Board Committees

Mr. Treco is a Managing Partner at First Chicago Advisors, Inc., a boutique financial advisory firm where he advises executives and boards of directors of a wide range of companies, from global, large-cap companies to emerging companies. During his career he has worked with various biotechnology companies. For the past decade, he has been involved with start-up companies affiliated with Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center in Hanover, NH developing intellectual properties, a number of which have been sold and licensed to larger, publicly-traded pharmaceutical companies. Prior to joining First Chicago Advisors, Mr. Treco was an investment banker with Gleacher & Company that previously operated an investment banking business, providing corporate and institutional clients with strategic and financial advisory services. Mr. Treco held various positions of increasing responsibility at Salomon Brothers/Citigroup, where he used his extensive experience in the global capital markets to advise a wide range of clients. Mr. Treco earned a B.A. from Yale University and an M.B.A. from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business.

Rich Bagger is a Partner and Executive Director of Christie 55 Solutions, a New Jersey based consulting firm that provides strategic counsel to assist clients with business strategies and opportunities and with complex public policy and regulatory challenges at the state, federal and international levels. Rich is also an Adjunct Faculty member at Rutgers University.

Prior to joining Christie 55 Solutions, Rich worked in the health sector for over 25 years, including as the senior most global Corporate Affairs executive for two major biopharmaceutical companies and as legal counsel for a large health plan. From 2012 through 2019, he was Executive Vice President of Corporate Affairs and Market Access for Celgene Corporation, as well as a member of the company’s Executive Committee. During a 16-year career with Pfizer Inc, Rich served from 2006 to 2009 on Pfizer’s senior most management team as Senior Vice President, Worldwide Public Affairs and Policy. Prior to joining Pfizer, Rich was Assistant General Counsel of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of New Jersey and before that practiced law with McCarter & English.

Rich has a record of public service that spans more than three decades. From 2012 until 2021, he served as a Commissioner of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and was Chair of the Gateway Program Development Corporation for 2017. Rich was Chief of Staff for New Jersey Governor Chris Christie from 2010 to 2012, responsible for managing implementation of the Governor’s policy agenda and priorities. He was also elected to serve five terms in the New Jersey General Assembly, where he chaired the Appropriations Committee and was elected by his colleagues as Majority Conference Leader. In 2001, Rich was elected to the New Jersey Senate and served there until 2003. Before his election to the Legislature, he was a Council Member and Mayor of Westfield, New Jersey.

Rich served as Board Chair of the National Pharmaceutical Council for 2019 and is a member of the Board of Directors and Executive Committee of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, where he chaired the Global Innovation Policy Center from 2014 to 2018. He is also on the Board of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and the Advisory Board for the Lerner Center for the Study of Pharmaceutical Management at Rutgers University Business School.

He received an A.B. degree from Princeton University’s School of Public and International Affairs and a J.D. degree from Rutgers University Law School.

Margaret Smith Bell was a Vice President at Standard Life Investments where she was a portfolio manager and health care equity analyst. Previously, Ms. Bell was a Managing Director at Putnam Investments, and served as a senior health care analyst and a portfolio manager of the Putnam Health Sciences Trust. Ms. Bell's healthcare experience also includes equity research positions with State Street Research and Alex. Brown & Sons, Inc. Ms. Bell is a past member of the Board of Overseers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Ms. Bell holds a B.A. from Wesleyan University and an M.B.A. from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

Margaret Smith Bell was a Vice President at Standard Life Investments where she was a portfolio manager and health care equity analyst. Previously, Ms. Bell was a Managing Director at Putnam Investments, and served as a senior health care analyst and a portfolio manager of the Putnam Health Sciences Trust. Ms. Bell's healthcare experience also includes equity research positions with State Street Research and Alex. Brown & Sons, Inc. Ms. Bell is a past member of the Board of Overseers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Ms. Bell holds a B.A. from Wesleyan University and an M.B.A. from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

Major General (BD) David Grange (U.S. Army retired) has been President and founder of Osprey Global Solutions, LLC (“OGS”), a Service Disabled Veterans Organization, since 2011.BG Grange was Chief Executive Officer of Pharm-Olam International, Ltd. (“Pharm-Olam”), a contract research organization, from April 2017 to October 2019. Prior to founding OGS, BG Grange was a member of the Board of Pharmaceutical Product Development, Inc. (PPDI), a contract research organization, from 2003 to 2009, and Chief Executive Officer from 2009 to 2011. Prior to PPDI he served in the McCormick Tribune Foundation for 10 years most recently as Chief Executive Officer and President, where he also oversaw the support of Veteran Programs.BG Grange served 30 years in the U.S. Army as a Ranger, Green Beret, Aviator, Infantryman and a member of special operating units. At the Pentagon, he was Director of Army Current Operations, Readiness, and Mobilization.BG Grange commanded the Ranger Regiment and the First Infantry Division (the Big Red One).BG Grange holds a master’s degree in Public Service from Western Kentucky University.

