Our Leadership

Anshul Thakral is Chief Executive Officer of Fortrea (Nasdaq: FTRE), having joined the company in August 2025. He also serves as a member of Fortrea’s Board of Directors.

Anshul has more than 25 years of experience in the CRO, pharmaceutical and biotech industries as a general manager, management consultant, commercial leader and entrepreneur. He served as Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Launch Therapeutics since its founding in March 2022. From July 2016 to February 2022, Anshul served in increasing levels of seniority at PPD, from Global Head of PPD Biotech to Chief Commercial Officer and Executive Vice President of Peri- and Post-Approval Services at PPD. Before PPD, Anshul ran the global life sciences business unit at Gerson Lehrman Group (GLG) from March 2014 to June 2016 and served as a consultant at McKinsey & Company from August 2006 to March 2014, where he was an associate principal in the healthcare practice, counselling senior management and CEOs of global pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies.

Anshul currently serves on the Board of Directors of Orsini Specialty Pharmacy, a leader in pharmacy solutions for rare disease and complex therapy programs.

Anshul earned his Bachelor of Science and Master of Science in Engineering in Biomedical Engineering from Johns Hopkins University and his Master of Business Administration from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

Jill Gicking McConnell is the Chief Financial Officer of Fortrea (Nasdaq: FTRE). She has served in this position since Fortrea’s launch as an independent company in July 2023 following its spinoff from Labcorp (NYSE: LH). 

Jill has more than 25 years of financial leadership in healthcare, driving growth and margin expansion as well as delivering global change and transformation projects while working in the U.S., U.K. and Ireland. Jill joined Labcorp as Chief Financial Officer of Labcorp Drug Development in 2018 until assuming the role at Fortrea. She most recently led the project that executed the spinoff of Fortrea from Labcorp. Previously, Jill held increasingly senior financial roles at GSK (LSE/NYSE: GSK), spanning the pharmaceutical lifecycle over almost 19 years. Her most recent position at GSK was Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of ViiV Healthcare, a joint venture between GSK, Pfizer and Shionogi. Prior to GSK, Jill qualified as a Certified Public Accountant, primarily with PwC. 

Jill has an MBA in Health and Medical Services Administration from Saint Joseph’s University and two bachelor’s degrees in Management and French from Gettysburg College. In addition to financial leadership, Jill is committed to employee engagement and has served as executive sponsor to several employee resource groups, both at Labcorp and GSK. In 2023, Jill was named as a Luminary by the Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association.

Mark Morais has served as Fortrea’s Chief Operations Officer and President, Clinical Development since May 2023. In this role, he is responsible for the strategy and delivery of Fortrea’s clinical operations inclusive of its full-service CRO, functional service provider offerings and therapeutic expansion. 

Mark brings more than two decades of experience in the CRO industry, including a successful track record in operational optimization and commercial development. Working closely with clients, he has helped shape the design of strategic alliances and preferred-provider relationships. Mark held a number of leadership positions at Labcorp Drug Development, prior to Fortrea’s spinoff from Labcorp. He served as President of Clinical Operations and Commercial Services from 2020 to 2023. Previous roles included Senior Vice President of Strategic Deal Development and Alliance Management, and Vice President of Strategic Deal Development and Pricing. Prior to joining Labcorp Drug Development, Mark served at Quintiles/IQVIA from 2001 to 2016, where he held global leadership positions in both Commercial Development and Clinical Operations. 

Mark received his bachelor's degree in Economics from North Carolina State University and has served multiple terms in on the Poole College of Management advisory board.

Oren Cohen, MD, is Chief Medical Officer, with responsibility for Fortrea’s medical strategy, scientific leadership, ethics and governance oversight across Fortrea’s portfolio. He previously served as both Fortrea’s Chief Medical Officer and President of Clinical Pharmacology Services since the company’s launch as an independent company in July 2023.

Following a decade of translational research at the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases under the mentorship of Anthony Fauci, MD, Oren has more than 20 years of experience in various medical and scientific executive leadership roles in the pharmaceutical industry. Most recently, Oren served as Chief Medical Officer and head of Clinical Pharmacology Services at Labcorp Drug Development since 2017. Prior to Labcorp, he was Chief Medical Officer at Viamet Pharmaceuticals, where he worked closely with clinical investigators and key opinion leaders to formulate and execute clinical development programs across a portfolio, developing and executing strategy and protocol designs. Previously, he held several senior medical and operational leadership positions at Quintiles, now part of IQVIA.

