Management Team

Karen M. Arnold
Co-Founder, CEO, Board of Directors

Karen Arnold co-founded Nanocopoeia after serving as founder and CEO of Education Platform Group (SchoolExtra). With an extensive track record of growing technology businesses and moving products and technologies into commercial scale operations, Ms. Arnold is an expert in turn-around consulting, business development, corporate partnering, technology commercialization, corporate finance, strategy planning and implementation, operations development and start-up, research and engineering. Ms. Arnold has worked with technology businesses in industries as diverse as medical devices, biotechnology, information technology and industrial manufacturing. She holds a B.S. in electrical engineering and master's degrees in business administration and manufacturing operations.

Robert Hoerr M.D., Ph.D.
Co-Founder, CSO, Chair of Scientific Board of Advisors

Dr. Hoerr co-founded Nanocopoeia after serving as chairman and chief technology officer of GalaGen, Inc., a biotechnology company specializing in the application of biotechnology to nutraceutical products. Prior to that, he held positions at Sandoz Nutrition Corporation and MIT. In 1999, Dr. Hoerr founded the Research-based Dietary Ingredient Association, a trade association committed to developing scientific standards and exclusivity in claims. With members including Monsanto, Novartis, Cargill and McNeil Consumer, the organization continues to work interactively with the FDA and FTC to impact policy implementation. From 1997 through 2000, Dr. Hoerr served as president of the Minnesota Biotechnology Association (MNBIO). Board-certified in internal medicine, he holds a Ph.D. in nutritional biochemistry from MIT and an M.D. from Indiana University Medical Center.

Pat Ryan
COO

With over 25 patents in nanotechnology, sensors, MEMs and thin-film magnetics, Pat Ryan joined Nanocopoeia after working for over 27 years as a nano-technologist in the computer industry—first with Control Data Corporation, then more recently with Seagate Technology. Mr. Ryan's experience has ranged from operations to advanced technology development in the thin-film head division, where he served as chief technologist. Mr. Ryan was most recently vice president for Advanced R&D, where he led an effort in next-generation non-volatile solid state memories. He is a founding member and former board chair for MN Nano, a statewide private sector-led coalition of industry, higher educational institutions, government entities and investors dedicated to promoting nanotechnology for long-term economic health in the region. He currently serves as a member of the Advisory Commission to Minnesota's Science and Technology Authority, as well as on the MHTA's Board of Directors. He is a graduate of the University of Minnesota.

Jane Nichols
Director of Business Development

Responsible for all business development and marketing, Ms. Nichols joined Nanocopoeia in February 2011 after serving as associate director of Business Development for Cima Labs, the drug delivery subsidiary of Cephalon Pharmaceuticals. With 25 years of diverse commercial and business development experience within the medical device and biopharmaceutical industries, Ms. Nichols has also worked at Celleration (director of Marketing, Reimbursement and Government Affairs), as vice president of Marketing at SurModics and LecTec Corporations, and in positions of increasing responsibility in business development and marketing at Ecolab and 3M. Ms. Nichols received her B.S. in medical technology from the University of Wisconsin, LaCrosse, and her M.B.A. from the University of Minnesota's Carlson School of Management.