Robert Schultz on The Future of Allergy Testing: Accurate, Accessible, Affordable
5 min readIntroduction According to the National Institutes of Health, over 220 million people worldwide suffer from some kind of food allergy. […]
5 min readIntroduction According to the National Institutes of Health, over 220 million people worldwide suffer from some kind of food allergy. […]
Dr. Jay L. Gruhlkey is Co-Founder and Chief Medical Officer of Direct Allergy, LLC, and a practicing physician in New Braunfels, TX. Widely respected in Allergy and Immunology, he has served as Past-President of the Pan American Allergy Society and has trained thousands of doctors nationwide in allergy testing and treatment through the National Procedure Institute.
Dr. Gruhlkey began his medical career after earning a B.S. in Chemistry from Texas A&M University and an M.D. from The University of Texas Health Science Center–Houston. He completed his Family Medicine residency at Southwest Memorial Hospital, where he was Chief Resident. His contributions to medicine have been recognized with the Mead Johnson Award for Graduate Medical Education and the AMA Foundation Leadership Award. In addition to clinical practice, he consults on medical and legal matters and serves on several healthcare boards.
Robert Schultz is an accomplished executive, cross-industry leader, and market disruptor with over 3 decades of national award-winning achievements within both Field Sales & Field Sales Management across Fortune 100 companies and emerging healthcare ventures. With over 30 years of experience spanning two major industries—pharmaceuticals (ie. Johnson & Johnson, Eli Lilly, GSK-Reliant) and automotive manufacturing (Ford Motor Company)—Robert brings a unique, cross-disciplinary perspective to healthcare innovation.
Robert began his career in 1987 at Ford Motor Company’s World Headquarters and ended it in Cleveland, OH. He enjoyed four promotions in only four years’ time. He then transitioned to the pharmaceutical industry for a 2-decade cycle with heavy developmental movement with major players like Johnson & Johnson, Eli Lilly, GSK, and Daiichi-Sankyo. His roles included Regional Business Manager, Manager, Research & Consulting, District Sales Manager, Assoc. Manager, Managed Care Analyst, Assoc. Manager, Neuroscience & PCP Training & Development, Corporate Auditor, Managed Care. In 2011, with the backing of Ben Franklin Technology Partners & his old employer’s Co-Founder (GSK-Reliant), Schultz co-founded and became CEO of Direct Allergy, LLC, where he has transformed a once-fragmented sector into a scalable, patient-focused allergy care platform geared for the large primary care health networks that are now housed within the large healthcare systems (IDNs) nationwide. He led the development and commercialization of the Direct Allergy (DA) service model, navigating regulatory hurdles, the pandemic-era, and the capital markets crisis. The DA service model has been pressure tested across seven states and 52 + clinical sites, and the company is debt-free. His commitment to strategic execution, academic collaboration, and community goodwill earned the company the Corporate Partner of the Year Award from Penn State University (Erie Campus) in 2021. Today, with the Black Swan events behind and proof of concept successfully complete, Robert, along with the Direct Allergy Board of Managers, have the company positioned for a positive transition for next level funding.