Theodore J. Roumel, the President and CEO of TRG, LLC, has over 35 years of experience in administering large and complex programs and working with officials at all levels of government, industry and academia in the United States and internationally.
He has worked with senior officials in each of those sectors of the research enterprise on issues involving research and development, intellectual property, clinical trials, interaction with economic development initiatives, ethical conduct of activities, health research and services funding issues and interaction between those sectors to achieve common goals.
For seventeen years he administered the US Public Health Service’s grant programs awarded by nine agencies, including the National Institutes of Health (NIH), from forty awarding offices located throughout the nation. Ted also had a stint at the Reagan White House working with state and local governments to implement block grant programs.
At the National Institutes of Health (NIH), he was the key architect in the reestablishment of the organization’s technology transfer function, serving as the COO and Assistant Director for the Office of Technology Transfer, Office of the Director. During his eleven-year tenure at NIH, the office generated nearly $500M in royalty income and managed thousands of licenses and patents. He also initiated the new metrics for NIH technology transfer operations and established the first government post licensing monitoring operation. His experience includes working closely with Members of Congress, Governors, state legislators and local officials and their staff on a variety of activities including special reports to Congress, development of testimony and technical assistance on strategic planning and legislation. He served on several state and local government economic develop councils and was the NIH liaison to the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO).
Ted also has experience working in over twenty countries on public health, research and development, technology transfer, intellectual property and economic development matters. He served as the Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Public Health consultant to the U.S. Trade Representative on two major committees. He has received numerous awards from several federal government agencies for outstanding service.
In addition, in 2004, French President Jacques Chirac bestowed on Ted the title of Chevalier, French National Order of Merit for his outstanding contributions to enhancing Franco-American cooperation on biotechnology research, policy and activities. This special achievement also received special recognition from President George W. Bush.
For nearly three years at one of the U.S. major trade organizations, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), he worked on a variety of projects to bring together industry, academia and government to develop new initiatives. He also served as the PhRMA representative on the HHS and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Bio-Terrorism, Private Sector Health Coordinating Council and Emergency Preparedness Working Groups. In addition, he led the development of the industry’s rare disease initiative, advised on initiatives for the FDA Critical Path, assisted in establishing the NIH/FDA/PhRMA/BIO consortium on biomarkers, represented the industry on drug disposal and environmental concerns, and in state strategic planning initiatives.
His experience in the pharmaceutical and biotech industry has included: pharmaceutical regulatory matters; creation of new advocacy relationships with non-traditional allies; intellectual property and data exclusivity issues; and licensing and research and development issues.
He also served for three years as the Vice President for Research, Innovation and Commercialization at the University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute where he was responsible for research and research support activities as well as technology transfer, intellectual property, commercialization, economic development, legislative affairs and other business development functions. He rebuilt the infrastructure of the institution and created a highly successful technology transfer operation that licensed technologies and spun off a number of new companies during his tenure.