Oren received his MD from Duke University and served his internship and residency at The New York Hospital, Cornell Medical Center in New York City. He completed his infectious diseases fellowship at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and stayed on to become an investigator in the Laboratory of Immunoregulation. Oren is also Consulting Professor of Medicine at Duke University Medical Center, a member of the Board of Visitors for Duke University School of Medicine and a Fellow of the Infectious Diseases Society of America. His research has been published in journals including The New England Journal of Medicine, Science, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Nature Medicine and the Journal of Clinical Investigation.

Cassandra Strickland Kennedy has served as Chief Quality, Regulatory Affairs, and Sustainability Officer since May 2023 with oversight of Global Regulatory Compliance, Quality Assurance and Environmental, Social and Governance at Fortrea. 

Sandy brings more than three decades of biopharmaceutical industry experience, with a long track record of success in leadership positions within the pharmaceutical and CRO environments. She served as Senior Vice President of Global Regulatory Compliance & Quality Assurance at Labcorp Drug Development from 2018 to 2023, prior to Fortrea’s spinoff from Labcorp. Previously, Sandy was Senior Vice President, Global Compliance & Quality with Quintiles, now part of IQVIA, where she was employed for 20 years. In this position, she was a member of the Enterprise Compliance Office and the Compliance Management Committee of Quintiles. Sandy was a founding member of the Quintiles Data Privacy Board and served as Vice-Chairman of the Ethics Board. Before joining Quintiles in 1997, she was US Quality Assurance Manager at Parexel International. Sandy began her career at Solvay Pharmaceuticals in Research & Development from 1987 to 1994. 

Sandy earned her bachelor's degree in Clinical Psychology from Lipscomb University and is certified in Regulatory Affairs and Healthcare Compliance. She has served on a number of industry associations, including as the 2026 Chair of the Association of Contract Research Organizations (ACRO), having previously served as its 2022 and 2023 Secretary. Sandy also was co-chair of the ACRO Forum with TransCelerate. In addition to her industry leadership role, she has demonstrated her passion for developing and advancing women. She was a founding member and board chair of the Quintiles Women Inspired Network and a member of the Advisory Team at Labcorp’s Women in Leadership. Sandy served on the RTP Board of Directors for the non-profit organization Dress for Success, which works to empower women to achieve economic independence and thrive in work and in life.

Drayton Virkler is President and Chief Commercial Officer at Fortrea, focused on improving the probability of success of biopharmaceutical companies across the globe as they bring life-saving and life-enhancing products to the market. Drayton joined the organization in May 2023 during Fortrea’s spinoff from its parent company, Labcorp. 

Drayton has a broad array of global and industrial experience including leadership of global go-to-market teams as well as leadership of global and regional business development teams in the U.S., Canada and Asia Pacific. He spent the last 20 years working in the life sciences sector across service providers and pharmaceutical sponsors. Before joining Fortrea, Drayton was the President of the Regulatory and Access division at Certara, a global leader in biosimulation, technology and tech-driven services to accelerate medicine development for biopharmaceutical companies. Previously, he served as Certara’s Chief Commercial Officer. Drayton held a variety of commercial leadership roles at Quintiles, now part of IQVIA, a human data science company. During his 10-year tenure, he led business development in the US and Canada and led its Asia Pacific business development team. Drayton served as head of Investor Relations for Talecris Biotherapeutics, building and managing the function after the company’s $1 billion IPO in 2009 and through its acquisition by Grifols in 2011. Prior to joining Talecris in 2008, Drayton was an executive with GSK from 2003 to 2008 where he held a variety of positions in marketing and sales. Earlier in his career, Drayton worked as a country manager and formulation chemist for his family's textile chemical company. He has lived and worked in Argentina, Mexico, Singapore and the U.S., and is fluent in English and Spanish. 

Drayton has a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Washington and Lee University and an MBA from Duke University's Fuqua School of Business. He serves on the International Board of Directors for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) as well as the Board of Visitors for the Fuqua School of Business.

Alejandro Martinez-Galindo is Chief Information Officer, leading Fortrea’s information technology vision and strategy to enable life-changing research and solutions. Alejandro joined the organization in May 2023 during Fortrea’s spinoff from its parent company, Labcorp. 

Alejandro is a global technology leader with more than 30 years of experience in the healthcare, life sciences, retail, supply chain, manufacturing and automotive sectors. Most recently, he was the Chief Information Officer of Capri Holdings, a luxury fashion retailer. Previously, Alejandro served as the Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) Chief Information Officer, where he led a comprehensive transformation of the company’s retail digital platform. Prior to WBA, he was Chief Information Officer at Quintiles, now part of IQVIA. Earlier in his career, he held multiple Chief Information Officer roles at General Motors, where he lived and worked in LATAM, EMEA and North America, including Chief Information Officer of Europe, based in London. Before joining General Motors, he was information technology and strategic planning director at PACCAR Mexico, responsible for IT operations of four business units in Mexico, including Kenworth Mexicana, PACCAR Capital Mexico, PacLease Mexicana and PACCAR Parts Mexico. 

