IDT Leadership

Demaris Mills

President

Demaris has spent her career in the Life Sciences and Diagnostics space, and has been with Danaher since 2009.  She joined IDT as President in July 2021 from Phenomenex, where she also served as President.

Prior to Phenomenex, Demaris served in several senior leadership positions at Beckman Coulter Life Sciences, including Vice President, General Manager of the Liquid Handling Automation and Genomics businesses, Vice President of European Sales and Vice President of Global Marketing. Prior to Beckman Coulter, Demaris held positions of increasing responsibility at Leica Biosystems, including leading Product Management for the Leica Biosystems Consumables Business. Earlier in her career, she held several positions in Corporate Strategy and Development at Thermo Fisher Scientific, including an expat assignment based in China.

Demaris has a MBA from Harvard Business School and a bachelor’s degree in Economics and French from Smith College in Massachusetts.

Ross Allen

General Counsel

Ross was appointed as General Counsel of IDT in May 2022. With a strong background in both science and law, Ross brings a unique perspective to the legal department. He leads a team of strategic legal professionals with a focus on growth and innovation, while maintaining high standards of regulatory compliance.

With a passion for both science and law, Ross has built a successful career in the biotechnology and medical device industries. He started as a scientist and gained hands-on experience with IDT products before transitioning to a legal career as an intellectual property and complex commercial litigator. Over the years, Ross has expanded his practice to encompass general legal advising and compliance, holding various positions as regional general counsel, including a four-year assignment with Align Technology (Invisalign) in Singapore where he helped establish the company's footprint in Asia.

Before joining IDT, Ross served as the Assistant General Counsel for Cepheid where he led global strategic transactions, commercial support, and legal operations in support of the company's rapid growth during the COVID-19 pandemic. He also served as Vice Chair of Danaher’s LGBTQ+ Friends Associate Resource Group, offering support to LGBTQ+ colleagues and promoting allyship across the organization. Within IDT, Ross actively supports the company’s diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE+I) efforts.

Ross holds a Bachelor of Science in Microbiology/Chemistry and a Master of Science in Molecular Pathology from Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center. He earned his JD from Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law.

Mark Behlke, MD, PhD

Chief Scientific Officer

Mark has been a part of IDT for more than two decades and was appointed Chief Scientific Officer in 2013.

Mark joined IDT as a Research & Development (R&D) consultant in 1995 and was named Vice President and head of R&D in 1996. Over 26 years at IDT, Mark directed research programs and new product development in the areas of DNA thermodynamics, gene synthesis, probe chemistry, qPCR, NGS, antisense, RNA interference, and CRISPR genome editing. In 2021, Mark stepped down as head of R&D and transitioned to a part-time role as scientific advisor for IDT and the Danaher Life Sciences group.

Mark is an internationally recognized expert in the field of nucleic acid technologies, an inventor of more than 70 issued US Patents, and an author on over 150 scientific papers.

Mark holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He was awarded MD and PhD degrees from the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, after doing his doctoral dissertation in the field of Immunogenetics. Mark completed an Internal Medicine residency at Brigham & Women’s Hospital and an Endocrinology Fellowship at the Longwood/Harvard program. Mark was a Howard Hughes Postdoctoral Fellow in Human Genetics at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research at MIT.

Christine Boge

Sr. Vice President, Global Operations

Christine was appointed Sr. Vice President, Global Operations in May 2021. Her areas of oversight focus on IDT global operations, including direct oversite for global manufacturing, as well as IDT’s supply chain and environmental health safety & sustainability (EHS&S) organizations.

In 1995, Christine entered IDT as a production scientist, and subsequently took on progressive responsibilities within procurement and supply chain positions. Christine has diverse operational, business, and financial experience, including lean process and discrete manufacturing, business combination experience, as well as experience in international business, trade, and taxation.

Prior to her current role, Christine held positions at IDT as Sr. Vice President, Supply Chain & Logistics; Sr. Vice President, Strategic Operations; and Sr. Vice President, Finance & Supply Chain. During her nearly 30 years at IDT, Christine has professionalized the supply chain and logistics functions.

Christine earned her Bachelor of Science in Biology with a minor in Chemistry, and her Master of Business Administration from the University of Iowa.

Linda De Jesus

Vice President and General Manager, Global Commercial Operations

Linda has spent her career in the Biotechnology and Life Sciences industry. Linda joined IDT as Vice President and General Manager, Global Head of Commercial Operations in November 2022. She joined IDT from Azenta Life Sciences, where she served as Senior Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer and led the company rebranding efforts from Brooks Life Sciences to Azenta.

