I've done it and it worked beautifully.". Getty Images. In addition to pointing out Shultz didn't personally experience the proficiency testing problems with patient samples, Coopersmith's publicist asked we include the following exchange from Shultz's deposition: Attorney: "Did you graduate with distinction? "They tried to talk me into thinking well 'If you fiddle with the punctuation you've got it right.' Post Thernos it's in Stanford's best interest to disassociate from Channing Robertson, and EH as much as possible. But by summer 2017, the SEC was investigating Theranos, Holmes and Balwani. You don't have to change a thing. We can show you the programs weve done, she said in the interview. ", When pressed about that instance, Coopersmith said, "Mr. Balwani was very passionate about Theranos and its technology, and he wanted it to succeed with all his heart.". ", SEC attorney: "OK. And then in his next text message he says, 'They are terrible.' Only one of these techniques, DNA analysis, is based on a solid scientific foundation, they decided. I truly was astonished, Mr. Robertson said. By 2016, Holmes' group of supporters was shrinking. He quickly sensed something wasn't right. Robertson served as the Professor of Chemical Engineering at Stanford University. "Once we started working together it was a very intense relationship and that romantic piece that was there at the very beginning died," Holmes said. And he probably thought, the worst that can happen is her technology never works and they'll just go out of business. "From Mr. Balwani's perspective, he had to rely on his scientists who were signing off on reports and doing quality control and proficiency testing to try to make sure there weren't mistakes," Coopersmith said. Lawyer: J. Channing Bennett: Phone: 971-239-0543, 503-581-1501: Fax: 503-581-5891: Lawyer Title: Partner: . It was something that former Theranos employee and senior software engineer Michael Craig found difficult to believe. Im assuming then he saw the schematics. A trial date has not yet been set. That's unquestionable.". She had every pharmaceutical company eating out of her hand, one former employee said. Robertson was an Emeritus Professor of Chemical Engineering at Stanford University, and he worked at Theranos and served on its board . Holmes' carefully crafted narrative began to unravel during her deposition with SEC attorneys. She was looking for patient investors. He did not defraud consumers, but instead worked tirelessly to empower them with access to their own health information. Bad Blood Excerpt: Read free excerpt of Bad Blood by John Carreyrou You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. The agency told Theranos that it had to comply with its rules, rather than those of other regulatory agencies. Additionally, the Theranos technology relies on pricking a finger, rather than using a needle, to draw blood. But Robertson's explanation of how cigarettes were consciously engineered to be addictive, along with evidence presented by other experts on the industry's practice of marketing to children and tobacco's true impacts on health, was damning, leading in 1998 to a $6.5 billion settlement against Big Tobacco. While Holmes and her counsel did not respond to our repeated requests for an interview, Balwani's attorney, Coopersmith, agreed to join ABC News' Rebecca Jarvis for his first in-depth conversation. The charges could put them in jail for decades. Coopersmith also responded to the scathing 2016 Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services report that eventually led federal regulators to shut down the Theranos lab. I believed in her. Yeah, I agree, greed is one hell of a thing. The challenge now, she said, is to make a range of tests widely available to consumers and to expand Theranos beyond its limited presence in states like Arizona, where it teamed up with Walgreens, and California, where it is based. Just pointing out for clarification that she definitely didnt invent time released medications. "She compensated him very, very well," Kathrein said. Theranos says it never intended the meeting to be anything other than an informal demonstration of its technology. Fuisz says Theranos spent $5 million on lawyers while he spent $200,000 a month to defend against the suit--and ultimately represented himself. Many of the companys early efforts were far from successful, according to five former employees. Theranos said it was restructuring and that he was going to retire. If she is worried, she doesnt let on. Ms. Holmes insists, however, that the company can still rely on some of its technology, which she wont specify. The company declined to provide financial information, but she was adamant that Theranos does not currently need more money. Channing Rex Robertson est un professeur amricain connu pour avoir sig au conseil d'administration de la socit de biotechnologie aujourd'hui disparue connue sous le nom de Theranos, fonde par l'tudiant de Robertson. SEC attorney: "Were you aware that this article was included in Mr. Murdoch's binder [of materials Theranos sent to potential investors]? Is anyone questioning or looking into Channing