EKF Diagnostics Holdings plc (AIM: EKF), the AIM listed point-of-care, central laboratory and molecular diagnostics business, announces the appointment of Dr Tito Bacarese-Hamilton to the Board of Directors of the Company, as Chief Technology Officer with immediate effect.

Tito, aged 56, joins EKF from Diabetes specialist LifeScan Scotland Ltd (“Lifescan”), a wholly owned Johnson & Johnson franchise, where he was Vice President, R&D for New Products & Platforms. At Lifescan, Tito had global responsibility for the full-scale development and commercial launch of all new product platforms and was the main interface with manufacturing operations for the production of LifeScan’s new, multi-product sensing platforms.

Before joining LifeScan, Tito was CEO of Microtest Matrices Ltd, a protein chip company that he co-founded in 2000. Prior to this role, he held senior R&D positions at Ares-Serono and Amersham International. Tito was also a founder of Quotient Diagnostics, which was acquired by EKF in 2010.

Tito is a clinical biochemist by training and brings more than 25 years of research and industrial experience in the medical and life sciences sector. He has a broad-based background in medical research and diagnostic product development, biotechnology, drug development programmes and general management. He is an acknowledged expert in the field of in vitro diagnostics with a proven track record of repeatedly and successfully turning innovative technology into revenue-generating platforms.

Tito graduated from King’s College, London and earned his PhD at the Royal Postgraduate Medical Centre in London. He is a Fellow of the American National Association of Clinical Biochemistry and has published more than 50 peer-reviewed articles on a variety of topics related to pathology, oncology and laboratory medicine.

David Evans, Chairman of EKF, commented: “We are both privileged and fortunate to have been able to secure Tito's talents. At the recent AGM I referred to strengthening our Board by looking to recruit A* talent and Tito falls into that category. We will benefit not only from his skills, knowledge and expertise but from the common shared values of openness, trust and accountability that bind us as a team.”