One of OHIO’s first Cutler Scholars breaking new ground in cancer screening

Heather Baird Tomlinson, BS ’00, speaks at Ohio University’s 2009 Founders Day Convocation, sharing her experience as one of the University’s first Cutler Scholars and saying, “The Konneker Cutler Scholarship allowed me, a young girl from a small community in rural Ohio, to achieve goals that were once unimaginable, to travel the world, and to dream even bigger dreams.” Photo courtesy of University Communications and Marketing

Heather Baird Tomlinson, BS ’00, was a cutting-edge Ohio University student. A member of the first class of Cutler Scholars to complete four years of study under the program, she spent three of her undergraduate years working at a local start-up that became a market leader in the development and distribution of cellular and molecular diagnostic kits.

Nearly 20 years after graduating, Tomlinson remains cutting edge, putting the skills she began building at OHIO to use as she spearheads the development of a cancer screening test poised to change the way hereditary cancers are identified, treated and prevented.

In November, biotechnology company Promega Corp. and pharmaceutical company Merck announced a collaboration that, pending FDA approval, would made a genetic test developed by Promega the official companion diagnostic for Merck’s immunotherapy drug Keytruda. Promega’s test, using markers recommended by the National Cancer Institute, would help in identifying the genetic components of a cancer and the best way to treat it.

The test has been on the market as a research tool, but when Tomlinson was promoted to Promega’s director of clinical operations in 2017, she began to survey market opportunity for the test and encouraged the company to transition it to a diagnostic tool used worldwide.

Today, Heather Baird Tomlinson, BS ’00, is the director of clinical operations at biotechnology company Promega Corp. where she is spearheading the development of a cancer screening test. Photo by Emily Smith

“We have the opportunity to impact all types of cancer patients,” Tomlinson said of the genetic test. “This is an opportunity to really change how cancer is treated and do it in a different way and a more strategic way.”

For Tomlinson, this work is personal; like many, she has lost a loved one to cancer. It’s work that also has its roots in her days at Ohio University and her experience as a Cutler Scholar.

In the fall of 1996, Tomlinson was one of two first-year students welcomed into OHIO’s new Cutler Scholars Program, the University’s premier merit scholarship program that provides students a four-year scholarship, mentorship, and academic enrichment and experiential learning opportunities. Tomlinson came to OHIO as a Wilfred R. Konneker Cutler Scholar, named in honor of one of the program’s founders and supporters, Wilfred Konneker, BS ’43, MS ’47, HON ’80.

Tomlinson and Konneker graduated from the same rural Ohio high school, both studied chemistry at OHIO, and she developed an enduring relationship with both him and his wife, Ann, HON ’80.

“[The Konnekers] were very interested in the development of all of the Konneker Cutler Scholars understanding what they can learn about the world as part of the program and how the program could shape their career path in life,” Tomlinson said. “I’m so fortunate to have had them involved in my education.”

As a result of the Konnekers’ investment into the lives of their Cutler Scholars, Tomlinson entered the medical field before she even graduated, securing a business internship at Athens-based Diagnostic Hybrids Inc. (DHI) as part of the Cutler Scholars Program. Founded in Ohio University’s Innovation Center in 1983 by Konneker and two OHIO professors, DHI was but a small start-up when Tomlinson joined it, learning the ins and outs of business as well as research and development and, in the process, earning a study abroad opportunity at a partnering lab in Italy.

“At Diagnostic Hybrids, I learned all about medical research and diagnostic testing, and that eventually shaped my career,” Tomlinson said.

After graduating from OHIO, Tomlinson earned a doctoral degree in pharmacology from Case Western Reserve University and returned to Athens to work as a senior manager of pharmaceutical products at DHI. She left DHI in 2009 to join the team at Promega. Less than a year later, Quidel Corp. purchased DHI for approximately $130 million.

Heather Baird Tomlinson, BS ’00, speaks her sophomore year at Ohio University at an event honoring fellow OHIO graduate Wilfred Konneker, BS ’43, MS ’47, HON ’80, who, along with President Emeritus Charles J. Ping (pictured in the background) and Jack Ellis, established the Cutler Scholars Program.

“I hold a global marketing role now and travel all around the world for my job and get to experience so many different cultures and see how other people live,” Tomlinson said. “These are things I’m not sure I ever would have done if I hadn’t been exposed to the Cutler Scholars Program and the travel and awareness that the program afforded me.”

As a member of the Cutler Scholars’ first class, Tomlinson worked closely with its founders, Dr. Konneker, Jack Ellis and Ohio University President Emeritus Charles J. Ping, to develop the program that over the past 20-plus years has served approximately 220 students. She continues to serve on the Cutlers Scholars Advisory Board and visits campus to participate in the program’s activities.

“As someone who was there at the beginning and had exposure to Dr. Ping, Dr. Konneker and Jack Ellis when they were developing the program and deciding how to model the program, I feel that I have an obligation to keep their vision alive,” Tomlinson said. “Being part of the Cutler Scholars Program and being part of the Ohio University community really changed the trajectory of my life and how I view the world and opened up so many opportunities for me.”

For Tomlinson and her parents, the Konnekers will always be a part of their family. Tomlinson stayed in touch with the Konnekers after graduation and continues to send Mrs. Konneker Christmas cards.

When asked what role the Konnekers continue to play in her life, Tomlinson said, “It’s really just the inspiration they provide to the day to day in my life.”

To read more about graduates of OHIO’s Cutler Scholars Program, click here.