Biotech research For 30 years, Ian Gibbons worked on diagnostic and therapeutic products at technology companies. In the 1980s, he worked at a biotechnology firm called
Syva Company, where he produced groundbreaking research on
immunoassays. During his career, Gibbons was named on almost 200 patents. Gibbons was the first experienced scientist hired by the company, He initially served as the company's lab director and as director of product development. In 2007, Gibbons was diagnosed with
colon cancer. He underwent cancer treatments including
chemotherapy and multiple surgeries, and was absent for some time from Theranos during his recovery. Holmes' name appears on 19 patents related to Theranos which were authored by Gibbons. He worked on blood chemistry with Gary Frenzel between 2005 and 2010, when Gibbons led the division. As chief scientist, Gibbons often gave the staff informal lectures on biochemistry and the science of blood testing. Theranos' devices often became a source of frustration for Gibbons because they differed, sometimes significantly, from the benchmarks. His high standards became a source of disagreements with Theranos engineers and senior management. Senior management warned employees who questioned the accuracy of the technology. Holmes's practice of discouraging communication between departments also troubled Gibbons. Gibbons knew of Holmes's falsehoods to employees and outsiders about Theranos' technology and readiness, as well as false demonstrations to clients; and he no longer trusted Holmes. He continued, however, to struggle to make the flawed Theranos technology meet the company's expectations. After being demoted, Gibbons continued working with Paul Patel, his successor at Theranos. Gibbons attempted to fix the technology to match the grandiose claims made by Holmes and Theranos staff but his efforts were unsuccessful. When Gibbons attempted to alert Theranos executives the technology did not work, his colleagues bullied and humiliated Gibbons for trying to speak out. In 2006, Gibbons told Holmes the blood testing Theranos had developed was not yet fit for use by members of the public, and that their proprietary technology was not accurate. In late 2010, Gibbons told his friend and trusted colleague Channing Robertson about his concerns about misrepresentations made by Theranos about the effectiveness of its technology. Robertson alerted Holmes of Gibbons' complaints and frustrations, and Gibbons was dismissed from the company. Several of Gibbons' colleagues lobbied on his behalf, and he was quickly rehired with reduced responsibilities as a technical consultant to the chemistry group he had formerly headed. After Fuisz studied publicly available patent information about Theranos' technology, he filed his own patent for a physician-alert mechanism that could be embedded in a testing device, which he identified was not covered by any Theranos patents. Without owning this patent, Theranos would have needed a license from Fuisz's patent to cover physician/patient alerts – a desirable feature in a medical analyzer. When Theranos discovered Fuisz had filed his patent, it responded by filing a lawsuit for patent theft alleging Fuisz had misused Theranos' existing patent technology. He wanted to avoid being deposed because he was afraid his job depended on his testimony. Rochelle Gibbons assessed his state of mind towards the end of his time at Theranos: "It was hell for him to work there. It was complete hell. I think that he was very confused about why he was being treated so badly." She said Ian felt humiliated to be associated with the company's scientific failures. He felt pressured by Theranos to lie about the state of the company's research. Rochelle believed if he told the truth, he would lose his job, and have limited future job prospects due to his age. Ian felt he was in a no-win scenario; by not speaking out, he thought, he would be hurting the general populace, but if he agreed to speak the truth, he would hurt his colleagues. ==Death and Theranos response==