Section 12. There shall be an 18–member advisory board to be appointed by the governor to advise the center. The members shall include: 10 of whom shall be active members of the Massachusetts Life Sciences Collaborative, at least 2 of whom shall represent small businesses; 5 of whom shall be the chancellors at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Boston, Dartmouth, Lowell and Worcester, or their designees; and 3 of whom shall be patient advocates with significant interaction or experience in the life sciences. The secretary of labor and workforce development or the secretary's designee, the executive director of the Massachusetts Technology Transfer Center and and the 5 executive directors of the regional technology and innovation centers, established pursuant to section 11, shall serve as ex-officio, non-voting members of the advisory board.

Each member shall serve for a term of 3 years, except that in making his initial appointments, the governor shall appoint 5 members to serve for a term of 1 year, 3 members to serve for a term of 2 years, 5 members to serve for a term of 3 years. Any person appointed to fill a vacancy in the office of a member of the advisory board shall be appointed in a like manner and shall serve for only the unexpired term of the member who vacated. Members shall be eligible for reappointment. Any member may be removed by the governor for cause. The advisory board shall meet at least bi-annually, but shall meet as often as the members shall determine, or at such other intervals as established by the president to review recommendations made by the board. The members of the advisory board shall serve without compensation, but each member shall be entitled to reimbursement for his actual and necessary expenses incurred in the performance of his official duties.

The duties of the advisory board shall be to advise the center and the board concerning: research and development in the life sciences; development of products and the effectiveness of public and private initiatives to further product development; manufacturing and commercialization of biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, medical diagnostic products or such other areas within the life sciences; identifying candidates and providing recommendations for the 5 regional technology and innovation centers as established in section 11; and any other area as requested by the board.

The advisory board shall not be a state agency for the purposes of chapter 268A and shall not be subject to section 11A 1/2 of chapter 30A or chapter 66.