Applied DNA Sciences, Inc. Appoints Karol Kain Gray as Chief Financial Officer

STONY BROOK, NY--(Marketwired - August 21, 2013) - Applied DNA Sciences, Inc. (OTCBB: APDN), (Twitter: @APDN) (the "Company"), a provider of DNA-based anti-counterfeiting technology and product authentication solutions, announced today that Ms. Karol Kain Gray will join the company as Chief Financial Officer, reporting to Dr. James A. Hayward, CEO and President. Beginning in October, she will be responsible for strategic and tactical matters as they relate to budget management, forecasting needs, and establishing and maintaining contacts with stockholders, financial institutions, Wall Street and the investor community.

Said Dr. Hayward: "We are thrilled to bring her incredible experience and range of skills to the company. As a prior member of our Board of Directors, Karol is already deeply aware of our business and the commercial opportunities. Her management skill are among the best I have ever known."

Ms. Gray comes to the company from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, where she was Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration overseeing financial planning and budgeting; treasury and risk management; facilities planning, construction and operations; purchases and stores; public safety, environmental health and safety; and auxiliary enterprises. The University's financial budget for fiscal year 2012-2013 is $3.4 billion.

Ms. Gray served as the Executive Vice President/Treasurer of the Chapel Hill Foundation Real Estate Holdings, Inc., Treasurer of The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Investment Fund, Inc. (CHIF), Treasurer of The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Foundation, Inc., and Secretary/Treasurer of UNC Management Company. Ms. Gray also sits on the Board of Directors of Chapel Hill/Carrboro Chamber of Commerce, MBA @UBC LLC, UNC Press Board of Governors, and UNC Health Care System.

Ms. Gray has 35 years of financial, organizational and management experience. Her previous position was at the University at Stony Brook, where she worked her way up steadily as a financial analyst, chief accountant, controller, Vice President for Finance and Administration and the Chief Financial Officer. As Chief Financial Officer for the Stony Brook Foundation, she provided financial direction and support for the budget, investment and realty committees and was responsible for the management of an endowment of approximately $120 million with net assets of $200 million.

Ms. Gray is a graduate of Hofstra University with a bachelor's degree in business administration.

In 2011 Ms. Gray was named one of Long Island's Top 50 Most Influential Women in Business. Since August 2011, Ms. Gray has been a Director, Chairman of the Audit Committee and Member of the Compensation Committee, for APDN.

Ms. Gray succeeds Kurt Jensen who resigned effective today to pursue other interests. The company thanks Kurt for his significant contributions to APDN over the past seven years and wishes him well in his future endeavors. In addition to serving as President and CEO, Dr. Hayward will serve as interim CFO until October 7, 2013, when Ms. Gray's appointment as CFO becomes effective.

About Applied DNA Sciences

APDN is a provider of botanical-DNA based security and authentication solutions that can help protect products, brands and intellectual property of companies, governments and consumers from theft, counterfeiting, fraud and diversion. SigNature® DNA and smartDNA, our principal anti-counterfeiting and product authentication solutions that essentially cannot be copied, provide a forensic chain of evidence and can be used to prosecute perpetrators.

The statements made by APDN may be forward-looking in nature. Forward-looking statements describe APDN's future plans, projections, strategies and expectations, and are based on assumptions and involve a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the control of APDN. Actual results could differ materially from those projected due to our short operating history, limited financial resources, limited market acceptance, market competition and various other factors detailed from time to time in APDN's SEC reports and filings, including our Annual Report on Form 10-K, filed on December 20, 2012 and our subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. APDN undertakes no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements to reflect new information, events or circumstances after the date hereof to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.