Robertsons involvement? It has struggled to forge business relationships with other potential partners, like Safeway. channing robertson reputation ", Holmes: "In the sense that there was an overhaul in the management structure and there was a reflection of that in her personal life, sure.". Coopersmith said Balwani became involved in Theranos for personal reasons. SEC attorney: "How many tests could it run at that time in 2010? Balwani, who is 19 years Holmes' senior, has mostly remained out of the public eye, with his lawyer speaking on his behalf. Do you understand that "WAG" is Walgreens? She more than held her own in the lab, recalled Mr. Robertson, and the following summer she got a position at the Genome Institute of Singapore. And like everyone else, the trio quickly caught on that things were not quite right after joining the team to help design the look of the Edison. ", "But, obviously, when we look at this after the after the fact, it has been a business failure," he added. In recent years, Ms. Holmes says, the companys sole focus has been to make lab tests widely available by teaming up with drugstores like Walgreens. SEC attorney: "What did you understand him to be referring to here? The committee's findings led to legislation pending in Congress to create a new federal agency to standardize forensic techniques and certify forensic labs across the nation. Investors and patients also were bringing their own class-action lawsuits. Their claims about their secret, groundbreaking technology that was made to patients, to investors and to the public, were under fire. In both Holmes' and Balwani's SEC depositions, they admitted Theranos was mostly relying on machines they'd purchased from other companies to run their tests but at that time Walgreens believed Theranos was using its own cutting-edge technology. But the Theranos equipment was heavier than the hand-held device the Defense Department was already using for some tests, and the Theranos tests still needed F.D.A. Robertson was one of the stars of the Stanford faculty. [2] He joined the faculty of Stanford in 1970, and served as the Ruth G. and William K. Bowes Professor and Senior Associate Dean for Faculty & Academic Affairs in the School of Engineering there. He became an integral part of her early success introducing her to venture capitalists and joining her board of directors. "It was just a 19-year-old talking who'd taken one course in microfluidics, and she thought she was gonna make something of it.". So yeah I've learned some rough lessons. ), "Don't contact me about Theranos, just go read Carreyrou's book," his Linkedin reads. sabbath school superintendent opening remarks P.O. CA License # A-588676-HAZ / DIR Contractor Registration #1000009744 SEC attorney: "But if some of the results came back incorrect, how did you know that the results that he did report were correct? "He was born in Pakistan to a Hindu family, and eventually the family had to move to India because being a Hindu in a mostly all-Muslim country of Pakistan was very difficult. He took on important roles in international trade and disaster relief, and his daughter recalls a home filled with photos of her father in conflict- and disaster-ridden areas around the world. She was stripped of her control of Theranos, banned from serving as an officer or director of a public company for 10 years, and agreed to pay a $500,000 fine. After more than 10 years, Ms. Holmes is talking about ways she can remain private getting new investors to buy out the old ones. Is The Dropout Based On A True Story? What Really Happened to - Esquire Like everyone else, they were blown away by Holmes during their first meeting with her, as Bauerly said on The Dropout, "She has a lot of conviction in her vision, you know, 'We're changing the world.'". But that's not how Holmes presented the company's capability to Parloff. "First designer. By rejecting non-essential cookies, Reddit may still use certain cookies to ensure the proper functionality of our platform. Robertson's experience in discussing scientific issues in a judicial setting also led him to become a charter member of the National Academy of Sciences' Committee on Science, Technology and Law. I gave her her first million bucks to get the business going, Mr. Draper says. Elizabeth Holmes: sociopath or criminal? - Slidebean Holmes and Balwani each were charged with nine counts of wire fraud and two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, to which they both pleaded not guilty. She had come up with an idea for a drug-delivery system that would be able to detect drug levels in the blood and wirelessly transmit those results. Their conclusions were disturbing. Maxwell, who quit in epic fashionsending Holmes two management books and a resignation letter that shockingly did not go viral, comparing her to Michael Scott from The Office in itheis the founder and chief design officer of Smith.ai. She talks about publishing the companys internal data, and the company has plans to hold a session with outside experts even sooner to try to convince the doubters. channing robertson reputation. An SEC attorney asked Holmes in her July 2017 