Dustin Heldman received his B.S. in Biomedical Engineering from Duke University in 2002 and completed his Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis in 2007. He has a broad background in neural engineering and neurophysiology, with extensive experience in developing algorithms for quantifying movement disorder motor symptoms. He joined the company in 2007 as a senior biomedical engineering researcher and is now the President and Chief Operating Officer.
Dr. Heldman is an inventor of 46 awarded US patents and has served as principal investigator on eight Phase I and four Phase II SBIR grants funded by the National Institutes of Health totaling nearly $9 million. He has served as principal investigator on multi-site clinical trials and has been responsible for the preparation of IRB protocols, collection of clinical data, training clinicians, algorithm development, and statistical analysis. Dr. Heldman is currently leading a team of researchers and engineers in the development, clinical evaluation, and commercialization of the next generation of movement analysis systems. A list of Dr. Heldman’s publications can be found on PubMed.
Robert “Bob” Schmidt is the founder and chairman of Cleveland Medical Devices, Orbital Research, NeuroWave Systems, and Flocel Inc., and the founder, chairman and CEO of Great Lakes NeuroTechnologies. He received his BS degree in Mechanical Engineering and his MS from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; his MBA from the University of Utah, and his Juris Doctor (1981) from Cleveland State University. He is a licensed professional engineer (Ohio, 1976) and an attorney (Ohio, 1981) and US Patent and Trademark Office, 1982). He is a licensed professional engineer and an attorney. Bob supervised programs for the US military, NIH, NASA, DoEd, DoT, NSF, Exxon, Arco, and Shell. He has over 30 US patents, and has led two companies onto the Inc. 500. He is the only person to have been awarded by Michael Porter of the Harvard Business School and Inc. Magazine the “Inc. Inner City 100 Award” for the fastest growing companies 7 times in the first 7 years of the award.
Rabie Fadil received his Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from the University of North Dakota in 2022. With a strong background in mathematical modeling, signal processing, and human physiology, Dr. Fadil has developed algorithms to study physiological systems and motor symptoms in Parkinson’s disease. He joined the company in 2022 as a senior biomedical engineering researcher.
Dr. Fadil was awarded his first NIH-funded grant as principal investigator in 2023. He has experience conducting clinical studies, including preparing IRB protocols, collecting clinical data, developing signal and image processing algorithms, and performing statistical analysis. Dr. Fadil’s previous work includes studying blood pressure and postural control mechanisms in Parkinson’s disease, preventing pressure ulcers, and detecting hemorrhage at an early stage. Dr. Fadil is currently working on analyzing motion data from individuals with movement disorders and developing algorithms to identify candidates for advanced therapies.
Brian Kolkowski has 30 years of legal and engineering experience. Brian has served in his current position at Great Lakes NeuroTechnologies since its founding. Brian is responsible for intellectual property and along with Bob Schmidt business development. Brian holds a Ph.D. in engineering from Case Western Reserve University and is a licensed patent attorney. Prior to 2002, Brian held a variety of legal roles with The BF Goodrich Company, ICI Glidden, Avery Dennison, & Spencer, Frank and Schneider which subsequently merged with Venable LLP in Washington.
Robert “Bob” Schroeter received his B.S. in Business Administration, with a major in Accounting, from Bowling Green State University in 1985. Bob’s background focuses on all facets of corporate accounting, financial reporting and cash management functions in a manufacturing environment. He has recently earned his certification in Grants Management-Recipient Track from Managements Concepts. Mr. Schroeter is currently the Controller at Great Lakes Neurotechnologies.
Robert “Bob” Plott has 40 years of experience in electronics design, development, production, and application engineering. For the past twelve years, he has developed and manufactured products for Great Lakes NeuroTechnologies and its predecessor, Cleveland Medical Devices Inc. Bob has an Electronic Engineering Technician degree from the Ohio Institute of Technology. Before becoming the Manufacturing Manager at GLNT, he was an Associate Engineer.
Daniel “Dan” Hawk received his B.S. in Biomedical Engineering from The University of Akron in 2018. He joined Great Lakes NeuroTechnologies shortly after graduating, starting as a Test Engineer. In 2021, he became ISO 13485:2016 Lead Auditor certified and was promoted to Quality Specialist. He became GLNT’s Quality Management Representative in 2024 and has continued to maintain GLNT’s Quality Management System.
Philip “Phil” Pastor has over 25 years of experience in software development and architecture. Prior to joining Great Lakes NeuroTechnologies as the Software Engineering Manager in 2017, Phil spent most of his tech career at SapientRazorfish (Rosetta) leading teams in the development of custom software solutions across various industries. Phil spent the early part of his professional career performing a variety of management and technical roles in the computerized embroidery industry.
William “Bill” Bauza comes to Great Lakes NeuroTechnologies with extensive experience in healthcare leadership in capacities in both the institutional and commercial markets. Having been part of the research, as well as the launch of multiple pharmaceuticals and devices, Bauza has the acumen to deliver the value-based resources that Great Lakes NeuroTechnologies has to offer. Bauza received a Bachelor of Science degree from Bowling Green State University and advanced his business education with CMR certification as well as Six Sigma Black Belt Professional certification and is active in multiple healthcare-related associations.
Dr. Tarler holds a PhD degree in Biomedical Engineering from Case Western Reserve University, is a principal investigator on a number of National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants and has numerous awards, over 30 publications, and eight issued patents to his name. With over a dozen years of experience, Dr. Tarler has been instrumental in the development of a wide array of technologies that have resulted in patents and commercial products alike. Some of Dr. Tarler’s recent work includes co-inventing a new self-abrading and rapidly applied EEG electrode, designing and developing a device for delivering a controlled level of CO2 to treat patients with chemoreflex-modulated sleep disorder, design, and development of a new echolocation device to determine the actual location of apnea obstructions, investigating a new and novel use of electrical stimulation to treat chemoreflex-modulated sleep disorder patients, and developing a new and novel sleep monitors with minimal sensors.