Dr. Paula Ehrlich

Roles: Special Guest

Paula J. Ehrlich, DVM, PhD, is the President & CEO of the E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation, where she champions biodiversity research to inform conservation efforts, and uses pioneering educational tools and creative media to engage people in the importance of our biological heritage and to encourage a robust response to the extinction crisis.

Dr. Ehrlich has more than 25 years of strategic scientific management and research expertise, and diverse academic, non-profit, and corporate leadership experience. She was formerly President & CEO of the Drug Discovery Center of Innovation (DDCOI) in Research Triangle Park, NC, a non-profit that pioneered innovative approaches to early drug development. Dr. Ehrlich joined DDCOI in 2010, as Vice President & Chief Scientific Officer. Prior to joining the DDCOI, she was Senior Director of Scientific Affairs at Ansaris (formerly Locus Pharmaceuticals), which she joined as Senior Director of Translational Biology. At Ansaris, she led strategic activities to establish preclinical proof-of-concept for novel therapeutic targets and led business development efforts to identify new collaboration opportunities. From 2002–2008, Dr. Ehrlich held positions of increasing responsibility at Merck Research Laboratories in West Point, PA, culminating in her role as Preclinical Oncology Imaging Lead & Associate Franchise Director. At Merck she led initiatives to establish imaging biomarkers and proof-of-concept for over 12 lead compounds, which are currently in clinical trials. She has held research, clinical, and teaching positions at Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine, the Atlantic Veterinary College, and the Royal Veterinary College.

Dr. Ehrlich has a B.S. in Zoology from Duke University, a Masters degree in Environmental Planning from the University of Virginia, a DVM from the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine, and a PhD in Bone Physiology from the Royal Veterinary College, University of London. She has Six Sigma Green Belt training and is a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Surgeons.