of CEO experience in the semiconductor, life sciences, display, and optical systems industries. Prior to joining Azimuth Systems, he was an entrepreneur in residence at North Bridge Venture Partners. Previously he served as president and CEO of E Ink Corporation, a privately-held materials technology company that developed an electronic ink to create paper-like displays. Jim joined E Ink as a technology start-up, building a global presence and strategic alliances with SONY, Philips Electronics, and Toppan Printing among others. Before E Ink, he was president, director, and CEO of Molecular Devices Corp. (NASDAQ: MDCC), an analytical instrumentation company in the life science market. In this role, he completed a successful turnaround, led an oversubscribed IPO, and grew the company's market capitalization to nearly $250 million. Jim joined Molecular Devices from the semiconductor industry where he worked at both IBM and VLSI Technology. Jim is also a member of the board of directors of Aushon Biosystems, Natrix Separations and Pixtronix. Jim has a B.S. from Boston College and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.