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Board of Directors

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  Chris Vassiliou
  Chairman

  Chris Vassiliou has spent the last 30 years honing his ability to successfully manage, develop and turn-around companies. He has extensive international experience with projects in the US, Europe, Caribbean and the South Pacific.  As a CEO/COO/CFO, he has been involved in managing companies with revenue in excess of $100 million, early stage or start-ups and also corporate re-engineering projects as a consultant and executive director. His experience during these past years encompasses a wide range of industries such as: oil and gas, aquaculture, travel and leisure, retail-wholesaling, marine services, biotechnology, medical devices as well as computer hardware and software support services.  Originally from Zimbabwe, he emigrated to the USA in 1976 and finally Sydney in 2005. He holds a degree in finance/accounting from the University of Houston, Texas.

   

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  Ashok Dhanrajgir
  Director / Chief Executive Officer

  Ashok brings more than 17 years of international healthcare experience, focused primarily on Corporate & Business Development, Mergers & Acquisitions and Strategic Planning within leading multinational corporations where he was responsible for crafting the blueprints for growth and consummating a number of transformational deals.  Recent appointments include Vice President and Worldwide Head of Corporate & Business Development at MerckSerono; Senior Vice President and Worldwide Head of Strategic Planning, Business Development & Licensing at Novartis Consumer Health; Vice President and Head of Strategy and Business Development Europe at Baxter. Experience includes senior positions at Roche, Andersen Consulting and Rhone-Poulenc, with an MA in economics and an MBA from ESSEC.

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  Dr. Gunnar Weikert
  Director

  Gunnar has more than 10 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry as a senior vice president and global head for life science deals at Bayer AG. While at Bayer, he oversaw venture investments in technology companies and collaborations representing some of the biggest deals between big-pharma and biotechnology in the late 1990's. Gunnar holds an MD, a PhD in the field of metabolism from University of Düsseldorf, and an MBA.

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  Dr Andrew Kelly
  Director

  Dr Andrew Kelly is one of Australia-New Zealand’s experienced biotech investment managers.  He is a co-founder of BioPacificVentures, the $100 million venture capital fund specialising in health and wellness, including food & nutrition, health maintenance and the prevention and treatment of chronic disease.  The fund has completed 11 investments (to 2008) across Australia and New Zealand.  Prior to BioPacificVentures, Andrew managed seed funds in early stage technology development.  However, the first 20 years of Andrew’s career were in science.  This included Science General Manager at AgResearch New Zealand, Director of Rutherglen Research Institute in Victoria, Director of the Pastoral & Veterinary Institute in Victoria, and both MSc and PhD degrees in veterinary science.

   

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  Dr Ajai Puri
  Director

  Ajai Puri holds a Ph.D. in Food Science from the University of Maryland and an MBA from the Crummer Business School, Rollins College.  Ajai is a member of the Supervisory Board of Nutreco N.V., additionally he serves as an Independent Non-Executive Director on the Board of Britannia Industries Limited.  As Executive Board Member and President -Research, Development and Product Integrity at Royal Numico (2003 -07), Ajai was responsible for developing and implementing a highly successful science-driven, consumer-led R & D strategy in the areas of infant nutrition and medical nutrition. Ajai had a long career at The Minute Maid Company / The Coca-Cola Company in the US. During his 22 year career with the Company, he held  a variety of positions including that of Senior Vice President Technical (Science andTechnology). At Coca-Cola he was instrumental in developing the health and wellness beverage platform, central to juice beverages as carriers of nutrition.
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  Ross Dobinson
  Director

  Ross Dobinson has extensive corporate advisory and investment banking experience. Ross has also taken an entrepreneurial role in the commercialisation of technologies in a range of fields, including: agricultural science, pharmaceuticals, environmentally-friendly packaging, medical devices, drug delivery technology and nutriceuticals. Ross has experience in company formation, seed, mezzanine and IPO funding, specialising in the life sciences sector, where he has been a founding director, investor and executive of listed and unlisted companies.
  
  Ross has a Bachelor of Business Degree from Queensland University of Technology.