Staff

Florida Research Instruments, Inc. is in the process of assembling its staff.  The initial concentration will be to assign consultants to our various projects.

 Karl R. Zurn is President of the company.  Karl has Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Electrical Engineering from Villanova University. He is the founder of MED Associates, Inc.  and serves as Chairman of the Board.  He has over 35 years experience in the biomedical instrumentation area.

Jane T. Zurn has a BS in Business Administration and handles administrative functions for Florida Research Instruments.

J. Brooks Zurn has her Bachelor’s of Science degree in Electrical Engineering with a Biomedical Engineering option and a Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering.  She is a PhD Candidate in Electrical Engineering at Virginia Commonwealth University as well as a Research and Development Engineer for Florida Research Instruments, Inc.

Consultants

 Dr. Dworkin received his undergraduate training in psychology at the University of Maryland and earned his PhD in psychology from the University of Florida. Dr. Dworkin completed post-doctoral training in neuroscience at the LSU Medical Center and has held tenured positions at LSU Medical Center in Shreveport in psychiatry and pharmacology and the Wake Forest School of Medicine in Pharmacology and Physiology. He is currently a Professor and Chair of the Department of Psychology, Western Illinois University.
Dr. Dworkin has established international recognition for his research on the neuropsychopharmacology of abused substances. He has received both private and NIH funding and has published extensively in several areas including behavior analysis, behavior pharmacology and the neuroscience of addiction. Dr. Dworkin is a fellow of the American Psychological Association and a member of ASPET, CPDD, the Society for Neuroscience and ABA International. He has reviewed manuscripts for the major journals in the field and served on NIH and NIDA study sections.

Dr. Gerry Herrera obtained his PhD in Molecular Physiology and Biophysics from The University of Vermont (UVM) in 2001, where he studied smooth muscle excitation-contraction coupling. He is an expert in muscle physiology, specializing in the smooth muscle that lines hollow organs. Dr. Herrera is currently an Adjunct Assistant Professor in Pharmacology at UVM, and maintains active research collaborations with academic colleagues. His research interests include the physiology and pathophysiology of the urinary bladder, smooth muscle excitation-contraction coupling, electrophysiology of smooth muscle cells, cellular calcium signal transduction pathways, and integrative physiology. Dr. Herrera joined Med Associates full-time in early 2004. Since that time, he has been involved with new product development, contract research, and technical writing. Dr. Herrera has served on the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee at UVM since 2001, and is also a member of the IACUC at Med Associates.

 

Bridget Zurn Garibay is President of Med Associates, and has a BSCSIS, MSCS, and MBA from the University of Vermont. Bridget married Valdemar Garibay in November 2009.

Valdemar Garibay has a BSM with concentrations in Management Information Systems and Marketing Management from Purdue University. He also has an MBA with a concentration in Accounting, and is currently pursuing a MSM with a concentration in Human Resources from Indiana Wesleyan University. Valdemar works with Bridget as a Human Resources and Finance Consultant at Med Associates Inc.

Dr. Stephen Anagnostaras is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology and Neurosciences. He obtained his PhD in Psychology in Dr. Michael Fanselow’s laboratory of at the University of California, Los Angeles, studying the neural basis of Pavlovian fear conditioning. After completing his graduate studies, Dr. Anagnostaras went on to train as a Postdoctoral Fellow in the laboratory of Professor Alcino Silva at UCLA. He is a well-respected young scientist and already has several high-impact publications in the field. He has taught undergraduate- and graduate-level courses in the Neurosciences, as well as serving as Course Organizer for the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Summer Course on Mouse Behavioral Analysis.
Dr. Anagnostaras’  research is to combine the molecular-genetic, systems, and cognitive-behavioral levels to understand how the brain produces behavior and cognition. A major emphasis in this endeavor is bridging systems and molecular approaches using hippocampus-dependent learning, in particular, learning about context. The hippocampal-neocortical memory system offers an excellent opportunity in which the molecular and cognitive levels may be first plainly joined. Long-term objectives of Dr. Anagnostaras’ research are to advance our understandings of the mechanisms of memory, cognition, and drug addiction.

Christopher Malter is Founder and CEO of IMC, an investment management company specializing in life sciences, telecom and technology. Behind his leadership, IMC has counseled numerous Fortune 500 companies, and has received many accolades and global recognition as a results-driven firm. This proven leadership and management style has positioned Malter to be quite proficient as a strategic team builder in transforming business vision into action and goal achievement by building and cultivating top-performing and motivated teams that work cohesively toward strategic corporate objectives. 
Malter is very involved and committed to Florida becoming a major life sciences market. In 2007, Malter was appointed Chairman of The Florida Life Sciences Council (FLSC), a group comprised of world-class CEOs and senior executives dedicated to advising the Governor and state officials in the life sciences sector. Additionally, the FLSC is committed facilitating the maturation process in capitalizing on Florida’s billion dollar investment in R&D to commercialize technology birthed within the state. 
Malter has extensive experience with both national and global mergers and acquisitions and strategic partnerships, including: the J&J and Cordis merger, the Comcast/Time Warner sale of Adelphia, among others.  Presently, Malter generates great delight in maintaining board status with several organizations, especially Kindle Creative, SBS Consulting and HEART 9/11 in New York City.   

Martin C. Poppe, Martin Poppe Associates LLC
Martin Poppe has a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from MIT, a Master’s degree from Stanford University and did Doctoral studies from the State University of New York at Stony Brook.  He provides Technical Audit Services, System Analysis and Design Services to the electronics industry. We have worked on a broad range of systems, and have in-depth experience in the areas of Signal Processing, Data Transmission, Navigation, Communication and Wireless Systems. Starting with customer generated product, system and cost goals, he can provide appropriate technologies, develop a design approach, select components, and create a prototype system. He works independently or with your engineering staff. Throughout the design process, provides a complete transfer of both the final design and the underlying concepts to assure your understanding of the product.  He has developed numerous “Mixed Signal” systems, and can assist in determining the right balance between analog and digital solutions, and in selecting between custom and programmable system elements.