Prior to Azenta, Linda served in multiple senior leadership positions at Thermo Fisher Scientific, including Vice President, General Manager of Chromatography and Mass Spectrometry Division, Vice President of Global Commercial Operations, Vice President of APAC, and Vice President of Commercial Integrations. Prior to Thermo Fisher Scientific, Linda held positions of increasing responsibility at Agilent Technologies, including leading Global Strategic Sales, Global Academic and Life Science Research Segment Marketing, and Corporate Strategic Initiatives. Earlier in her career, she held several senior leadership positions at Waters Corporation.

Linda has an Executive MBA from the University of Connecticut and a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry with Distinctions from Columbia University.

Norm Fuller

Vice President, Platform Development

Norm has been part of IDT for more than a decade and was appointed Vice President, Platform Development in 2014. He has spent his career within the Life Sciences and Biotech space.

Norm joined IDT in 2007 as a Process Engineer and over the years has progressively increased his responsibilities and impact on the Company. He brought the rigor associated with statistical analysis, experimental design, and problem-solving methodologies to IDT which have been instrumental in making many of the technology advancements related to IDT manufacturing technology over the past decade.

Before joining IDT, Norm worked for Motorola, Amersham Biosciences, and GE Healthcare developing manufacturing processes supporting the buildup of novel products in the biotechnology sector.

Norm holds a Bachelor of Science and a master’s degree in Chemical Engineering from Brigham Young University.

Steven Henck, PhD

Vice President, R&D

Steven joined IDT in April 2019 as Vice President of Molecular Biology Research and Development, providing oversight of R&D initiatives. In October 2021, Steven was appointed IDT Vice President, R&D.

Steven has been leading the development of technologies for Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) since 1997 when he moved from Texas Instruments to CuraGen Corporation to develop micro-machined integrated circuit devices for DNA sequencing. There he also helped establish 454 Life Sciences which created the first commercial NGS sequencing system and several high-throughput technology platforms for drug discovery and development. Steven was also co-founder, CEO and President of an alternative biofuel company, Arbor Fuel Inc. In 2010, he joined Roche Diagnostics to lead their third generation NGS diagnostics platform development and later led the identification and acquisition of multiple technologies and NGS companies. At IDT, he has been leading the development of library prep technologies, assays, enzymes, and bioinformatics for NGS and functional genomics since 2019.

Steven holds his Bachelor of Science from Eastern Nazarene College, and his master’s degree and PhD in Chemistry from Princeton University.

Nick Morwood

Vice President, Strategy and Business Development

Nick joined IDT as Vice President, Strategy and Business Development in October 2023. He is responsible for leading our strategic planning process—from vision through execution—to achieve sustainable growth for IDT. He works closely with IDT and Danaher leadership to drive execution on inorganic growth opportunities, including acquisitions, venture investments, licensing, and partnerships to progress IDT long-term strategic business goals.

Prior to joining IDT, Nick was with Philips Healthcare for over seven years in senior leadership roles focused on strategy and business development. Before to Philips, Nick spent 10 years in Management Consulting and has held several advisory and leadership roles in startups, including work in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning at Google Launchpad and in digital health labs.

Nick attended the Master’s in Medical Sciences program at Boston University Medical School and holds a Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) from Babson College; he also completed an Executive Program in Artificial Intelligence at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Sandy Ottensmann

Vice President/General Manager, Gene Writing and Editing & Core/PCR Business Units

Sandy has spent the last decade within Danaher’s life sciences and diagnostics business, having led IDT’s Gene Writing and Editing and Core/PCR Business Units since January 2023. Before joining IDT, Sandy served as Vice President, Global Marketing & Product Management at Phenomenex, where she was responsible for all inbound and outbound marketing functions as well as the annual strategic planning process. She joined Phenomenex in January 2020 as Senior Director, Product Management and Strategy.

Previously, Sandy was with Beckman Coulter Diagnostics, having served as the Director, Service Marketing and DBS where she was a member of the Global Services leadership team. Prior to that she held multiple roles including Director, Product Management, Growth DBSL and Product Manager in the Chemistry and Immunoassay Business Unit. Prior to Danaher, Sandy worked as a Project Leader and Polymer Chemist at Landec Corporation.

Sandy holds an MBA from Harvard Business School, a Master of Science in Chemistry from Stanford University, and a Bachelor of Science with honor in Chemistry from the California Institute of Technology.

Nichole Riek

VP of Global QARA

Nichole joined IDT as Vice President, Quality and Regulatory in August 2022 with extensive experience in both heavily regulated and research markets and demonstrated results in building effective processes and systems. Prior to joining IDT, Nichole spent six years with SCIEX, where she led as the Vice President of QA/RA, strategically directing the establishment, implementation, and maintenance of adherent QA/RA systems as well as building regulatory strategies for medical device launches in key markets.

