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From: RTI International - News Alert [mailto: news@rti.org ]

UMBI President Jennie Hunter -Cevera to Join RTI International as Executive Vice President of Discovery and Analytical Sciences, Corporate Development

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C.—Jennie Hunter -Cevera, Ph.D., a distinguished scientist, business leader and the current president and CEO of the University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute (UMBI), will join RTI International July 1, as executive vice president of Discovery and Analytical Sciences and Corporate Development.

RTI's Discovery and Analytical Sciences organization conducts research in a variety of fields indlucing drug discovery and development , biomarkers and systems biology, environmental and industrial sciences, forensic sciences, and analytical chemistry and pharmaceutics.

"We are pleased Jennie has chosen to join our executive leadership team," said RTI President and CEO Victoria Franchetti Haynes. "She brings to RTI a unique combination of skills, experience and business acumen that will serve us well as we address the many scientific and societal challenges and opportunities facing our nation and the world."

In the new position of executive vice president of Corporate Development, which includes government relations, Hunter -Cevera will lead the development of strategies that draw upon our multidisciplinary scientific capabilities to identify business opportunities with new and existing clients. She will work closely with the executive leadership team and staff to ensure that RTI's scientific reputation continues to expand.

"I am thrilled to be joining RTI at this time as they continue to expand the frontiers of science to benefit society," Hunter -Cevera said. "I am looking forward to becoming part of an integrated and forward-thinking research institution and contributing to the diverse biological sciences already being advanced in North Carolina."

Hunter -Cevera served as president of UMBI for more than nine years, responsible for the operations and direction of UMBI's four research centers and for the overall leadership and guidance of the institute.

Prior to UMBI, she was head of the Center for Environmental Biotechnology at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Earlier she was project manager for the California Institute of Food and Agriculture, and worked as research scientist and director for a number of commercial biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, including E.R. Squibb, Cetus Corp, Geobiotics, Biosource Genetics and Universal Flavors.

In 1990, she co-founded The Biotic Network consulting company and, in 1992, she co-founded the research company, Blue Sky Research.

Hunter -Cevera holds five patents and has 15 pending patents. She has discovered natural products that have benefited human health, the environment and agriculture.

She has written numerous scientific publications in the area of microbial ecology and screening and serves on the editorial board for International Microbiology and the advisory board for the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health . She also was senior editor for the Journal of Industrial Microbiology and Biotechnology for 10 years.

Hunter -Cevera was elected to the American Academy of Microbiology in 1995, received the Society of Industrial Microbiology (SIM) Charles Porter Award in 1996, was elected a SIM Fellow in 1997, and was named the Nath Lecturer at West Virginia University in 1999. She is the 2004 recipient of the American Society for Microbiology Porter Award for achievement in biodiversity research and was elected an American Association for the Advancement of Science fellow in 2007.

Hunter -Cevera holds a bachelor's degree in biology and a master's degree in microbiology from West Virginia University. She also holds a doctorate in microbiology from Rutgers University.