Claire L. Kruger, Ph.D., D.A.B.T.
Chief Executive Officer and Chief Operating Officer
Dr. Claire L. Kruger has served as Chief Executive Officer, Chief Operating Officer, and as a member of the Board of Directors since 2007. She also serves as Director of Spherix Consulting. Dr. Kruger is a toxicologist with more than 20 years of consulting experience. Her primary area of expertise is in pharmaceuticals, consumer products and foods, where she provides scientific, regulatory, and strategic support to clients in both the U.S. and international regulatory arenas. She has conducted toxicity evaluations of food contaminants, as well as health risk assessments and exposure assessments of drugs, cosmetics, and pesticides.
Her clients include food, drug, and dietary supplement manufacturers, agricultural producers, biotechnology companies, trade associations, and law firms. In her role as a consultant, Dr. Kruger has been involved in the safety evaluation of a variety of consumer products, providing oversight of product compliance with current and emerging scientific and regulatory guidance. Dr. Kruger received her Ph.D. in Toxicology from Albany Medical College, and her B.S. in Biology from Clarkson College in Omaha, Nebraska.
Robert A. Lodder, Ph.D.
President
Dr. Robert A. Lodder has been a member of the Spherix Board of Directors since 2005 and has served as President of the company since August 2007. He has served as a Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the College of Pharmacy, University of Kentucky Medical Center, and currently holds joint appointments in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and the Division of Analytical Chemistry of the Department of Chemistry at Kentucky. He was a founder of InfraReDx, Inc. in 1998 and Prescient Medical, Inc. in 2004. Dr. Lodder received his B.S. degree cum laude in Natural Science and his M.S. in Chemistry in 1983 from Xavier University, Cincinnati, Ohio in 1981. He received his Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry in 1988 from Indiana University.
Randy W. Brown
Chief of Operations
Mr. Randy Brown joined Spherix in 2008 as Chief of Operations. With nearly 20 years in the pharmaceutical industry, Mr. Brown’s primary area of expertise is in large global clinical trials. His previous positions at Pfizer, Eli Lilly, and Genetech focused mainly on management within the operations area. Mr. Brown has experience managing global trials in roughly 30 different countries including new emerging areas such as India and Eastern Europe, and led the efforts for the Spherix Phase 3 study in India where more than 500 patients were screened across 24 sites in less than 30 days. Mr. Brown received his BS in Chemistry from Ball State University, Muncie, Indiana.
Robert L. Clayton, CPA
Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer
Mr. Robert L. Clayton was elected to the Office of Interim CFO and Treasurer in August 2007. He previously served as Director of Finance and Controller of the Company. Prior to joining Spherix, he was a Senior Auditor for the public accounting firm Rubino & McGeehin, Chartered. Mr. Clayton holds a B.S. in business and management from the University of Maryland and a C.P.A. from the District of Columbia.
Ram Nimmagudda, Ph.D.
Director of New Business Development
Dr. Ram Nimmagudda brings to Spherix more than 15 years of years of experience in business development, nutrition and nutraceutical industries, with particular expertise in novel food ingredients. Most recently, Dr. Nimmagudda held the position of Director of New Business Development, South Asia for DSM Functional Foods. Prior to DSM, Dr. Nimmagudda held the position of Director and Sr. Principal Technologist, External Technologies at Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co. and Vice President of Technology Growth at Chr. Hansen, Inc. Dr. Nimmagudda received his Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Mangalore University, India; his M.S. in Biochemistry from Mysore University, India; and his B.S. in Chemistry and Biology from Osmania University, India.