Executive Leadership

President
PhD, HCLD (ABB)

Dr. Altrich is the President of Eurofins Viracor. She held the previous role of Chief Scientific Officer, VP and Clinical Laboratory Director.  In her experience at IBT, Dr. Altrich was responsible for new test development in the area of cellular function testing for allergy and autoimmune diseases as well as serving as the Assistant Lab Director for IBT's menu of immunodiagnostic tests. Dr. Altrich joined IBT in 2006 as a Senior Scientist. Prior to joining IBT, Dr. Altrich held an appointment at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville where she specialized in molecular and cellular immunology. Dr. Altrich received her PhD in pathology and microbiology from the University of Nebraska Medical Center where her research focused on tumor immunology.

Clinical Laboratory Director
PhD, BCLD (ABB)

Dr. Neil has served as the Clinical Laboratory Director of Eurofins Viracor since the beginning of 2021. He maintains oversight of laboratory operations and compliance and serves as a technical expert for diagnostic testing. His previous role was as Vice President of Infectious Disease Operations at AEL starting in 2013. His clinical laboratory expertise is in infectious disease diagnostics including molecular diagnostics, immunoserology and microbiology. Dr. Neil was an APHL-CDC Emerging and Infectious Disease Fellow and maintained roles in public health laboratories for several years. Dr. Neil received his PhD in Microbiology from the University of Iowa where his research focused on Neisseria meningitidis pathogenesis.

Vice President of Sales and Marketing

Rob Horel rejoined Eurofins Viracor on May 17, 2021 as Vice President of Sales and Marketing.  Rob has more than two decades of experience in commercial leadership. He displays a deep passion for Improving Patient Lives and has an outstanding record of sales and marketing excellence in laboratory services and medical digital platforms. Most recently, Rob was Vice President of Sales for North America at SOPHiA Genetics – a Swiss AI company focused on democratizing data driven medicine. Rob started his leadership career as a Commissioned Officer for the United States Navy and has a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the US Naval Academy.

Vice President of Information Technology
CISSP

Chris Heil, Vice President of Information Technology, is responsible for enabling safe and efficient innovations and operations for patients, clients, and associates through the thoughtful deployment of technology. He is responsible for  Eurofins Viracor's information technology strategy and leads all infrastructure, application, and security focused initiatives through the work of his team both in Kansas City, Missouri and Bangalore, India. Prior to his career at Viracor, Mr. Heil held a variety of roles during a twenty-five year career within Cerner Corporation’s intellectual property organization including work in application development, infrastructure, and cybersecurity.  He holds a BA in Computer Science from the University of Missouri, Columbia and is a passionate cybersecurity professional with a Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) certification since 2017.

Vice President, Laboratory Operations
Eurofins U.S. Clinical Diagnostics

Matthew Schuman is the Vice President of Laboratory Operations at Eurofins Viracor since early 2022. He is responsible for the day to day operations of the clinical diagnostics laboratory. Mr. Schuman has held executive leadership roles in the laboratory industry throughout his career including hospitals, large reference laboratories, and developed two separate “start up” full service veterinary laboratories. His most recent position was the Laboratory Director at St. Joseph Medical Center in Kansas City, MO. He is certified as a Black Belt in LEAN Six Sigma, holds a Bachelor of Science in Medical Technology from the University of Nebraska Medical Center, and a Bachelor’s of Science from the University of Nebraska – Lincoln. He completed his MBA at Benedictine College in Atchison, KS.

Vice President, Research & Development
PhD, HCLD/TS/CC (ABB) 

Steven Kleiboeker, PhD, Vice President of Research and Development, is responsible for the scientific direction and oversight of the Company's research and development programs, as well as the BioPharma and Clinical Trial Biomarker Services research businesses. Dr. Kleiboeker is board certified as a high-complexity laboratory director, technical supervisor and clinical consultant by the American Board of Bioanalysis. Dr. Kleiboeker has served as both principal investigator and co-investigator on numerous government-funded research grants (NIH, USDA). Dr. Kleiboeker received his PhD and DVM from the University of Missouri.

Vice President, Finance

David Knecht is the Director of Financial Planning, with responsibility for financial, legal, tax and treasury functions. Prior to joining Viracor in 2016, Mr. Knecht led a multi-year computer system implementation as Vice President of Business Integration for Dairy Farmers of America, a national dairy cooperative. He has also served as the Chief Financial Officer for SYSCO Kansas City, a foodservice distributor. Mr. Knecht began his career as an auditor with KPMG, where he led financial audits of companies such as Associated Wholesale Grocers and Farmland Industries. Mr. Knecht earned a BS in Accounting and Business Administration from the University of Kansas, is a licensed CPA, and previously served as Chairman of the Board of Gillis, a charity serving children and families in Kansas City.