Nichole also played a leading role in driving forward SCIEX’s D+I strategy—an initiative she is deeply passionate about—and helped the team deliver tremendous impact in 2022. Prior to joining SCIEX, Nichole managed the global regulatory affairs team at Boston Scientific’s Urology and Pelvic Health Division for 10 years.

Nichole holds a Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Engineering from Western New England College in Springfield, MA, U.S.A.

Jamey Robbins

Vice President, DBS

Jamey joined IDT as Vice President, DBS (Danaher Business Systems) in August 2021. He is filling a newly created position dedicated solely to DBS, leading IDT’s efforts to accelerate further adoption and sustainment of DBS culture, tools, and capabilities.

Prior to IDT, Jamey was at Beckman Coulter Diagnostics, where he has had roles of increasing responsibility, including the Director of Miami Instrument Manufacturing, Vice President of East Coast Operations, Vice President of Real Estate, Facilities and PMO, to most recently the Vice President of Integrated Supply Chain.

Jamey holds a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from North Carolina State University and a Master’s in Business Administration from Wake Forrest University.

Sarah Smith

Vice President, Human Resources

Sarah joined IDT as Vice President, Human Resources (HR) in August 2023. In this role, Sarah is responsible for leading IDT’s HR and Communications functions. These efforts entail leading human resource service delivery to IDT associates in the areas of organizational design, HR policy and procedure, diversity and inclusion efforts, employee relations and engagement, culture, and talent development.

Sarah has held multiple roles of increasing responsibility since joining Danaher in May 2012. Most recently, Sarah led HR service delivery for the Danaher Corporate organization as Vice President, Human Resources responsible for providing strategic HR support to the Danaher Corporate leadership team. During her tenure as Vice President, Human Resources for Corporate, she led the HR workstreams for the Veralto separation. Prior to that, she led HR North America as well as several other HR Business Partner positions at ChemTreat.

Sarah graduated Magna Cum Laude with a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Mary Washington.

Erik Swenson

Chief Financial Officer

Erik joined IDT in 2018 as Chief Financial Officer following the company’s acquisition by Danaher. Before IDT, he held the role of Sr. Director, Global Financial Planning and Analysis at SCIEX for three and a half years where he was responsible for all elements of the planning cycle.

Erik came to Danaher in 2007 as Director, Financial Planning for Kollmorgen—Dover and shortly thereafter took the lead finance role at the operating company supporting the president. During Erik’s time at Danaher, he has driven financial processes that ensure compliance, robust financial reporting, and process improvement all while ensuring professional development of his team. Prior to Danaher, he held positions of increasing responsibilities at several science and technology companies for more than 13 years. Currently, he is responsible for the Finance and IT functions at IDT.

Erik earned a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts and a Master of Business Administration from Southern New Hampshire University in Manchester, New Hampshire.

Steve Wowk

Vice President/General Manager, Gene Reading Business Unit

Steve joined IDT as Vice President, Business Unit and General Management in July 2021 leading IDT’s four business units (Custom Oligos & qPCR, Synthetic Biology, CRISPR & Functional Genomics, and Next Generation Sequencing). In 2023, with the acquisition of the ArcherDx business, Steve narrowed his focus to lead IDT’s Next Generation Sequencing business unit with a goal of supporting the continued expansion of genomic technologies from R&D tools to clinical solutions.

Steve has more than 25 years of experience in the life sciences industry. Prior to joining IDT, he was the Business Unit Director—Genomics at Beckman Coulter Life Sciences, with global responsibility for supporting strategic direction, innovation, new product development, strategic marketing, and in-market product management. Steve held management and sales positions at several leading companies, including Millipore Sigma, Bio-Rad Laboratories, and Pfizer, Inc.

Steve received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Dayton, Ohio, and a Master of Science degree from John Carroll University, Cleveland, Ohio. He also completed an Executive MBA program provided through the University of Texas, Austin.

Joshua Wu

General Manager, IDT China

Joshua joined SCIEX, part of Danaher, in 2014 as sales leader for the CE product line. He transferred to the SCIEX China L1 DBSL (Danaher Business System Leader) role in 2019 and led the full DBS capability build up with both internal and external partners to deliver sustainable business results. He transferred to Strategical Solutions Director of SCIEX China in Oct. 2021, where he built the SCIEX China localization and innovation capability from the bottom up. During his tenure, he led the development and execution of multiply China localization, open innovation, and strategical partnership initiatives, helping to build SCIEX into the biggest Life Sciences Innovations Group Operating Company in China.

Joshua received his bachelor’s degree in Bioengineering and MBA from Beijing Institute of Technology University. Prior to Danaher, Joshua acquired more than 10 years of experience in the Life Science industry, within roles such as a sales manager at Bio-Rad where he accumulated foundational genomic knowledge. Before that, he was with GE Lifesciences, which is Cytiva today, as sales manager for Whatman business.