deposition, "Were you not being transparent with Walgreens previously? Anyone can read what you share. Take away the family money and she has a face that would fit right into the cast of Love After Lockup. Theranos prices, posted on the company website, are a fraction of prevailing rates charged by competitors. Bring him to court and at the very least destroy his character. Holmes: "I don't know exactly what the number was. Channing Rex Robertson is Emeritus Professor of Chemical Engineering at Stanford University. Hes clearly not teaching at Stanford anymore because of this, but the question is, do we really think he was clueless? However, Robertson remained supportive of the companys role in developing new technology. She had no trouble making deals with pharmaceutical companies. But the crisis ebbed, and the company says getting approval for that test is no longer a priority. Not hearing too much about him either, other than a few artifacts that get glossed over. Early on, Ms. Holmes courted pharmaceutical manufacturers, where the Theranos technology would allow companies to conduct clinical trials at lower costs. Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup View Full Stanford Profile. She wanted to study medicine but was afraid of needles. Hulu/Courtesy Nicky Endres - Ana . In it, Shultz is asked about an exchange he had with Theranos vice president Dr. Daniel Young regarding proficiency testing data, or "PT data," and whether Shultz saw a problem or heard about it from other employees. In 2007, Robertson was the lone engineer invited to join a new subcommittee set up to investigate the state of forensic evidence and testimony in the United States. Her board of advisers, despite their impressive names, have had little say about how the company operates. ", SEC attorney: "Were you worried that if Mr. Parloff wrote an article mentioning only Theranos' manufactured devices that people would be given an inaccurate impression of how Theranos was conducting its patient testing? Bruntland invited Robertson to join the framework group writing a global treaty on tobacco that is today one of the most-signed treaties in history. Robertson backed her up and ended up becoming a Theranos board member. Uncharged molecules go through biological membranes much faster. Chemical Engineering (E20) is an introductory course offered by the Stanford University Engineering Department. They saw as far as a new blood sugar or cholesterol test, but, she said, we want to build a whole new lab.. SEC attorney: "Was a Theranos-manufactured device ever deployed in the battlefield? No one is really prying into him. "I think we're on the right side of history. Holmes makes the decision to pursue her idea for a microfluid blood-testing device and disrupt the market. "These people who become scientists and artists and musicians, I think, possess a very special capability. "Did your sister and Mr. Balwani stop living together before or after he left Theranos?" When Balwani joined the company, he and Holmes had been in a romantic relationship for a number of years already, according to their depositions, and it is something they admittedly did not tell investors at the time they were investing in Theranos. Instead, Walgreens executives read about it in the press months afterward. Noel Anne Daoust worked as a congressional aide to Representative Charlie Wilson, among others, although she took a dozen years off to raise her two children. Attorney: "Do you think at the time there was a connection between him leaving the company and him and your sister stopping living together? Robertson was impressed with Elizabeth Holmes and her vision. 24/7 coverage of breaking news and live events. Now, after a surprise inspection last summer, the Food and Drug Administration is requiring that Theranoss equipment and individual tests go through the regulatory process and get approval. Robertson says his public service is driven, at heart, by a love of teaching. Tevanian, Jobs' righthand man who had since retired after leading the team that developed Mac OS X BTW, have you updated recently?). She totally blows me away with her vision.. I'm pretty proud of myself for everything that I did. Channing Robertson is 43 years old today because Channing's birthday is on 04/13/1979.Channing Robertson currently lives in Wilkes Barre, PA; in the past Channing has also lived in Norfolk VA.Channing maintains relationships with many people -- family, friends, associates, & neighbors -- including Altreesha Williams, William Garrett, Deavon Broadwater, Richard Luzenski and James Phile. It is pointed out later in the Drop Out series that this woman worked on inventing something that is probably in your house right now - time-release medications. . "I was done with Theranos," he told ABC News' Rebecca Jarvis. "He wasn't a lab scientist and he knew that, and that's why he hired PhDs and MDs to make sure the lab was running scientifically.". "I think there are people who are the Mozarts and the Beethovens and the Newtons, the Lavoisiers and the Einsteins and the da Vincis, who come along rarely in a generational sense," he said. But in reality, only three weeks before