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| Board of Directors - Board Members |
L. Eric Hallman, Ph.D. 
Eric is a serial entrepreneur having founded and managed numerous biotechnology startup companies. With training in neurobiology he is also a scientist and a passionate educator. Through his experience in the pharmaceutical industry, various entrepreneurial endeavors, non-profit boards, and civic governance Eric has honed his skills as a resourceful and successful business leader.
Eric’s current venture is Kryosphere which provides biostorage and biorepository services to universities, biotechnology companies, and pharmaceutical firms. Founded in 2007, Kryosphere is growing rapidly and plans to expand across the Southeast over the next few years. Previously Eric founded one of the first companies to commercialize combinatorial chemistry technology, SARCO and guided the company from launch to a $7.8 M acquisition in less than two years. After leading the sale of SARCO to Pharmaceutical Product Development (PPDI), he was recruited to launch Cogent Neurosciences, a biotechnology company focusing on gene discovery for diseases of the central nervous system. As a founder and key executive Eric was instrumental in the company formation and in securing venture funding for this endeavor.
Eric is also an elected official serving his second term as a Commissioner for the Town of Hillsborough. Eric has demonstrated his leadership in both town, county, and regional initiatives and is a driving force for affordable housing, economic development, parks and recreation, and regional transportation planning.
Eric earned his PhD and MS from Washington University in St. Louis and his BS degree from Wake Forest University. He completed a post-doctoral fellowship in neuroanatomy at Duke University Medical School.
Eric is married to accomplished entrepreneur Elizabeth Woodman, founder of Ventana Publishing. They share the challenge of maintaining an historic house, her two college-aged sons, and three dogs in downtown Hillsborough. Eric is also a jazz trumpet player and founding member of the Triangle Jazz Orchestra and the Jazztones sextet.