Our Team

Microbio Board and Executive

Flavia Huygens

Executive Director, Founder and Chief Scientific Officer

Flavia’s 30-year teaching and research career has been focused on molecular microbiology, with a particular focus on human pathogens.

Flavia’s expertise and exceptional ability to bring together emerging technology in molecular microbiology, genomics, proteomics and bioinformatics has culminated in the creation of InfectID, a diagnostic test that identifies bacterial, fungal and viral pathogens.

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Colin Keating

Chief Executive Officer

Colin is a highly skilled executive leader, with more than 25 years’ experience across various industries and global regions, leading both publicly listed entities and privately held businesses. With a focus on people and culture, Colin has a demonstrable track record of establishing, developing, and nurturing high performing teams that have consistently delivered on both customer and organisational objectives.

Colin’s recent experience includes the Interim CEO role at MindBio Therapeutics, where he was responsible for building the business to enable sustainable growth post-listing on the Canadian Stock Exchange. This included creating a strategy to facilitate revenue generation and growth capability in the short and medium term; diversifying revenue generation capability and ‘de-risking’ the investment strategy.

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Johan Vanderhoeven

Chief Commercial Officer

With over 15 years of commercial experience in life sciences and diagnostics, Johan has a proven track record of driving strategic growth, building impactful partnerships, and spearheading commercial initiatives that translate cutting-edge scientific advancements into tangible market solutions. He will focus on leveraging his commercial expertise to expand Microbio’s global impact, while fostering a culture of innovation, and creating value for both the company and its stakeholders.

Johan’s recent experience includes the Senior VP Global Sales & Marketing role at Integrated DNA Technologies (a Danaher company) where he was responsible for overseeing the global commercial strategy, driving revenue growth, and expanding the company’s presence across key markets.

Johan holds a PhD in Chemical Engineering from the Free University of Brussels (Belgium).

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Neil Verdal-Austin

Chief Operations Officer

In an executive capacity, Neil is a passionate global leader in the medical devices and MedTech industries, bringing 30 years of executive experience, including 15 years in ASX-listed companies.

With deep expertise in financial and operational management, Neil has held board and CEO roles in listed companies and successfully built international medical device businesses across Europe, the USA, and APAC, including through acquisitions in dental operations.

At the board level, he focuses on driving global business development and sales growth by leading teams to achieve strategic outcomes, building businesses, and mentoring executives to support their professional growth.
Neil holds a Bachelor of Commerce and is a Certified Chartered Accountant.

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Paul Brennan

Chair of the Board

Paul brings extensive global experience as a Non-Executive Director and biopharmaceutical industry leader. Currently, he serves as Non-Executive Chair of Immuron (ASX: IMC, NASDAQ IMRN), a biopharmaceutical company known for its gastrointestinal health product Travelan®, which is sold across Australia, Canada, and the United States.

In an executive career spanning more than 35 years, he has held global senior leadership positions, including serving as CEO of Polynovo from 2015 to 2021. During his tenure, he transformed the company from a valuation of $30 million to a peak market capitalisation of $2 billion, establishing Polynovo as a highly successful Australian medical device company. He has also held senior leadership positions at prominent global organisations such as Smith & Nephew and Ansell.

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James MacPherson

Executive Director | MBA

James is Managing Director of CJ3 Capital, and brings extensive experience and expertise managing direct investments from origination to commercialisation.

Having held operational positions, CEO roles, and board positions across a diverse range of industries including agriculture and health related assets, James will focus on Microbio’s strategic direction, business processes, and governance structures to drive sustainable company growth.

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Matt McNamara

Director | MBA, GAICD

Matt is passionate about commercialising promising human healthcare technologies. Matt continues to invest in and commercialise great healthcare technologies through an exciting portfolio of executive/non-executive board and advisory roles.

Matt has more than 30 years of experience in the healthcare and medical sciences sector, including more than 20 years as a venture capitalist; 14 years as CIO at BioScience Managers (4 funds. >$200M FUM. >20% IRR) Prior to this Matt was CEO of SciCapital pre-seed fund and also served as SVP Business Development for eBioinformatics Inc. Initially, Matt spent over a decade in the pharma industry working in Sales & Marketing with Merck & Co. and in General Management at Johnson and Johnson Medical Pty Ltd.

Matt has a BSc (Hons) in Molecular Biology, an MBA, and is a GAICD.

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Work With Us

At Microbio, we’re dedicated to advancing infectious disease diagnostics and improving patient outcomes worldwide. Join our team and contribute to meaningful work that makes a global impact. Explore our career opportunities and discover how you can be part of the Microbio journey.

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