that Fortune conference, the deal with Walgreens was falling apart and Holmes had received a mayday text from Balwani. Robertson proves to be a source of confidence. The first to fall under her spell was Channing Robertson, the Stanford engineering professor whose reputation helped give her credibility when she was just a teenager. an attorney suing Theranos on behalf of investors asked Christian Holmes during his deposition. But he chose to return to the tech world after meeting with Holmes, joining her board of directors in 2006. Channing Robertson. "Elizabeth sees herself as the victim," a source close to Holmes toldVanity Fair, adding, "One of Elizabeth's superpowers is she never looks back.". So things worked out really well," Shultz told Refinery29. For executives at Walgreens, already worried about their reputation, the report from CMS was the final straw. Bilton also shared photos from Holmes' private social media account of the couple on his Twitter account.) Close. You want to talk about your entrance strategy., Those investors did not understand the scale of her ambition, she said. But, ultimately, those deals went nowhere, as the technology worked inconsistently, they say. She was backed up by nearly all her Stanford colleagues except Channing Robertson, who sided with Elizabeth Holmes. With the help of some Stanford Chemical Engineering undergraduates, Robertson demonstrated to his own satisfaction that the multifilament string was indeed 'wicking' bacteria into the vulnerable environs of the uterus. His judgments or lack therefore of, can impact their University as a faculty member. WIRED Book Club: We're reading Bad Blood, by John Carreyrou When Balwani joined Theranos in 2009 as the COO and president, he oversaw the lab operations despite not having a background in laboratory science. "I don't know his exact termination date, but it was right around the same time," Holmes replied. ", Expert testimony fundamentally appeals to him, says Robertson, "because it's terribly interesting, and you meet and work with fascinating people.". unexpectedly inspected its manufacturing facilities, where it makes its proprietary equipment, in August and September. ", Holmes: "Not at the time, because at the time I thought it was all about the aspiration and the vision. We can replicate it.. Another early idea was to create a sleek version of the Theranos blood analysis machine for the home, so that people could prick their fingers and the machine would send the results to physicians and caregivers. In her quest, Holmes receives support from her professor, Channing Robertson. In Elizabeth Holmes' 2017 deposition with the Securities and Exchange Commission, obtained by ABC News and featured on "The Dropout," Holmes said her and Balwani's decision to end their relationship was mutual. Ms. Holmes says that from an early age, she was obsessed with going to Stanford, a symbol of Silicon Valley and invention.. They knew it wasn't validated for use on consumers or use on patients. He received his Ph.D. from Stanford under the supervision of Andreas Acrivos. ", Holmes: "Sunny uses very strong words to express things. Nine days after Coopersmith's interview with ABC News, his office emailed us a transcript from a deposition with Shultz, from an investor lawsuit filed against Theranos. Channing Robertson, Theranos technical adviser . Parloff said he arranged to visit Theranos headquarters in Palo Alto, California, to interview Holmes and spent three days with her. "Mr. Shultz's testimony under oath, his claims about failures in Theranos' proficiency testing, he lied about that. But even with all this happening, venture capitalist Tim Draper, one of Holmes' earliest investors, passionately defended her in 2016 when he spoke to ABC News Chief Business, Technology and Economics Correspondent, and host of "The Dropout," Rebecca Jarvis. There's no perfect answer," Coopersmith said, "I think, eventually, the company would have been a great success if it had been allowed to run.". Robertson eventually become a director on the board of Theranos, claiming he admired her "vision" even though it was purely theoretical. ", "That's not what is going on here," he continued. Balwani was questioned over the accuracy of that statement during his 2017 deposition with SEC attorneys. O est Channing Robertson de Theranos maintenant? - Netflix News During her deposition, the SEC interrogated her on the dramatic claims she had allegedly made to investors, Walgreens and Theranos' board members, including claims that Theranos devices were being used by hospitals and the military in active combat zones. Kathrein pointed out that Holmes paid Robertson, who served as a board member, more money than any other Theranos employee. According to lawyer Reed Kathrein, who sued Theranos on behalf of some of its former investors, the company only paid Robertson to lend itself credibility.