Vice President, Finance
Eurofins U.S. Clinical Diagnostics

Matt Urbanek serves as the Vice President, Finance over Eurofins’ U.S.-based clinical diagnostics businesses.  Prior to this, he was the Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Viracor, having been responsible for all of the company’s financial, legal, tax and treasury functions within Viracor. Prior to joining the company, Mr. Urbanek was a Vice President at George K. Baum Advisors, LLC, an investment-banking firm that specializes in mergers and acquisitions, raising private capital and financial advisory services for middle-market companies. Mr. Urbanek earned a BA in business administration and finance and a BS in economics from Kansas State University.  He is a member of the Finance Advisory Board for Kansas State University’s Department of Finance.

Vice President, Human Resources
Eurofins U.S. Clinical Diagnostics
SPHR, SHRM-SCP

Brandy Alexander, Vice President of Human Resources, is responsible for leading human resources for Eurofins U.S. Clinical Diagnostics. Her responsibilities include the development and implementation of human capital strategy and oversight of the administration of all human resources functions. These include recruitment, performance management, benefits, compensation, associate relations, risk management and payroll. Prior to her career at Viracor Eurofins, Mrs. Alexander held a variety of roles within Cerner Corporation’s human resources organization which included working as a HR Business Partner consulting with senior leadership to develop human resources strategies in alignment with business objectives. She holds a BS in economics from Baker University and MA in economics from the University of Kansas.

Director of Laboratory Operations
MBA, MT (ASCP)

Phouvieng Saycocie is the Director of Laboratory Operations for Viracor Eurofins.  She provides overall direction and leadership for the clinical laboratory and is responsible for ensuring quality and regulatory compliance in all aspects of the laboratory operation. She coordinates activities for test menu expansion and transfer of new technologies into the laboratory.  Ms. Saycocie has over 20+ years working in the lab industry having previously worked at Quest Diagnostics.  She served as a Clinical Lab Scientist and Laboratory Supervisor at Quest Diagnostics.  She joined Viracor as the Laboratory Manager for Infectious Disease then led  the IT Business Analysts as the Assistant Director of Lab Operations.   Ms. Saycodie graduated from the University of Kansas with a BS in Medical Technology and from Baker University with a Master of Business Administration.

Director of Research & Development, Bioinformatics

Rohita Sinha joined Viracor Eurofins in 2018 as a Senior Scientist, with the primary focus on developing novel computational protocols for a range of diagnostic assays to detect and monitor infections disease and solid organ transplant rejection. Prior to joining Viracor Eurofins, Dr. Sinha was a Research Asst. Professor at Univ. of Nebraska, Lincoln where he extensively worked on application of next-generation sequencing to understand the complexity of the gut microbiota. Dr. Sinha is co-founder of a Bioinformatics startup (Metagenome Analytics, LLC), with the core business of developing computational methods to detect and subtype food pathogens. He has received his PhD (Bioinformatics) from the University of Kansas, Lawrence in 2011.

Senior Scientist
PhD

Linda Flebbe-Rehwaldt is a Senior Scientist focused on new test development for allergy and clinical immunology. Dr. Flebbe-Rehwaldt joined Viracor Eurofins laboratories in 2010 and is currently working on developing cellular immunology and immunochemistry assays. Prior to joining Viracor Eurofins she held an appointment at the University of California, San Francisco working on gene delivery mechanisms for gene therapy. Her postdoctoral training was at UCSF studying regulatory elements of the human beta hemoglobin complex. She received her PhD from the University of Kansas Medical Center.

Director of Research and Development, Biopharma Services
PhD 

Prior to his appointment in R&D, Dr. Wissel has been a Senior Scientist directing the development of fungal diagnostic assays at Viracor Eurofins since 2006. Prior to joining Viracor Eurofins, he was a Post-Doctoral Fellow in the Department of Microbiology, Molecular Genetics and Immunology  at the University of Kansas Medical Center where he conducted research into the molecular mechanisms of bacterial cell division.  He received his PhD in Microbiology from the University of Iowa College of Medicine.

Director of Research & Development, Oncology Diagnostics
MSc, PhD

Dr. Karina Eterovic is the R&D Director, Oncology Diagnostics, responsible for leading the development of oncology clinical diagnostic solutions for the Eurofins U.S. Clinical Diagnostics group.  Dr. Eterovic joins us from MD Anderson Cancer Center, where she was the Associate Professor and Director of the Cancer Genomics Laboratory, as well as a driving force in the implementation of precision medicine at the prestigious institute — establishing a genomics laboratory for NGS research, and enabling the discovery and identification of new biomarkers for personalized cancer care.  Dr. Eterovic has authored many publications in oncology journals, and holds both her PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, and Masters in Biochemistry from the University of Sao Paulo, Medical School, in Brazil.