Mr. Rick Pauls was appointed President and CEO of DiaMedica in July 2009 and has been Chairman of the board of directors since 2008.  Mr. Pauls was previously the Managing Director of CentreStone Ventures Inc., an early stage life sciences venture capital fund.  While with CentreStone, Mr. Pauls led the investment in Orasi Medical Inc., winner of the Red Herring Global 100 and Red Herring North America 100 awards; LED Medical Inc., winner of Red Herring Canada 50 award in the Health category; DiaMedica and Sanomune Inc., both named one of Canada's Top 10™ Life Science Companies. Prior to CentreStone, he was with Centara Corporation, another early stage venture capital fund. Before this, Mr. Pauls specialized in asset-backed securitization and structured finance with General Motors Acceptance Corporation in Minnesota. He received his Bachelor of Arts in Economics from the University of Manitoba and his M.B.A. in Finance from the University of North Dakota.