Podcast Summary: The Unshakeables

Episode: The Business of Early Detection: Breath Diagnostics

Date: February 24, 2026

Hosts: Ben Walter (CEO, Chase for Business) & Kathleen Griffith

Special Guests: Dr. Victor Van Berkel (University of Louisville), Ivan Lowe (CEO, Breath Diagnostics)

Overview

This episode explores the remarkable story of Breath Diagnostics, a Kentucky-based startup aiming to revolutionize early detection of lung cancer and other diseases using breath analysis. Host Ben Walter, co-host Kathleen Griffith, Dr. Victor Van Berkel (founder and thoracic surgeon), and Ivan Lowe (CEO) discuss the scientific innovation, personal motivations, business pitfalls, and high-stakes decisions involved in bringing breath-based diagnostics to market.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Problem: Late Detection of Lung Cancer

• Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths in the U.S.—more than colon, breast, and prostate cancer combined—mainly because it's often detected too late.

  • Ben Walter [00:07]: "It often grows silently without symptoms. And by the time it's finally detected, it can be too late."

• Personal stories highlight the tragedy of late diagnoses.

  • Dr. Van Berkel [00:24]: "My dad died of lung cancer... we thought he was having a stroke."
    (His father's diagnosis happened only after cancer had spread to the brain.)

Scientific Innovation: Breath Diagnostics

• Idea: A breath test could detect biomarkers for diseases, using technology similar to a breathalyzer but aimed at cancer and inflammation markers.

  • Dr. Van Berkel [06:05]: "A breath test. And that's not to be confused with a breathalyzer test... There’s a lot of diagnostic information that's available there, if you can just trap those chemicals and see what they are."

• Challenge: Breath contains hundreds of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which are unstable and react easily, making isolation and analysis difficult.

  • The team developed a system to trap and stabilize these chemicals on a microchip and analyze them using a mass spectrometer.

• Significance: Their breath test achieved promising sensitivity and specificity for lung cancer detection.

  • Dr. Van Berkel [07:27]: "We found that with this breath test, we had a really good sensitivity and specificity."

Business Growing Pains: Founders vs. Business Leadership

• Company founded by scientists, not entrepreneurs.

  • Dr. Van Berkel [01:16]: "The people who started this company were me, another thoracic surgeon, the chemist, and the chemical engineer."
  • Dr. Van Berkel [04:29]: "I like thinking about bigger picture problems... Truth with a capital T."

• Early leadership difficulties:

  • Securing IP and patents went well, but business momentum stalled.
  • Debt and poor structure made future financing hard.

The Turnaround: Ivan Lowe Joins as CEO

• Ivan's motivation: Personal loss from lung cancer – both his and Dr. Van Berkel’s fathers died of the disease.

  • Ivan Lowe [14:20]: "My dad was diagnosed with lung cancer... the more I realized that this company solved a lot of the challenges that the breath diagnostics world were facing."

• Restructuring: Ivan personally invested millions to pay company debt and convert that debt to equity, enabling fresh investment.

  • Ivan Lowe [15:41]: "That's exactly what we did... I haven't [taken a salary] for the last two years. And the whole point...let’s get this company commercialized."

• Navigating legacy leadership and technical pivot:

  • Chose to back a new-generation microchip recommended by researchers, discarding years of work on the previous model.
  • Ivan Lowe [17:08]: "...all the new papers that the university is coming out with, using our technology, rely on the new chip...And that was probably one of the oh, shit moments, because now the last three years...all that work is down the drain."

Key Business Decisions & Partnerships

• Internalization of Analysis:

  • Bought a mass spectrometer for nearly $1 million, rather than relying on third-party labs or the Mayo Clinic, which both sped up development and reduced variability but was a high-risk move.
  • Ivan Lowe [21:09]: "We bought one anyway. And I can tell you we have made more progress...in two weeks than we did in the entirety of the company."

• Partnerships:

  • Initial collaboration with Mayo Clinic lent credibility, but inconsistent data led to pausing the relationship to focus on building in-house capability.
  • Ben Walter [24:47]: "That was a gutsy decision. That was them betting on themselves and their idea, which I give them a lot of credit for."

