Med tech innovator chosen to be first CEO of Rhode Island Life Science Hub

Rhode Island’s new life science agency has chosen a medical startup whiz with 25 years of experience in medical and life science innovation to be its inaugural president and CEO.

The Rhode Island Life Science Hub’s board of directors announced Thursday that Dr. Mark R. Turco of Providence has been selected to lead the agency. Most recently, Turco helmed two cardiovascular tech firms: Boston’s Cardiac Implants LLC, and heart valve maker JC Medical, according to Turco’s LinkedIn. The latter was first acquired by Genesis Medtech in 2022 and resold in August to Edwards Lifesciences.

His appointment is contingent upon final board approval of a contract, as well as confirmation by the Rhode Island State Senate. 

Turco would receive a $400,000 salary as CEO of the hub. In October, the executive salary was estimated to be between $250,000 to $400,000 per year.

“This is such an exciting opportunity, as Rhode Island is uniquely positioned to be a global leader in life sciences,” Turco said in a statement. He added that the state’s academic and health care systems will help nurture “a more diverse medical and scientific ecosystem.”

“Solidifying Rhode Island’s footprint across the life science sectors will drive job growth and economic development here, while improving health and wellbeing locally and globally,” Turco continued.

Turco has served as chief innovation officer at the University of Pennsylvania and founded the Center for Penn-Health Tech, which brought together the school’s engineering and medicine departments to build medical technologies.

He has worked with both researchers and entrepreneurs, helping navigate regulatory approvals and product launches. Turco could play a similar role in Rhode Island, and his duties at the hub would include running Rhode Island’s first life science incubator, recently infused with a $10 million investment from Brown University and the I-195 Commission. The incubator will include lab space and facilitate health research and is slated to open in December 2025.

The board offered Turco the CEO job in October,, after he bested six semifinalists and two other finalists in a national search, Hub spokesperson Lauren Greene confirmed. The hub had been mum on his identity ahead of the contract’s finalization. There were originally 320 applicants for the job.

“With a top-tier board, the launch of an incubator lab and other programs, and now a dynamic, experienced candidate to lead the Life Science Hub, I am confident that we will deliver on the bold vision of transforming Rhode Island into a nationally recognized center for life sciences innovation,” said Neil Steinberg, the board’s chair, in a statement. 

Steinberg said Turco’s salary was commensurate with the job’s demands. 

“The Life Science Hub has been charged with an enormous task — building the life science sector in Rhode Island,” Steinberg said in an email. “The compensation reflects the marketplace for someone with the necessary credibility and skills and the Board’s expectations of the person it will take to deliver on Rhode Island’s ambitious goals.”

Turco completed his residency and earned his MD from the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, before working as a cardiology fellow at Philadelphia’s Temple University Hospital in the mid-1990s. 

The search for a full-time, salaried president to lead the hub has been a prime objective since its 15-member volunteer board first convened in January. The hunt lasted longer than expected, so in June the board temporarily filled the leadership post with former board member Dr. Patrice Milos, at least until a replacement was identified.   

Steinberg thanked Milos for her interim leadership. “She established grant programs and negotiated agreements for the incubator lab space in a very short period of time, setting the stage for future success. We look forward to her reappointment to the board,” he said.

Gov. Dan McKee and the Rhode Island General Assembly established the Life Science Hub in 2023, backing it with a $45 million investment in hopes the new agency will grow the state’s life science sector.