G. Steven Burrill has been involved in the growth and prosperity of the biotechnology industry for over 40 years. An early pioneer, Mr. Burrill is one of the original architects of the industry and one of its most avid and sustained developers. He currently serves as Chairman of the Boards of Pharmasset (NASDAQ: VRUS), Abunda Corporation and BioImagene, and is a member of the Boards of Directors of Catalyst Biosciences, DepoMed (NASDAQ: DEPO), Ikano Therapeutics, NewBridge, Proteogenix, Proventys, Targacept (NASDAQ: TRGT) and XDx. Prior to founding Burrill & Company in 1994, he spent 28 years with Ernst & Young, directing and coordinating the firm's services to clients in the biotechnology/life sciences/high technology/manufacturing industries worldwide. In 2002, Mr. Burrill was recognized as the biotech investment visionary by the prestigious Scientific American magazine (The Scientific American 50), and in 2008, he received the BayBio Pantheon 2008 DiNA lifetime achievement award for his worldwide biotech leadership.

In addition to his work with leading life science companies, Mr. Burrill is a founder and currently serves as the Chairman of the Board of the Foundation for the National Medals of Science and Technology. Additionally, he serves as Chairman of the San Francisco Mayor’s Biotech Advisory Committee (MAYBAC). Mr. Burrill also chaired the National Research Council study on linkages in biotechnology between Japan and the United States. He was also involved with the US-Japan Science and Technology Agreement Study of Technology Transfer Mechanisms between the US and Japan. Other not-for-profit activities include serving on the Boards of Directors of the Bay Area Science Infrastructure Consortium, BayBio (Emeritus), California Healthcare Institute (Emeritus), The Exploratorium (Emeritus), The Kellogg Center for Biotechnology, the MIT Center for Biomedical Innovation, and the National Health Museum (Vice Chairman), BioAg Gateway, City of Madison Vilas County Economic Development Group, the World Council of Ethics, University of Wisconsin Extension, Scientific American Board of Advisors. He also serves on the Purdue Discovery Park External Advisory Committee as well as the editorial board of the Journal of Commercial Biotechnology and is on the advisory board of the Center for Policy on Emerging Technologies (C-PET). He is an advisor to University of Illinois Institute for Genomic Biology, University of Wisconsin—College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, University of Minnesota College of Biological Sciences, and Duke University, and is an adjunct professor at University of California, San Francisco.