MORGANTOWN, W. Va., Feb. 6, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Protea Biosciences Group, Inc. ("Protea"), a leader in the field of bioanalytics, announced today that Thijs Spoor and Josiah T. Austin have been appointed to the company's Board of Directors.
"We are delighted to welcome Thijs Spoor and Josiah Austin to our Board. Both men bring important skill sets and a wealth of experience to our company," stated Stephen Turner, Protea's CEO. "Their knowledge and relationships within the Biotech and Financial communities will help accelerate Protea's growth and development."
Thijs Spoor is currently Chairman of the Board, CEO & President of FluoroPharma Medical, Inc. (OTCQB:FPMI). Mr. Spoor previously held the title of CFO for Sunstone BioSciences and worked as a strategy consultant at Oliver Wyman focusing on helping pharmaceutical and medical device companies. Mr. Spoor has also been an equity research analyst at J.P. Morgan and Credit Suisse covering the Biotechnology and Medical Device industries. Mr. Spoor has also worked in the pharmaceutical industry spending 10 years with Amersham / GE Healthcare where he held various operating and strategy roles.
Mr. Spoor holds a Nuclear Pharmacy degree from the University of Toronto as well as an M.B.A. from Columbia University with concentrations in finance and accounting. Mr. Spoor has been a guest lecturer at Columbia Business School, Kings College in London and the University of Newcastle in Australia.
Josiah T. Austin is currently the managing member of El Coronado Holdings, L.L.C., a privately owned investment holding company, which invests in public and private companies. He and his family own and operate agricultural properties in the states of Arizona, Montana, and northern Sonora, Mexico through El Coronado Ranch & Cattle Company, L.L.C. and other entities.
Mr. Austin previously served on the Board of Directors of Monterey Bay Bancorp of Watsonville, California, and is a prior board member of New York Bancorp, Inc., and North Fork Bancorporation. He became a director of Goodrich Petroleum, Inc. in 2002 and was named to the Board of Directors of Novogen Limited in September 2010. Mr. Austin also serves as a trustee of the Cuenca Los Ojos Foundation Trust, a non-profit organization working to preserve and restore the biodiversity of the borderland region between the United States and Mexico through land protection, habitat restoration and wildlife reintroduction.
Mr. Austin graduated from the University of Denver with a Bachelor of Science in Finance in 1971.
About Protea Biosciences Group, Inc.
Protea is a leader in the field of bioanalytics – the identification and characterization of proteins, metabolites, lipids, and other biomolecules, which are the products of all living cells and life forms – technology that is foundational for all pharmaceutical and life science research.
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