Birmingham, Alabama and Toronto, Ontario – 30 March 2017 – Kirchner Group, a leading North American traditional merchant bank, today announced Richard Marchase Ph.D. has joined the firm. Dick will be focused on Kirchner Group’s growing health and life sciences and enterprise development advisory practices.

Dr. Marchase, recently retired from his role as Vice President for Research and Economic Development at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. During his career at UAB, Dick has held many positions including professor, chair, associate dean, vice president and interim president. Most recently his administrative functions included strategic planning, regulatory oversight, recruitment, and space allocation for a research enterprise generating approximately $450 million in revenue annually.

Dick further strengthens the Kirchner team which previously acted as an advisor to the lead investor for two of the largest ever Series A biotech financings: Juno Therapeutics and Denali Therapeutics. Kirchner Group boasts a 30+ year track record in the sector with a robust service offering for health and life science companies and their investors including M&A advisory, operational/strategic/technical assessments, corporate development services and hands on operational support.

Dick has chaired the Board of Innovation Depot, and has also served on the Boards of the UAB Research Foundation, the UAB Health System, BioAlabama, the Economic Development Partnership of Alabama Foundation, Alabama EPSCoR, and Southern Research Institute. He currently co-chairs the steering committee of Innovate Birmingham, an academic, civic, and industry partnership to build the local technology sector.

“Dick brings an incredible wealth of knowledge and experience to our firm. His addition is a clear illustration of our continued focus on the life sciences sector and our ability to attract top talent to our platform,” stated W.B. (Bud) Kirchner, Founder and CEO of Kirchner Group. “We have a number of initiatives underway where Dick will be able to add significant and immediate value to our clients and partners.”

Marchase has also been active in a number of national organizations throughout his career, including a recently completed two-year term on the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities Board of Directors and as chair of the APLU Council on Research. He served as President of the Association of Anatomy, Cell Biology, and Neurobiology Chairs and as both President and Vice President for Science Policy of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB), which represents over 120,000 scientists and is recognized as the principal voice of the biomedical research community on issues related to research funding and policy. He was named a Charter Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors in 2012 and is a member of the Editorial Board of its journal, Technology and Innovation.

“As Kirchner continues to enhance its offerings, this is an exciting time to join such an innovative and leading edge group,” added Dr. Marchase. “I am eager to contribute to the unique value proposition that this combination of prominent domain experts with those so experienced in process improvement creates.”