Our Leadership

Michael Willoughby is a seasoned veteran in the laboratory sector. He started his career as a Laboratory Tech and Histologist in Nacogdoches Texas where he double majored in Nursing and Medical Technology at Stephen F. Austin. Before and during college Michael served in the armed forces as an Army Combat Medic. 

After college Michael moved to Houston in 1991. There he established a small placement firm of Histologists throughout the Texas Medical Center (TMC). While building relationships in the TMC, Michael formed a solid foundation of healthcare knowledge through partnerships with the likes of MD Anderson, The DeBakey Heart Center, Baylor College of Medicine, and both Methodist and Memorial Healthcare systems.

In 1994 Michael was approached by the senior leadership team of Clinical Pathology Laboratories to help scale the company beyond the Austin borders. To make a long story short, he spent the first 10 years building business units throughout the Southwest and the second ten years as CPL’s Senior Vice President overseeing Operations and Commercial Services from the corporate offices in Austin Texas. During that time, he was successful in creating high throughput service units, created a very successful sales division, presented multiple acquisition opportunities, and lead a key role in fostering the culture of what was set by the founders of the company. CPL was ultimately purchased by Sonic Healthcare and is still one of the great success stories in the laboratory sector today.

Although many thanks were given to the folks at CPL, now Sonic Healthcare, Michael chose to leave the company in 2014 to explore global opportunities beyond the Southwest area of the country. Over the past 36 months, Michael has consulted for several laboratory companies such as Cardio Vascular Biomarker Labs, Non-Invasive Prenatal Testing Labs, and private labs looking to reorganize or develop a commercial sales force. Not to mention co-founding a new patient access service called Iggbo (an Uber like blood drawing service). All along he knew his next stop would be with a company that was innovative, service related, and had the opportunity to make a difference in people’s health.

Dr. Kendal Stewart is one of the founders and serves as the Medical Director for GX Sciences. He’s also a member of the American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine. In addition, he founded and serves as Chairman for the Neurosensory Centers of America. Dr. Stewart graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a BA in Biology with Honors as well as a minor in Chemistry. He graduated with a Medical Doctorate from the University of Texas Medical School, where he also received a Distinguished Student of Clinical Medicine Award for the class of 1988. He served as a biomedical research assistant under Takahashi Yamora, PhD, in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at MD Anderson Cancer Institute. There, he researched biochemical analysis of surface protein markers in colorectal cancers. Dr. Stewart completed his residency at University of Texas Houston Affiliated Hospitals and MD Anderson Cancer Institute. During his residency, he received multiple awards, including the Outstanding Clinical Resident Teaching Award in 1993 and the Outstanding Resident Research Award & Scholarship from the Texas Medical Association/Texas Association of Otolaryngology in 1992. He was explicitly selected for a highly sought-after Fellowship in Otology and Neurotology – Skull Base Surgery at Baylor University Center in Dallas. During this time, he also served as a Clinical Adjunctive Professor. Dr. Kendal Stewart is a Board-Certified Otolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery specialist and has sub-specialty training in Otology and Neurotology – Skull Base Surgery. He served as a Clinical Associate Professor at the University of Texas Medical School at San Antonio’s Department of Otolaryngology from 1994 to 1996. He’s been tapped to speak at national conferences over 40 times as a result of his expertise. Additionally, Dr. Stewart has volunteered his time for numerous academic pursuits, including assisting in designing Masters and Doctorate candidate projects for the University of Texas Department of Kinesiology, Psychology, and Speech and Language Development, as well as assembling a patient database for these efforts. He has also participated in two doctoral candidate review boards at the University of Texas. Dr. Stewart’s medical practice in Austin, Texas is highly sought after by patients from across the globe. Providers worldwide come to his clinic to train with Dr. Stewart and learn his protocols. He also has a successful radio show with his sister, Kara Stewart-Mullens of Neurobiologix, called “Coffee With Dr. Stewart”. With an extremely busy practice and overseeing the development of nutritional formulas and genetic testing for GX Sciences, Dr. Stewart still makes time for his family of four children and wife of 15+ years. Dr. Stewart’s family and faith in God is what he says is essential to his success.

Dr. Jim W. Jacobson has over 30 years of experience in research, development, and commercialization of research and medical products and services. He previously served as Laboratory Director for SpectraCell Laboratories, PHDx Inc., and Biophysical Corporation – high-complexity, CLIA-accredited laboratories – in Austin and Houston, Texas. He was at Luminex Corporation in Austin for ten years in a variety of positions including Chief Scientific Officer, where he founded and chaired the Luminex Scientific Advisory Board, directed external research collaborations with key academic and industry thought leaders, established an external content licensing program, and directed strategic initiatives in personalized medicine and biomarker development. Dr. Jacobson is an inventor on five patents and is the author of publications in genetics, molecular biology, medical devices, and laboratory science.

Dr. Jacobson has a Ph.D. in Population Biology (Genetics) from Washington University in Saint Louis and completed postdoctoral training at North Carolina State University and Duke University. He was also a faculty member in the Department of Biology at the University of Houston.

Lauri Armstrong started in the health industry in 1983 at a health food store, and 1 year later added teaching high impact aerobics. She received her bachelor’s degree in Dietetics from Texas Women’s University and spent over a decade helping people achieve their health and fitness goals. Lauri’s interest began to change to focus more on nutritional biochemistry, and then learned of the newly emerging field of Nutrigenomics. After earning a Masters Degree in Human Nutrition and Functional Medicine, an opportunity to work in the field presented itself and she jumped right in. Along the way, she was fortunate enough to attend a convention where she first heard GX Sciences founder Dr. Kendal Stewart lecture and was fascinated with his knowledge and simplified way of presenting complex information.