Randall K Julian, Jr., Ph.D., President

Julian's 14 year career in the pharmaceutical industry has focused on informatics-centric solutions for high throughput mass spectrometry in research laboratories. Prior to founding Indigo BioSystems, he held several leading research positions at Eli Lilly &Co. with an emphasis on bioinformatics for Mass Spectrometry and LC/MS. He is the co-chair of the Human Proteome Organization's Proteomics Standards Initiative and an adjunct professor of Chemistry at Purdue University.

Inder-Jeer (I-J) Gujral, Chief Executive Officer

Inder-Jeet (I-J) Gujral is a veteran of the life sciences IT space. Over the years he has been founder and CEO of several technology-related companies (healthcare software, drug-delivery devices, automation of financial services, wireless sensor networks) that were sold, went public or are currently operating.

He serves/has served on public as well as private company boards, and is an advisor to a German venture fund. He has been a consultant at Bain & Co., where most of his work involved M&A activity in Europe. He has also been
involved in a number of private-equity transactions.

I-J holds an MBA from Stanford University and has done graduate work in Byzantine & Ottoman History at Harvard University. He also holds undergraduate and graduate degrees in Solid State Physics from the Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi and an MS in Computer Science/Mathematics from the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY. He is a licensed helicopter pilot.

Raul Zavaleta, VP Business Development

Zavaleta has 20 years of entrepreneurial experience during which he has co-founded several life science based companies, including SciCor, the first clinical laboratory exclusively dedicated to clinical trials. SciCor became the foundation of Covance, one of the largest global Contract Research Organizations. He has held various executive positions, including CEO, of national and international technology companies.

Owen Hitchins, Executive Director of Marketing

Owen Hitchins is an experienced commercial professional in the life sciences industry with over twenty five years of experience in marketing, product management, sales, sales management and global strategic account leadership. 

Before joining Indigo BioSystems earlier this year, Owen was Director of Global Accounts for Thermo Fisher Scientific where he directed global accounts after having originally started the team in 2002. Previously Owen held positions with several world’s leading companies including Beckman Coulter, Comdisco, and EDS. He has consistently delivered profitable revenue growth while building strong relationships and exceeding customer expectations.

Owen received a bachelor’s degree in Chemistry from Washington University in St. Louis and an MBA from Butler University with emphasis in Finance and Marketing.

"I chose to join Indigo BioSystems so that I could bring all of my past experience to bear in driving the commercial success of a new company."

Fred Lytle, Ph.D.,

Fred E. Lytle received his B.S. degree in chemistry from Juniata College in 1964 and earned his Ph.D. degree in analytical chemistry at The Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1968.  He joined the faculty at Purdue University that same year, being promoted to Associate Professor in 1974, Professor in 1979, and Professor Emeritus in 2008.  While at Purdue he was the acting Director of Instrumentation, the Director of General Chemistry, the head of the Analytical Division, the Director of the Harry L. Pardue Center for Advanced Instrumentation, and the Associate Department Head in charge of Centers and Facilities.  In May 2008 he joined the technical staff of Indigo BioSystems where he is a corporate Fellow. 

He was a pioneer in the application of lasers to analytical chemistry and a co-developer of the synchronously-pumped dye laser. Throughout his tenure at Purdue he taught a nationally-recognized graduate course on numeric and electronic methods of signal-to-noise enhancement.  He is currently developing numeric and computational algorithms for data processing in pharmaceutical applications. 

During his tenure at Purdue he was awarded the Merck Company Faculty Development Award, Outstanding Teacher in the School of Science, Amoco Undergraduate Teaching Award, Outstanding Innovation In Helping Students Learn Award for his work with scientific Braille; and, was named the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, 1996 Indiana Professor of the Year. 

At the national level he has received the American Chemical Society Division of Analytical Chemistry Award in Chemical Instrumentation, and the American Chemical Society Award in Analytical Chemistry.  In 2009 he was named a Fellow of the Society for Applied Spectroscopy. He has been a member of the National Bureau of Standards Panel for Analytical Chemistry and the National Science Foundation Chemistry Advisory Board.  He has been an associate editor of Applied Spectroscopy, a member of the editorial board of Analytica Chimica Acta, and the spectroscopy editor of Analytical Chemistry.  He currently is a member of the American Chemical Society and the Society for Applied Spectroscopy.