Thomas Mittelwerk, or Dr. Thomas Werner Mittelwerk, was the President and Chief Technologist of the Hanso Foundation. He was groomed by Alvar Hanso to be his successor but eventually overthrew him as the head of the Hanso Foundation. Through her research, protagonist Rachel Blake discovered that Mittelwerk has never obtained a degree at any institution in the world, making his "doctor" title a lie. Through further investigation, she discovered how Mittelwerk was now working in corrupt areas, such as organ harvesting, and how he was planning to test a deadly virus on villagers in Sri Lanka.