Association Leadership

The Ohio Life Sciences Association is a 501(c)(6) business association led by a group of trustees comprised of industry and academic leaders.

Tyler Allchin, Managing Director, Healthcare, JobsOhio

Board Vice-Chair

Tyler Allchin is the Managing Director, Healthcare at JobsOhio, the state of Ohio’s private economic development entity. The JobsOhio healthcare team works to grow the sector around the state’s world-class care providers, research institutions, and corporate leaders. Previously, Tyler led strategic development projects for BioEnterprise, Cleveland’s life science accelerator and industry convener. An attorney and former healthcare industry lobbyist, Tyler is a graduate of The University of Akron (JD, MPA) and Kent State University (BA). Tyler lives in the Ohio City neighborhood of Cleveland, Ohio with his wife, Juliana, a Cleveland metro kindergarten teacher. Outside of work, Tyler is the co-founder and chair of The Warren A. Sill Fund, a non-profit organization dedicated to investing in innovative early childhood education programming.

Diane Berry, PhD, SVP, Global Policy, Government & Patient Affairs, Sarepta Therapeutics

Diane joined Sarepta Therapeutics in December 2011 and serves as Vice President, Global Policy, Government & Patient Affairs. She engages policymakers at the federal, state, and local levels, as well as patient advocacy organizations, to advance critical policies related to newborn screening, regulatory policy, and reimbursement and access with a goal of expediting development and patient access to genetic-based therapies for rare diseases. Previously, Dr. Berry served in leadership roles for the federal government, across the legislative and executive branches, overseeing and implementing science and technology and public health activities. She served as a Subcommittee Staff Director and Senior Professional Staff Member for the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Homeland Security and as Chief Scientist and Senior Biodefense Advisor at the Department of Homeland Security in the Office of Health Affairs. Dr. Berry was also a Senior Science Advisor at McKenna, Long, and Aldridge and a Science and Technology Policy Advisor and Fellow within the Department of Defense through the American Association for the Advancement of Science. She earned her Ph.D. in chemical engineering from Northwestern University and received her B.S. and M.S. in chemical/biochemical engineering from Tufts University.

Erica Conroy, Ph.D., SVP, Employer Partnerships, AndHealth

Board Secretary

Erica Conroy is a results-driven and customer-centric healthcare executive with a passion for developing high-performing teams and solving big problems with innovative solutions. Prior to her role as SVP, Employer Partnerships with AndHealth, Erica served as Senior Vice President, Product at CoverMyMeds, in addition to five years at Vertex Pharmaceuticals as a medicinal chemist. Erica completed her Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry from California Polytechnic State University, her Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from The Ohio State University, and continued on to achieve a Post-doctorate in Organic Chemistry from The Scripps Research Institute.

Jennifer M. Dauer, Chief Strategy and Transformation Officer, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center

Board Treasurer

Jennifer Dauer is the Chief Strategy and Transformation Officer of The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. In this capacity, she is responsible for driving all aspects of strategy for the organization, including all seven health sciences colleges, and identifying key initiatives to guide this transformation. Her focus is on the creation and implementation of the enterprise strategic plan, advancement of specifics on enterprise top priorities, development of industry partnerships and breakthrough business development opportunities, and accelerated technology development and commercialization efforts. Before joining Ohio State in July 2020, Ms. Dauer was Managing Director at CincyTech, Southwest Ohio’s regional seed to series A venture capital firm. Prior to CincyTech, she served as Senior Vice President, Strategy and Growth at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. Jennifer began her career at Procter & Gamble where she spent over 25 years working across multiple business units and regions. Jennifer received her bachelor of arts in economics and international relations from Brown University.

Steve Fening, Ph.D., Associate Vice President for Research | Professor, Biomedical Engineering, Case Western Reserve University

Dr. Fening is an Associate Vice President for Research at Case Western Reserve University, a Professor of Biomedical Engineering, and the Managing Director of the Case-Coulter Translational Research Partnership. He also has appointments at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner Research Institute and the Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center. In these roles, Steve drives innovation and translational research to move technologies to the market, where they can improve patient care. He received undergraduate and masters degrees in mechanical engineering, an interdisciplinary Ph.D. degree in biomedical engineering, and a postdoctoral fellowship in orthopaedic biomechanics. His career goal is to make broad and substantial improvements to patient care through translational research and commercialization.

Matthew McFarland, RPh, PhD, joined Nationwide Children’s Hospital as director of the Office of Technology Commercialization in 2012. He has a diverse background in drug discovery, business development, startup generation and funding, and strategic partnerships.

During his tenure, the OTC has experienced an increase in annual deal flow by 900%. Novel deal structures with licensing partners have also brought additional development resources to the institution. Dr. McFarland has been key to the recruitment and establishment of industrial partners in Columbus and brokering strategic partnerships for Nationwide Children’s.

Prior to joining Nationwide Children’s, Dr. McFarland was the associate director of commercialization in the Office of Technology Commercialization at the Purdue Research Foundation, where he oversaw the management of life science technologies including small molecule therapeutics, biological therapeutics, medical devices/implants and agricultural genetics. Dr. McFarland received his bachelor’s degree from Ohio Northern University and his doctorate in Medicinal Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology from Purdue University. He also completed a postdoctoral research fellowship in translational genetics of neuropsychiatric disorders at the Institute of Psychiatric Research at Indiana University Medical School.

Eddie Pauline, MBA, OhioCED, President & CEO, Ohio Life Sciences Association & Ohio Life Sciences Foundation

Eddie Pauline joined Ohio Life Sciences as President and CEO in August 2021. Eddie previously served as the Director for Economic Development for The Ohio State University within its Enterprise for Research, Innovation, and Knowledge. In this role, Eddie led the economic development and economic impact functions to attract new companies to Ohio and retain and expand Ohio businesses.  Working closely with tech transfer and commercialization partners, corporate partnerships, the innovation district, medical center, government affairs, and startup portfolio, he initiated and guided campus-wide and industry-specific workforce, innovation, and placemaking programs to drive economic growth. Prior to coming to Ohio State in 2010, Eddie worked in the digital media industry for startups and large corporations, primarily in Seattle and New York, where he was part of the team that led the successful acquisition of Scout.com by Fox Interactive Media. Eddie holds a BA and a BS from The Ohio State University and an MBA from Franklin University. He is an Ohio Certified Economic Developer. Eddie, his wife Lindsey, and their three children live in Worthington, Ohio.

Michael Triplett, Ph.D., President & CEO, Armatus Bio

Board Chair

Dr. Triplett is the President & CEO of Armatus Bio, as well as Co-Founder of Clarametyx Biosciences, a Columbus, Ohio-based company building a dynamic pipeline of immune-enabling therapies and vaccines for chronic and recurrent bacterial infections associated with biofilms. Mike is also President of Carmen Partners LLC, a life science ventures, commercialization, and innovation consultancy. Dr. Triplett co-founded and served as President and CEO of Myonexus Therapeutics. Prior to co-founding Myonexus Therapeutics, Dr. Triplett served as Chief Executive Officer of N8 Medical, a clinical-stage combination device company with Breakthrough designation for its lead antimicrobial endotracheal tube product. Dr. Triplett is currently leading the InnovateOhio Life Sciences Working Group for Ohio Lieutenant Governor Jon Husted with the mission to propose a life sciences economic development strategy for the State of Ohio. Dr. Triplett received his BS in Chemical Engineering (summa cum laude) and PhD in Chemical Engineering from The Ohio State University.