Our People

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Dr. Brady-Kalnay has been a faculty member at Case Western Reserve University for 25 years in the Department of Molecular Biology & Microbiology. She is also a Professor of Neurosciences, Pathology and member of the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center. She trained in the fields of cell adhesion and signaling. Her research focuses on development and cancer-related signaling via Receptor Tyrosine Phosphatases. Her most recent studies have established the existence of a key change in proteolysis of the cell-cell adhesion molecule and receptor protein tyrosine phosphatase, PTPmu, in human cancer. Dr. Brady-Kalnay's tumor research has been supported by many National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants including a prestigious R01 Provocative Questions grant and an Academic Industrial Partnership grant from the National Cancer Institute (NCI).

Following her observation of the proteolytic change in PTPmu in tumors, she then exploited this for development of novel molecular diagnostic and imaging agents as well as theranostic targeting agents for tumors. The PTPmu agents target virtually all tumor cells regardless of their distance from the main tumor mass thus improving tumor detection, imaging and targeted therapeutics. She is developing a platform technology to image and target primary and invasive tumors using fluorescence, magnetic resonance imaging, positron emission tomography, and theranostic approaches with these PTPmu agents. She has used cutting edge approaches such as cryo-imaging to track tumor cells 3-dimensionally in tumor models to characterize tumor growth patterns.  She has also used various magnetic resonance imaging approaches, including magnetic resonance fingerprinting, to detect and track brain tumors with more precision and higher specificity than conventional techniques. 

Ted Gastineau is a scientist and entrepreneur.  He has a successful track record of developing companies and technologies, primarily in the healthcare environment.  He previously served as CEO of Core Clinical which was acquired by Invicro, a Konica Minolta company integrating imaging, genomics (Ambry Genetics), pathology and biomarkers into insightful solutions for drug development.  He served as EVP of Clinical Research there from 2017 though 2020.  Before that he was President, Global Data Technologies, integrating ICON Medical Imaging, Firecrest and ICON Interactive Technologies into a $100MM division creating innovative products and solutions for internal and external customers. Prior to that, Mr Gastineau served as President and Co-Founder of ICON Medical Imaging (formerly Beacon Bioscience, Inc.), a high-tech medical informatics company specializing in medical imaging for drug development.  From 1995 through 2000, Mr. Gastineau co-founded and served as President of Intelligent Imaging, Inc. a high-tech pharmaceutical research company specializing in medical imaging technology acquired by Quintiles, Inc.  From 1997 through 2000 Mr. Gastineau served as Senior Vice President, Quintiles, Inc. and Business Unit Head with global responsibilities.  Prior to founding the Intelligent Imaging, Mr. Gastineau served in executive positions in various companies with responsibility for R&D, marketing, and strategic development.  His business experience includes development of Fortune 100 clients, global data management, European corporate development, venture funding of early start-ups, mergers and acquisitions and initial public offerings.  Mr. Gastineau has held academic positions with the University of Maryland, The John Hopkins School of Medicine, Cambridge University, and The Smithsonian Institution.  Mr. Gastineau received a bachelor’s degree in zoology from Marshall University and pursued a Ph.D. in neurophysiology before founding Intelligent Imaging.  

For the past ten years, Dr. Oblander has focused on creating and growing small business start-ups. In 2009, she co-founded a commodities company from the ground up. As part of a small business startup she managed the market analysis, product development, manufacturing, marketing, communications and sales from inception to product launch for over a dozen product lines. Early on, she hired, trained and directed the work of a cross-functional team, including sales, legal, accounting, and marketing professionals. She applied the experience gained maintaining oversight of strategic planning and implementation to serving as a business development strategist for four additional small business start-ups. She served as the Senior Director of Operations and has generated over $1M in investment funding. 

Prior to her company launch, she trained in the fields of cell adhesion and signaling under the direction of Dr. Susann Brady-Kalnay, the leading expert on Receptor Protein Tyrosine Phosphatase PTPmu (PTPmu/PTPRM) mediated cell adhesion, at Case Western Reserve University in the department of Molecular Biology and Microbiology. PTPmu is present in normal cells and undergoes proteolysis in cancer cells. During her graduate studies her research focused on identifying PTPmu-dependent signaling pathways that regulate cadherin cell adhesion molecules, which are often disrupted in cancer. She identified distinct PTPmu-dependent signaling pathways for E-cadherin, N-cadherin and R-cadherin-mediated migration or neurite outgrowth. 

Just over two years ago, she returned to the lab as a postdoctoral scholar bringing her expertise in marketing and business development to translate a platform technology developed in the lab for commercialization. She has received an I-Corps@Ohio award, modeled after the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) successful I-Corps (Innovation Corps) program and interviewed over 100 decision makers using lean launch, customer discovery and business model innovation methodologies to assess our technology.