Gordon Horwitz – CEO
The founder of Allostatix, LLC, Mr. Horwitz emigrated to Canada from South Africa in May 1984 and has started many successful companies.
In 1988 Mr. Horwitz began working on his first endeavor, securing the rights from Shell Oil for a tissue culture process for plants that repelled mosquitoes using a bio-engineered scent. He founded Austerica Greenhouses Inc., and created the infrastructure to grow, distribute and market the plant, which gained extensive media attention and was distributed throughout the United States, Canada, Australia and Japan.
Mr. Horwitz then co-founded Kwalu, Inc., where he developed virtually indestructible, patented polymer furniture that revolutionized the long-term healthcare industry. He sold his interest in the company in April 1999. Today Kwalu has $50 million in annual sales.
In July of 1999, Mr. Horwitz joined the Standard Textile Company, Inc., the nation’s leading supplier of healthcare textiles, as Director of Business Development for its Decorative Products Division. Using his entrepreneurial skills, Mr. Horwitz generated more than $50 million dollars in new revenue.
Ready to once again take on the challenge of fulfilling an unmet need in the market place, Mr. Horwitz left Standard Textile in late 2005 to begin work on Allostatix.
Ken Rothe, PhD – Chief Financial Officer
A co-founder of Allostatix, Dr. Rothe brings extensive business, consulting, academic, and research experience to the company. In the business world, Dr. Rothe has been an entrepreneur, business executive and consultant.
Dr. Rothe holds an PhD in Physics from the University of Rochester and an honorary D.Admin. from the Canadian School of Management.
With partners, he founded and operated Thoughtware, Inc. Thoughtware designed, created and sold training software, interactive video and printed materials for corporate process analysis and management training used by companies that included Fortune 500 giants.
During his business career, he was VP of Business Effectiveness at Standard Textile Company, Inc., and COO of FSCreations, Inc., which produced educational software and print media dedicated to making teachers more effective in the classroom.
Before entering the business arena Dr. Rothe enjoyed an academic career that includes tenure in a variety of academic/research positions, as professor of physics, management and health services. He has taught at the graduate level and published in the areas of health services research (including clinical studies using neural network methodology), management, healthcare marketing, process control and re-engineering, organizational development, and elementary particle physics.
Dr. Rothe has also held significant academic leadership and administrative positions at the University of Pennsylvania, Bowling Green State University, and the Union Institute. He was also Associate Professor of Health Services Administration at Xavier University, performing medical and health services research as well as teaching.
Dr. Rothe is also an Executive Coach, working with CEOs and other executives in healthcare systems, physician practices and hospitals, through his independent consulting organization JKR Management Associates.
Robert Ludke, PhD – Chief Science Officer
A co-founder and general partner for Allostatix, Dr. Ludke earned his undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he specialized in health systems engineering. He spent 16 years on the faculty of the Graduate Program in Hospital and Health Administration at the University of Iowa. During his tenure there, Dr. Ludke founded and directed the Iowa Health Services Research and Development Field Program at the Veterans Administration Medical Center.
In 1993, Dr. Ludke became chair of the Department of Health Services Administration at Xavier University and director of the Xavier Center for Health Management Education. He is currently a Senior Research Scientist at the Institute for the Study of Health, University of Cincinnati Academic Health Center, and a Professor in the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Cincinnati.
Dr. Ludke has 27 years of senior management and research experience as principal investigator and administrator on numerous federal and private foundation awards in health services research. He has been as senior investigator on 55 research projects, authored over 80 research and policy analysis publications and reports, and served on various local, state, and national health policy task forces.