Colorado BioScience Association Names Steve Orndorff Board Chair & Appoints Four New Board Members

DENVER, CO, April 10, 2011

Steve Orndorff, Ph.D., CEO of Ariel Pharmaceuticals, was named chairperson of the board of directors for the Colorado BioScience Association (CBSA) at its 2011 Annual All-Member meeting held at the Colorado National Golf Club facilities in Erie, CO, yesterday. The announcement is made by Holli Baumunk, CBSA President & CEO, who says Orndorff assumes chairperson responsibilities from Rick Jory, CEO of Sandhill Scientific, Highlands Ranch.

Dr. Orndorff, a serial entrepreneur with 30 years experience in the biotechnology industry, leads Ariel Pharmaceuticals, a startup specialty pharmaceutical company focused on orphan diseases and acute medical conditions of neurological origin. He is also the former founder, President and CEO of Accera, Inc. and President and CEO of Univera Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a drug discovery company focused on diseases of inflammation and the immune response.

During his career, Dr. Orndorff has had responsibility in a broad array of disciplines such as basic research, manufacturing, product development and business development at various biotechnology companies including Genex Corporation, NutraSweet, Inc. and ZeaGen, Inc. He is a past President of the Society for Industrial Microbiology and a founding board member of the CBSA. He received a Bachelor's Degree in Biology from Virginia Tech and a Ph.D. in microbiology from University of Maryland.

Joining Dr. Orndorff on the CBSA Board officer team will be newly appointed vice chairperson Derek Cole, Vice President, Investor Relations, ARCA Biopharma. Treasurer Norwood Robb, Denver School of Science and Technology, and Secretary Linda Pryor, Pfizer, Inc., will both be continuing as officers. In other action, four new board members were approved by the CBSA membership.

Newly appointed CBSA board members include:
* Jeff Castleberry, COO, EndoShape, Inc.
* Joe Guiles, Ph.D., Executive Director, MicroRx, CSU Ventures
* Scott Hutton, Sr. Director of Global Marketing, Medtronic Navigation
* David Mitchell, Executive Director, Plant Manager, Merck & Co., Inc.

Reappointments of CBSA board members include:
* John Dunning, President & CEO, Clairmedix, Inc.
* Rick Jory, President & CEO, Sandhill Scientific, Inc.
* Ruth Lytle-Barnaby, Executive Director, Poudre Valley Health System Community and Foundation Development
* Will Vaughn, Ph.D., Director of Technology Transfer, Colorado School of Mines
* Michael Weiner, Partner, Dorsey & Whitney
* Jim Wilson, Senior Audit Manager, Ernst & Young

The CBSA's 2011 association sponsors include:

Titanium - Boettcher Foundation, Colorado Science + Technology Park at Fitzsimons, Colorado State University and Johnson & Johnson

Platinum - Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade, University of Colorado, Cooley, Ernst & Young, Merck, Metro Denver Economic Development Corporation, Polsinelli Shughart and PhRMA

Gold - Amgen, Dorsey & Whitney, LABS Inc., Pfizer and Snell & Wilmer

Silver - CaridianBCT, Faegre & Benson, Holland & Hart, Roche Colorado and Southeast Business Partnership

Bronze - Baxa, Corporex, EideBailly, Fairfield and Woods, SomaLogic and UMB

About the Colorado Bioscience Association

The CBSA is a not-for-profit corporation providing services and support for Colorado's growing biosciences industry. With more than 350 members, CBSA actively works to promote the growth of the industry by working for a better business environment, grow the state's biotech workforce, fight for policies that support a strong bioscience industry in the state and speak with a single voice on behalf of the industry. For more information, visit http://www.cobioscience.com.
 
CBSA also is found on these social media sites:
Twitter: http://twitter.com/COBioscience
LinkedIn Group: http://www.linkedin.com/groups?about=&gid=98468&trk=anet_ug_grppro
Facebook Fan Page: http://www.facebook.com/ColoradoBioScienceAssociation
YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/COBioscience
 
Contacts:

Mae Desaire, Director of Marketing, Colorado BioScience Association - http://www.cobioscience.com - 720-382-5918, mdesaire@cobioscience.com

Maggie Chamberlin Holben, APR, Absolutely PR - http://www.absolutelypr.com - 303-984-9801, maggie@absolutelypr.com

More About Absolutely PR

Absolutely Public Relations specializes in media relations, the strategies and tactics necessary to achieve impactful editorial placements in the national, trade press and local media. Maggie Chamberlin Holben, owner, is accredited by the Public Relations Society of America and is a member of its Counselors Academy.  In addition, Holben is now certified as an industry analyst relations practitioner. Holben brings more than 25 years experience to her clients and is frequently interviewed by the media as a Public Relations Expert.  The ideal client for Absolutely PR has an interesting story to tell, executive commitment to and understanding of PR, and plenty of news hooks.  You can learn about news hooks at the website http://www.AbsolutelyPR.com. Absolutely PR also offers http://www.PublicRelationsNewsroom.com, http://www.DenverPRNewsroom.com and http://www.Expert411.com to help clients achieve media awareness success.  

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