Dr. Olukotun is the Chief Executive Officer of CR Strategies, LLC, which consults on clinical trial design and FDA strategy for pharmaceutical product development. He is the former Chief Executive Officer of EpiGen Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and the former Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of CardioVax, Inc. He is also co-founder of VIA Pharmaceuticals and served as the company's Chief Medical Officer. Dr. Olukotun has 30 years of experience in clinical research and drug development in the pharmaceutical industry. Before CardioVax and VIA, he was Chief Medical Officer of Esperion Therapeutics, Inc., a cardiovascular drug development company, until its acquisition by Pfizer in 2004. From 1996 to 2000, Dr. Olukotun was Vice President of Medical and Regulatory Affairs and Chief Medical Officer of Mallinckrodt Inc. Prior to joining Mallinckrodt, Dr. Olukotun spent 14 years at Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, including time at Squibb prior to the merger with Bristol Myers in 1989. At Squibb, Dr. Olukotun was part of the team that won FDA approval for two revolutionary drugs: Capoten® (captopril) and Pravachol® (pravastatin). Capoten was the first rationally designed drug and the first angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor to win FDA approval. Pravachol was the second statin to win U.S. FDA approval. Both became blockbusters and are still widely prescribed today as generics. The inventor of pravastatin, Professor Akira Endo won the Lasker-DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award and the inventors of captopril, David Cushman and Miguel Ondetti won Albert Lasker Clinical Medical Research Award. Dr. Olukotun received his medical degree from Albert Einstein College of Medicine and obtained a Master of Public Health degree from Harvard School of Public Health. Dr. Olukotun is a Board-Certified cardiologist and a Fellow of the American College of Cardiology as well as the American Heart Association. Dr. Olukotun currently serves on the board of directors for Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Carolyn Taylor became a Director in July 2021. Ms. Taylor was general counsel of Strike Protocols Inc., a financial technology company, from 2019 to 2020, and held positions of varying responsibility, including partner, and most recently, of counsel, at the law firm of Covington & Burling LLP from 1989 to 2000 and 2004 to 2015. From 2000 to 2003, Ms. Taylor served as Executive Vice President and General Counsel of Longitude, Inc., a financial services company. Ms. Taylor graduated from Columbia Law School where she was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar and the Developing Editor of the Columbia Law Review. She earned a B.A., magna cum laude, from Brown University.

Rich Bagger is a Partner and Executive Director of Christie 55 Solutions, a New Jersey based consulting firm that provides strategic counsel to assist clients with business strategies and opportunities and with complex public policy and regulatory challenges at the state, federal and international levels. Rich is also an Adjunct Faculty member at Rutgers University.

Prior to joining Christie 55 Solutions, Rich worked in the health sector for over 25 years, including as the senior most global Corporate Affairs executive for two major biopharmaceutical companies and as legal counsel for a large health plan. From 2012 through 2019, he was Executive Vice President of Corporate Affairs and Market Access for Celgene Corporation, as well as a member of the company’s Executive Committee. During a 16-year career with Pfizer Inc, Rich served from 2006 to 2009 on Pfizer’s senior most management team as Senior Vice President, Worldwide Public Affairs and Policy. Prior to joining Pfizer, Rich was Assistant General Counsel of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of New Jersey and before that practiced law with McCarter & English.

Rich has a record of public service that spans more than three decades. From 2012 until 2021, he served as a Commissioner of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and was Chair of the Gateway Program Development Corporation for 2017. Rich was Chief of Staff for New Jersey Governor Chris Christie from 2010 to 2012, responsible for managing implementation of the Governor’s policy agenda and priorities. He was also elected to serve five terms in the New Jersey General Assembly, where he chaired the Appropriations Committee and was elected by his colleagues as Majority Conference Leader. In 2001, Rich was elected to the New Jersey Senate and served there until 2003. Before his election to the Legislature, he was a Council Member and Mayor of Westfield, New Jersey.

Rich served as Board Chair of the National Pharmaceutical Council for 2019 and is a member of the Board of Directors and Executive Committee of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, where he chaired the Global Innovation Policy Center from 2014 to 2018. He is also on the Board of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and the Advisory Board for the Lerner Center for the Study of Pharmaceutical Management at Rutgers University Business School.

He received an A.B. degree from Princeton University’s School of Public and International Affairs and a J.D. degree from Rutgers University Law School.

Major General (BD) David Grange (U.S. Army retired) has been President and founder of Osprey Global Solutions, LLC (“OGS”), a Service Disabled Veterans Organization, since 2011.BG Grange was Chief Executive Officer of Pharm-Olam International, Ltd. (“Pharm-Olam”), a contract research organization, from April 2017 to October 2019. Prior to founding OGS, BG Grange was a member of the Board of Pharmaceutical Product Development, Inc. (PPDI), a contract research organization, from 2003 to 2009, and Chief Executive Officer from 2009 to 2011. Prior to PPDI he served in the McCormick Tribune Foundation for 10 years most recently as Chief Executive Officer and President, where he also oversaw the support of Veteran Programs.BG Grange served 30 years in the U.S. Army as a Ranger, Green Beret, Aviator, Infantryman and a member of special operating units. At the Pentagon, he was Director of Army Current Operations, Readiness, and Mobilization.BG Grange commanded the Ranger Regiment and the First Infantry Division (the Big Red One).BG Grange holds a master’s degree in Public Service from Western Kentucky University.

Mr. Treco is a Managing Partner at First Chicago Advisors, Inc., a boutique financial advisory firm where he advises executives and boards of directors of a wide range of companies, from global, large-cap companies to emerging companies. During his career he has worked with various biotechnology companies. For the past decade, he has been involved with start-up companies affiliated with Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center in Hanover, NH developing intellectual properties, a number of which have been sold and licensed to larger, publicly-traded pharmaceutical companies. Prior to joining First Chicago Advisors, Mr. Treco was an investment banker with Gleacher & Company that previously operated an investment banking business, providing corporate and institutional clients with strategic and financial advisory services. Mr. Treco held various positions of increasing responsibility at Salomon Brothers/Citigroup, where he used his extensive experience in the global capital markets to advise a wide range of clients. Mr. Treco earned a B.A. from Yale University and an M.B.A. from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business.