Jeffrey N. Peterson
Chairman of the Board
Mr. Jeffrey N. Peterson has served as a director of the Company since July 2011 and as Chairman of the Board starting in 2012. Since 1999, he has served as the chief executive officer of Target Discovery, Inc. ("TDI"), a personalized medicine diagnostics (PMDx) company. Mr. Peterson also serves as Chairman of TDI's majority-owned subsidiary, Veritomyx, Inc., which is completing development and commercialization of software tools for accurate peptide, protein and isoform identification and characterization. Prior to incorporating and joining TDI, Mr. Peterson served as CEO of Sharpe, Peterson, Ocheltree & Associates, an international business development consulting firm assisting Fortune 500 and many smaller firms in business expansion and strategy. Prior to that, he spent 9 years in key management roles in Abbott Laboratories' Diagnostics and International (Pharmaceuticals, Hospital Products, Nutritionals, and Consumer) businesses, last serving as CEO and General Manager of Abbott South Africa. Mr. Peterson's experience prior to Abbott Laboratories included 11 years with General Electric's Engineered Materials and Plastics businesses, spanning roles in strategic planning, business development, technology licensing, marketing and sales, operations, quality control and R&D. Mr. Peterson holds BSChE and MSChE (Chemical Engineering) degrees from MIT, as well as 6 issued US and many related international patents, and has authored articles in peer-reviewed scientific journals. Mr. Peterson is Chair Emeritus of the BayBio Institute, a non-profit organization serving the regional life science community. He served for 12 years on the Board of BayBio, the trade association for the life sciences industry in Northern California. He was a cofounder of the Coalition for 21st Century Medicine, and of BIO's Personalized Medicine & Diagnostics Working Group, and served on the board of Advisors for the Center for Professional Development and Entrepreneurship at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Mr. Peterson has lived and worked overseas for 18 years, in the Middle East, Europe and Africa, and is Chair Emeritus of the American International School of Johannesburg.
Richard T. Schumacher
President, Chief Executive Officer and Director
Mr. Richard T. Schumacher, the founder of our Company, has served as a director of Pressure BioSciences since the formation of its legacy business, Boston Biomedica, Inc., in 1978. He has served as CEO of Pressure BioSciences since April 2004 and President since September, 2004. He previously served as CEO and Chairman of the Board of Boston Biomedica from 1992 to February, 2003 and as President from 1986 to August 1999. Mr. Schumacher served as the Director of Infectious Disease Services for Clinical Sciences Laboratory, a New England-based medical reference laboratory, from 1986 to 1988. From 1972 to 1985, Mr. Schumacher was employed by the Center for Blood Research, a nonprofit medical research institute associated with Harvard Medical School. Mr. Schumacher received a BS in Zoology from the University of New Hampshire.
Michael S. Urdea
Director
Dr. Michael S. "Mickey" Urdea has served as a director of the Company since February 8, 2013. Dr. Urdea is a Founder and Partner for Halteres Associates, a biotechnology consulting firm since June 2011. He also founded and served as Chief Executive Officer of Tethys Bioscience, a proteomics-based diagnostics company involved in preventative personalized medicine. Additionally, Dr. Urdea is a founder and the Chairman of Catalysis Foundation for Health, an organization addressing gaps in global healthcare caused by inefficiencies in disease diagnosis and monitoring. He serves as an expert consultant to the life sciences industry and is on the scientific advisory boards and boards of directors of a number of biotechnology, diagnostics, venture capital and philanthropic organizations. Prior to his current business activities, Dr. Urdea founded the Nucleic Acid Diagnostics group at Chiron Corporation, and with colleagues, invented branched DNA molecules for amplification of signal in nucleic acid complexes. Application of this technology resulted in the first commercial products for quantification of human hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and human immunodeficiency viruses (HBV, HCV and HIV, respectively). He then became business head of the Molecular Diagnostics group and Chief Scientific Officer at Bayer Diagnostics. He continues to serve as a diagnostics industry, product development and scientific advisor to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, acted as co-chair of two of the Grand Challenges grant review committees, and served as a member of its Diagnostic Forum. Dr. Urdea is an author on nearly 200 peer-reviewed scientific publications, nearly 300 abstracts and international scientific presentations, and more than 100 issued and pending patents. He received his BS in Biology and Chemistry from Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff and his Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Washington State University.