The Technology’s Promise: More Than Lung Cancer

• Platform approach—could screen for pneumonia risk in post-surgical patients, plus other inflammation-related diseases.

  • Ivan Lowe [21:58]: "The ability to predict pneumonia in post op cardiac surgery patients...now, if we can predict it, we can pre-treat it and arguably prevent a lot of those issues."

• Vision for the future:

  • Routine, non-invasive, clinic-based breath tests, potentially transforming diagnostics across medicine.
  • Ivan Lowe [22:25]: "Within five years...everybody at a clinic will walk into their doctor’s office, take a breath test, get baseline levels...and every six months or every year, take another one."

Reflections on Startups and Risk

• Breath Diagnostics made several "bet the company" decisions, trading credibility (with partners like Mayo) for speed and control—an instructive lesson for other entrepreneurs.

  • Ben Walter [25:19]: "If you own a business, there might come these times where you have to make a decision. Is this a bet the company moment? Because it was."

• Critical business advice from Ivan:

  • Ivan Lowe [27:52]: "Be very deliberate about your fundamentals early because they can compound faster than momentum itself. So don't skip structure at the beginning of the company."
  • The goal is to build durable, investable structures rather than optimizing for founder control.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

On Why Early Detection Matters

"Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths in the US... It often grows silently without symptoms. And by the time it's finally detected, it can be too late."
— Ben Walter [00:07]

On Personal Motivation

"My dad died of lung cancer... So we thought he was having a stroke."
— Dr. Victor Van Berkel [00:24]

"My dad was diagnosed with lung cancer and he beat it the first time... Eventually, when he caught it the second time... it was too late."
— Ivan Lowe [14:20]

On Scientific Ambition

"I like thinking about bigger picture problems and trying to find truth with a capital T."
— Dr. Victor Van Berkel [04:29]

On Business Challenges

"We had no idea what we were doing from a business standpoint."
— Dr. Victor Van Berkel [07:44]

"I just felt a calling to fix it because the technology was amazing. They just were missing a few components within that."
— Ivan Lowe [15:02]

"I've never financed a company and have the company be upset with the financing."
— Ivan Lowe [16:16]

On High-Risk, High-Reward Moves

"We bought one [mass spectrometer] anyway. And I can tell you we have made more progress on the analytical method development side in two weeks than we did in the entirety of the company."
— Ivan Lowe [21:09]

"That was a gutsy decision. That was them betting on themselves and their idea."
— Ben Walter [24:47]

On Advice for Entrepreneurs

"Be very deliberate about your fundamentals early because they can compound faster than momentum itself... the goal is not to protect control, is to build something durable with the right partners."
— Ivan Lowe [27:52]

Important Timestamps

• 00:07 — Introduction to the problem: silent progression of lung cancer
• 00:24 — Dr. Van Berkel’s personal story
• 03:27 — Why Kentucky is a lung cancer innovation hub
• 05:22 - 07:34 — Limitations of current lung cancer screening and advantages of breath tests
• 09:14 — Introduction of Ivan Lowe, CEO
• 14:20 — Ivan’s personal connection to lung cancer
• 15:02–16:08 — Ivan’s intervention: restructuring the company
• 17:08 — Shifting technology focus (microchip decision)
• 19:34 — Partnership with Mayo Clinic and why it paused
• 21:09 — Investing in a mass spectrometer for in-house development
• 21:58 — Expanding the diagnostic platform to other diseases
• 25:19 — The 'bet the company' moment and what it means for entrepreneurs
• 27:52 — Ivan’s business advice for founders

Conclusions and Takeaways

• Breath Diagnostics’ journey underscores the complexity and high stakes of combining world-changing scientific innovation with the realities of the startup business world.
• Early structural missteps can cripple even great technology, while the right leadership can turn a company around—often through personal risk and tough pivot decisions.
• The episode emphasizes the importance of strong fundamentals, deliberate structure, and being willing to "bet the company" when the vision is worth it.
• Most importantly, the hope remains that accessible, accurate, non-invasive breath testing could transform medicine and save countless lives.