Martinez received a bachelor's degree in Computer Sciences and earned a master's degree from La Salle University, Mexico City. He also has a manufacturing systems degree from ITESM, Mexico and a business degree from UIA, Mexico. Alejandro was part of the GM Senior Executive program and attended several executive programs at the MIT and University of Oxford, Saïd Business School.

David Cooper has served as Fortrea’s Chief Administrative Officer since May 2023, responsible for Human Resources, Procurement, Facilities and Corporate Communications. 

Dave has almost 30 years of leadership experience in the hospital and health care industry. Before transitioning to his Fortrea role, he served as the Vice President of Global People Experience at Labcorp, a global Fortune 500 healthcare services firm. Prior to Labcorp, Dave was the Chief Human Resources officer at Q2 Solutions, an independent provider of global drug development services following a spinoff from Quintiles. Previously, he served for more than a decade in a variety of leadership roles at Quintiles, a publicly traded healthcare services company. Earlier in his career, he worked in staffing-focused roles at Solectron, now part of Flextronics, and Govig & Associates. 

He earned his bachelor's degree in Management from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Agnieszka (Aggie) M. Gallagher joined Fortrea in November 2025 as General Counsel. She is responsible for the Company’s legal strategy and operations, serving as Corporate Secretary, Chief Compliance Officer and as a member of Fortrea’s leadership team.

Aggie has more than 25 years of experience in the life sciences, biotechnology, diagnostics, pharmaceutical and medtech sectors. Most recently, she was chief legal officer and corporate secretary at Standard Biotools, Inc., where she played a key role in the completion of its merger with SomaLogic. Previously, Aggie served as general counsel, chief compliance officer and company secretary at Orasure Technologies, where she oversaw its legal, regulatory affairs and quality assurance functions. She was chief compliance and ethics officer at Alnylam Pharmaceuticals and has served in leadership roles in legal and compliance at ViiV Healthcare, GSK Biologics, Sandoz International, Medtronic and Pfizer. Aggie began her legal career at White & Case LLP, an international law firm serving companies, governments and financial institutions.

Aggie holds a Juris Doctor from Rutgers Law School and earned her Bachelor of Arts in Spanish and Political Science from Rutgers College. She is admitted to the bar in New York and New Jersey.

Georgina Strickland is Chief of Staff and Head of Strategy at Fortrea, leading the development of corporate strategy. She has served in this position since Fortrea’s launch as an independent company in July 2023. 

Georgina’s career in global drug development spans three decades. Prior to joining Labcorp, she served as Senior Vice President of Business Operations at Lightship, a clinical research organization, from 2020 to 2023. Previously, Georgina established and ran a program management office to mobilize enterprise-wide operational excellence at Parexel from 2017 to 2020. She held a variety of leadership roles at Quintiles, now part of IQVIA, over the course of 25 years. During her tenure she was Chief of Staff to the Chief Executive Officer and Vice President of Strategy, supporting the Quintiles and IMS merger, following roles in Corporate Development, Business Development and Operations. 

Georgina earned her bachelor's degree in Biology at the University of Bristol in the U.K.

Scott Dove, PhD joined Fortrea in January 2026 as President, Clinical Pharmacology Services, collaborating with biopharmaceutical and biotechnology companies to optimize early clinical development through excellence in study design and execution.

Scott is an accomplished biopharmaceutical executive with more than 25 years of experience in small and large pharma, as well as in the CRO industry. Most recently, Scott was President of Driftwood Bio LLC, providing consultative services to biopharmaceutical clients, including clinical development planning, biopharma services selection and operational oversight, and diligence efforts for M&A and in-licensing. Previously, he was Chief Operating Officer at Aravive, Inc., an oncology-focused biotech, where he oversaw all of R&D operations. Prior to Aravive, Scott served as Senior Vice President, Early Development Services, at PPD, providing strategic direction and oversight of PPD’s Early Development Services business unit. Earlier in his career, Scott served in leadership positions at Allergan and Furiex Pharmaceuticals, responsible for clinical development and post-marketing requirements for key products.

Scott earned a bachelor's degree in biochemistry and a doctorate in pharmacology from Texas A&M University.