Patrice Milos picked as interim president for R.I. life science agency

Automated blood sample testing in laboratory for healthcare screening. (Tek Image/Science Photo Library/Getty Images)

An early leader in Rhode Island’s nascent life sciences industry and driving force behind the creation of the Rhode Island Life Science Hub will take on a new role as the agency’s interim president under a contract unanimously approved by the board of directors Tuesday.

Patrice Milos will start her temporary job as the quasi-public state agency’s administrative leader July 1, while the 15-member volunteer board continues its national search for a permanent president. Milos will be paid $25,000 a month for the job, with an initial three-month contract that will extend for 30-day periods as needed until the permanent president role is filled, Neil Steinberg, board chairman, said during the board of directors meeting Tuesday.

“Patrice Milos is the perfect choice to lead the Hub at this early stage of its development and has the confidence of our board,” Neil Steinberg, board chairman, said in a statement. “Her vision, energy and experience are exactly what we need to maintain the Hub’s initial momentum and continue to establish a path forward to realize its enormous potential here in Rhode Island.”

Milos, a Cranston resident, brings over 30 years of relevant research, business and advocacy experience to the new state agency, including as founding member of RI Bio, a regional trade group. RI Bio is credited for helping persuade lawmakers to create the state life science agency based on its role in a 2019 state-commissioned report that recommended ways to make the Ocean State competitive with more established life science hubs in Cambridge and Worcester, Massachusetts.

Milos was one of seven board members appointed by Gov. Dan McKee to the new agency created as part of the state’s fiscal 2024 budget. The other eight board members were chosen based on statutory requirements for representation from various private, public and education sectors.

Milos will continue to serve as a member of the hub’s board of directors upon assuming the interim president title, but will relinquish the board’s secretary duties. She will also give up her title as co-chair of RI Bio — though she will remain on the board itself — and take a leave of absence from the board of directors for nonprofit seed funding group, Slater Technology Fund.

As interim president for the Life Science Hub, Milos will oversee the agency’s daily operations, including oversight of a $250,000 grant fund that opened to applicants last week, offering $10,000 apiece for projects and programs that support the life science industry.

“It’s an exciting time to be taking the interim helm of the Hub and I’m thrilled to be in this position, setting the organization up for future success,” Milos said in a statement. “Rhode Island possesses all the elements for success in the life sciences — a commitment from our state’s leaders and academia, early-stage investors and industry experts with energy, vision and innovative ideas.”

Meanwhile, the board of directors will continue its nationwide search for a permanent president with the help of hired consultant, Korn Ferry.

Steinberg had hoped to find a permanent president before the 2024 legislation session ended — since the board’s pick requires review and approval by the Rhode Island Senate — but the process took longer than anticipated due to scheduling delays and review of applicants’ submission information, Steinberg told Rhode Island Current previously.

Hiring an interim president allows the agency to ramp up operations without lawmakers’ stamp of approval; the plan now is to find and submit a permanent president for Senate review next year.

“Given how important it is to select the right person to be CEO of the Hub, the board is taking great care to make certain that whoever is chosen is the best fit for the job,” Steinberg said in a statement. “We will continue to seek someone with the tools to collaborate with academia, the private sector and government to realize a vision for the Hub that maximizes the tremendous potential of Rhode Island in the life sciences.”

Milos will not be considered for the permanent president role, according to an agency statement.

Milos earned her master’s and doctoral degree in biology from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York, before serving as a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard and Brown universities. She spent the first 14 years of her career at Pfizer Inc., advanced to executive director of molecular medicine and returned later to head the company’s Centers for Therapeutic Innovation in Boston.

She co-founded Rhode Island-based startup Medley Genomics in 2016, a company focused on data analytics for diseases, including cancer. She has held several other senior roles in biotechnology and investment, including as former executive director of Providence-based Cherrystone Angel Group, and CEO of Claritas Genomics, spun out of Boston Children’s Hospital.

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