Board of Directors
Amirul Fares bin Wan Zahir
Co-Chairman / Director
Fares Zahir was appointed Co-Chairman of MLSCF on July 18, 2008
In addition to holding Board positions related to MLSCF, he is also currently Director, Head of Research, of Khazanah Research & Investment Strategy (“KRIS”), and leads the Life Sciences (“LS”) investments for Khazanah Nasional Berhad (“Khazanah”), the Malaysian government’s investment arm. He is also a member of the Board of Directors (“BoD”) of MTDC that runs venture capital businesses, grant management and value added services; a member of the BoD of Spring Hill Bioventures that manages US $30m of biotechnology investments; and had served on the BoD of Malaysia Herbal Corporation (“MHC”) for two years until mid-2008.
Fares was previously with UBS Investment Bank, a global investment bank with Swiss origins, where he was a Director, UBS Investment Research. He started his career in Malaysia in the actuarial department of American International Assurance Co. Ltd. (“AIA”) and later joined an associate company of Schroder Investment Management, a global investment management company with British origins. He left Schroders as Fund Manager, managing institutional client portfolios and unit trusts.
Fares completed his Bachelors Degree in Economics majoring in Actuarial Studies from Macquarie University in Australia and a Masters Degree in Operations Research in University Technology of Sydney.
He is also a Chartered Financial Analyst (“CFA”) and an Associate of Society of Actuaries (“ASA”).
Roger E. Wyse
Co-Chairman / Director
Dr. Wyse is the Managing Director of Burrill & Company, and has more than 27 years of experience as an internationally recognized plant scientist and business consultant. Prior to joining Burrill & Company in 1998, he had served deanships at Rutgers University and the University of Wisconsin , Madison , where he was Dean of the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences.
Dr. Wyse holds a PhD in Plant Physiology from Michigan State University and is a Fellow of several professional societies. Dr. Wyse served as co-CEO of Third Wave AgBio; was founding President and CEO of Pyxis Genomics, a fully integrated animal genomics company.
He is also the Board Chairman for Chromatin, CreAgri, Efficas, and the Alliance for Animal Genome Research; he is also a member of the Boards of Directors of Cibus Genetics, Emerald BioAgriculture, Pyxis Genomics, Sciona, the Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research, and the College of Natural Resources at UC Berkeley.
Norhalim Yunus
Director
Norhalim is the CEO of MTDC and is a graduate of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia and is a biologist by training. He joined MTDC in 1993, a few months after its inception, and has been instrumental in the commercialisation of research results of local universities and research institutes since then, as well as in the setting up of several start-up and spin-off companies.
Currently, under Norhalim’s supervision, MTDC’s Technology Development Division manages several government technology development programs including Commercialisation of R&D Fund (“CRDF”), Technology Acquisition Fund (“TAF”), Technology Acquisition Fund for Women (“TAF-W”), and technology incubators and garages in three major universities – Universiti Putra Malaysia , Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia and Universiti Teknologi Malaysia.
Norhalim started his career with Malaysian Oil Palm Growers’ Council in 1987 before moving to Guthrie Plantation & Agricultural Services Sdn Bhd in 1991 as the Assistant Manager responsible for the production and sales of oil palm planting material and agrochemicals, as well as providing technical services to oil palm estates.
Rashidan Shah Abdul Rahim
Director
Rashidan Shah is a Director of the MLSCF and Special Project Division of MTDC and has extensive experience in the securities industry. He graduated in Accountancy and began his career in Bapema Trading Sdn Bhd (now known as PFM Capital Sdn Bhd) as an analyst in 1990.
Subsequently, he worked with various stockbroking firms including UMBC Securities Sdn Bhd, Capital Corp Sdn Bhd and Charles Bradburne & Co. (now known as Avenue Securities Sdn Bhd) as sell-side analyst and research manager specializing in banking, property and power sectors as well as market strategy.
Prior to joining MTDC in August 2004 as Assistant General Manager in Investment Division, Rashidan joined Smith Newcourt as an institutional sales dealer followed by BBMB Securities Sdn Bhd (now known as ECM Libra Securities Sdn Bhd) in mid 1995 as General Manager, Research and left BBMB Securities Sdn Bhd in May 2004 as Executive Director of Dealing.
Greg Young
Director
Greg joined Burrill & Company in 2000 and has been primarily involved in sourcing, evaluating and investing in new business opportunities as part of the firm’s venture activities. His focus areas of investment cover renewable energy and chemicals, as well as biological processes which promote sustainability. He also acts as an investment manager for the Malaysian Life Sciences Capital Fund (MLSCF), a venture fund co-managed by Burrill & Company. Greg currently serves on the Board of HCL CleanTech and is a Board Observer on the Boards of Akermin and Glori Energy. Greg was instrumental in sourcing and consummation of Burrill & Company and MLSCF’s investment in Gevo. Previously, Greg worked as a molecular biologist focused on protein expression at an early-stage biotech company located in San Diego. Greg received his BS in Biochemistry and Cell Biology from the University of California, San Diego and an MS in Biotechnology and Business from Northwestern University.
