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Dr. Sandra Heibel joined Haffner Associates in 2015 as a regulatory consultant. Sandra brings with her extensive knowledge of drug development research for rare diseases as well as experience in regulatory strategy, scientific writing, regulatory submissions, and project management. In addition to her work with Haffner Associates, Sandra concurrently serves as a Project Manager for Scientific Operations for BioPontis Alliance for Rare Diseases, a non-profit corporation dedicated to the development of new therapeutic agents to treat rare diseases.

Prior to joining Haffner Associates, Sandra worked as Project Manager for Regulatory Science at Coté Orphan, a firm specializing in regulatory submissions for orphan drugs, and spent 13 years doing preclinical research. Sandra completed her PhD at the University of Maryland where she studied the molecular biology of rare heritable diseases of metabolism in the laboratory of Mendel Tuchman, MD at the Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, DC. Through her doctoral experience and as part of a scientist-clinician team, she identified and characterized disease-causing mutations in patients with ultra-rare diseases, assisted with clinical studies, and learned about the need for, and value of developing drugs for rare diseases. These studies and experiences have become the driving force of her career.

Sandi is an active member of Women In Bio, a non-profit that supports the careers of women in the biosciences across all stages. She is a passionate supporter of STEM education for women and developed mentoring programs to assist women in career development from graduate school through the C-suite. She received her Master’s degree in Animal Science from the University of Maryland and her Bachelor’s degree in Animal Bioscience from Penn State University. For 10 years she and her husband have lived in the Washington, DC area, and when not working in the rare disease field, she enjoys traveling, SCUBA diving, tasting international cuisine, and spending time with her friends and family.