Joe Firca

Dr. Firca has more than 35 years of extensive operating and product development knowledge and is a recognized leader in the life science and biotechnology arena in matters of research, technology assessment, and regulatory issues. He has a combined 18 years leading research groups at Baxter International and Abbott Laboratories. Throughout his distinguished career, Dr. Firca has contributed to numerous publications and patents. Some of his contributions include co-development of the first automated DNA synthesizer; Abbott liaison to Amgen, Inc. for a joint collaboration on DNA probes for infectious diseases; systems integration for major instrumentation in blood donor screening; and the development of numerous approved immunoassays for the detection of infectious disease agents. Most recently he served as Adjunct Associate Professor in Biomedical Engineering and Associate Director of Corporate Relations at the McCormick School of Engineering, Northwestern University. Dr. Firca holds a Ph.D. in Microbiology (Microbial Genetics) from the University of Cincinnati, an M.S. in Microbiology (Mycology) from Duquesne University and a B.S. in Biology from Xavier University and has done postdoctoral work at Argonne National Laboratory.