[8]. But pretty blonde girl got the blood flowing flowing away from the brain so anything she pitched would be workable. This award is given in honor of Professor Robertson, and recognizes one or more outstanding juniors majoring in Chemical Engineering. Walgreens and Theranos settled for an undisclosed sum with no finding or admission of liability. "When CMS came in, in 2015, in the harsh light of the spotlight that had been shown on Theranos, they found some deficiencies. Coopersmith said if he had to give Balwani a grade for the job he did at Theranos, he "would give him an A -plus for dedication and effort. Your source for entertainment news, celebrities, celeb news, and celebrity gossip. But she didn't admit any wrongdoing. Did you agree with Sunny's assessment in November of 2014 that Walgreens was terrible? What do you think is going to happen to it? [7] Even as Theranos was coming under growing scrutiny, as of May 2018, Robertson still believed the company was successful in developing novel blood testing technology. "The Dropout" is a six-part series on the rise and fall of former Silicon Valley darling Elizabeth Holmes and her company Theranos. Posted by 1 hour ago. A former employee told Carreyrou that when he was interviewing at Theranos in 2011 and asked about the role of the board, Holmes replied the board's role was as a placeholder. ", SEC Attorney: "Were you aware that this article was included in binders of materials that Theranos sent to other investors?". Though she only worked at the company for seven months in 2013, Cheung admitted to being "completely infatuated" with the idea of Holmes before working at Theranos on The Dropout podcast. The Dropout follows Elizabeth Holmes (Amanda Seyfried) as she drops out of Stanford and forms her own biotech company, Theranos. "He said, 'What makes you think that we have problems? It was her advisor and dean at the School of Engineering, Channing Robertson, who first supported her vision of a less bloody medical future. 'People wanted to believe': reporter who exposed Theranos on Elizabeth Craig said the only way Holmes wouldn't remember what she meant that day in her text exchange with Balwani would be if "she had serious head trauma. Fame is a rare thing for a chemical engineer, but Channing Robertsons exalted reputation in the fields of medicine, law and engineering is about as close as it comes. But during her SEC deposition, Holmes claimed she didn't remember that. Presently, Robertson works as an emeritus professor at Stanford and recently taught a course about Busting Energy Myths at the prestigious college. Mr. Holmes had a distinguished career in public service, holding a number of senior government positions in Washington. approval. United States, Your source for the latest from the School of Engineering. "As it turned out, a lot of the reporting in The Wall Street Journal, it turned out to be completely false.". "She knew what was going on," Kathrein told Jarvis on "The Dropout." Long one of the university's most popular teachers, Robertson is also a Bass University Fellow in Undergraduate Education and in 2009 was awarded the Lloyd W. Dinkelspiel Award for Distinctive Contributions to Undergraduate Education. Ms. Holmes convinced her parents that her tuition money was better spent on starting a company. The couple split in 2016, with Holmes firing Balwani, and later detailing the breakup in her deposition, which was obtained by The Dropout. It is written and produced by Jarvis, Taylor Dunn and Victoria Thompson. The Ruth G. and William K. Bowes Professor in the School of Engineering, Emeritus. ", Coopersmith's response to the misleading marketing campaign was that "it never said that's the only way it would go.". In 2012, Theranos representatives visited Fort Detrick in Maryland. Former Theranos employee Erika Cheung is seen here during an ABC News interview. Another board member with a sterling reputation was Channing Robertson, the associate dean of Stanford's School of Engineering. He earned his career prior to Thernos that should not be taken away. Now the company must get approval for all of its equipment including the devices that are used to analyze and perform tests as well as its so-called nanotainers that are used to collect blood from finger pricks. "I just have to laugh -- like, this is somebody who definitely was not uninformed in the company," Craig told Jarvis on "The Dropout.". Youll get the best publicity youve ever had. And, in fact, Ms. Holmes appeared on any number of glossy magazine covers, including T: The New York Times Style Magazine. ", "British head scientist at US maverick's Silicon Valley start-up took own life over 'unworkable' technology", "Theranos just made another major leadership change", "When Theranos' remarkable blood-test claims began to unravel", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Channing_Robertson&oldid=1088445484, This page was last edited on 18 May 2022, at 01:52. In short order, Theranos raised more than $400 million, giving it, at one point, a valuation of $9 billion. "Nicotine's a base molecule, like caffeine in coffee," Robertson recalls replying. I don't remember my text exchanges with Sunny from years ago. Channing Robertson | Chemical Engineering "So it was a big relief once the company went under that we did come out of this OK and it didn't damage our careers. 'The Dropout': Where is Theranos' Board Member 'Channing Robertson' Now