I have been appointed to the Board of a small mining company in Perth- Explore Mining- that operates exploration activities in Africa primarily for copper. This is very exciting as the company has raised some capital, which I have been helpful in many ways including writing and designing all investment documents and shareholder information updates. Funds have been used to find suitable tenements in Africa and we have been successful in Zambia for a copper project. We have weekly Board meetings to progress the companies efforts that is now picking up very strong momentum with a pipeline of many other potential projects. Amongst all of the African countries, Zambia is well known for its relative ease of doing business.
The life sciences and healthcare organizations were my favorite to work with due to my biological sciences and medical imaging background, however I assisted in a wide array of industries such as aerospace, tertiary education, information technology and mining.
The challenge of learning some of the science of several companies was exhilarating. But the challenge exceeded just learning as I usually had to reformat / reprocess information that would be understood and importantly excite other scientists, including technical editors for key industry journals or news media to get them to respond in some way. It wasn’ t just news, it was preparing a value proposition of what this new science could mean to them. Similarly, this was the case when preparing documents for potential investors who needed to see where the science can essentially make a buck and when. Articulating this information in a plan, face to face or by teleconference together with a goal towards arranging some commercial license agreement was always the toughest and over the years I have been called on for such tasks. Fortunately, international travel requirements were manageable and I always had my camera available as I constantly searched for that right photograph at the right time. There were trips to London, USA and Asia and any trips out of Australia are usually very far with several times zones to negotiate.
To give you an idea of some of the life sciences technologies, beyond my Johnson & Johnson Ultrasound experiences, that I have worked on include: A new diagnostic test utilizing post magnetic resonance processing that physically maps the iron in the liver for a disease called hemochromatosis( iron overload); Discovering a new medicine for a third world plague called the“ Kissing Disease”; Supply of molecules used in quality control for manufacturing new medicines; A diagnostic test for determining which pain medication would work best and; A world leading genomics company that provides products and services for organ transplant markets( to determine the higher the likelihood of a successful transplant) and mutation detection for molecular pathologists( to diagnose a range of diseases).
Clearly the most electrifying work in Australia that I have been involved with has been with the small privately operated company Proteomics International where for four years I have been the Vice President of Marketing. During this time the company has made some very noteworthy discoveries and I have been instrumental in commercializing the molecules that were discovered. The industrial scale analysis of proteins( proteomics) uses complex and advanced scientific instrumentation( mass spectrometry) combined with high powered super computers. The discovery of new molecules called biomarkers in the blood has the potential to detect( diagnose) if kidney disease is present in a way better than existing methods as well as potentially predict the likelihood of getting the disease( prognosis) which is seen in around 35 % of diabetic patients worldwide. A further 10-20 % of patients then go on to receive dialysis treatment and many of these patients die.
BARRY STEVEN EPSTEIN- PhotoAutobiography DRAFT 142 of 156