Ceramisphere

After graduating from Sydney University in Mechanical Engineering, Stephen worked for Ricegrowers Co-operative Mills where he led a number of successful projects involving process design and development. As Operations Manager with this organisation, he also instigated major organisational changes that resulted in significant improvements in productivity and profitability. For the past 24 years, Stephen has been responsible for establishing, developing and managing two highly successful business ventures that resulted in the development of a range of innovative functional food products and processes. Both businesses were eventually divested after unsolicited approaches by major players in the food industry. The key skills that Stephen brings to Ceramisphere as its Chairman and majority shareholder, include process and product development, process scale-up, business development, product marketing, and experience in commercial negotiations. He also has extensive experience in the successful commercialization of technology.

Phil has spent the past 40 years in a variety of roles, in a number of different businesses, and in all these roles he has been directly involved in the development and commercialization of technology. He has previously held a number of senior and executive positions in BP, Hoechst, CRA (Rio Tinto), Biotech Australia, TECRA International and Biotrace (a UK listed company) and has experience in R&D management, process development, scale-up, IP management, market research, international marketing, distribution, licensing, acquisitions, divestments and capital raising.

Chris is the original inventor of the Ceramisphere technology. He holds a PhD in Materials Science from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL) in Lausanne and spent several years at Dupont Central Research in the USA developing KTP nonlinear optical sol-gel films and novel sol-gel chemistries for the production of enzymatic sensors. As the author of more than 70 publications and 8 patents, Chris is an internationally recognised expert in the field of Sol-Gel chemistry, the principles of which were applied to the development of the Ceramisphere technology. Chris is a member of the Materials Research Society, the Controlled Release Society and President of the International Sol-Gel Society.

Kim Finnie completed a PhD at the Research School of Chemistry, Australian National University, in 1991. After working in materials synthesis and characterisation, Kim began using sol-gel chemistry in 1993. Kim’s expertise includes extensive knowledge of nanostructured materials, thin film deposition and characterisation, and immobilisation techniques, in particular, immobilisation of biological materials. Kim is the author of 40 scientific publications and four patents. She is also a member of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute and the Controlled Release Society.

Toby is leading the company’s Healthcare R&D program that currently has emphasis on the use of Ceramisphere’s technology for the delivery of RNA. Toby has previously worked for Johnson & Johnson, where he led a commercial research team developing high-throughput screening systems for identification of novel therapeutic agents. He has also developed and patented three RNA-based gene suppression technologies and has experience in the coordination of an international research collaboration. More recently, he has worked as a Visiting Fellow at the Centre for Biochemical Engineering and Biotechnology at the Universidad de Chile. Toby was awarded a First-Class Honours degree in Pharmacology and a PhD, both from the University of New South Wales. He is the author of 13 peer-reviewed publications.