Heather joined Avilar in March 2023 as a Scientist I within our Biology Team. Her current position is primarily focused on establishing Avilar’s wet lab operations along with contributing to the development of cell-based assays to assess the efficacy of our cutting-edge ATAC technology. Before joining Avilar, Heather pursued her doctoral studies in Cellular and Molecular Biology at Boston University in the laboratory of Dr. Trevor Siggers. There, she led the development of two novel techniques to map cofactor recruitment as well as studied the impact of autoimmune diseases and single nucleotide polymorphisms on protein-protein interactions and gene expression. Heather also has several years of industry experience through her work at CuriRx and Pfizer, where she optimized drug formulations and was a key member of the Cell Line Stability Team and Medical Research Unit, respectively. Heather has an MA in Cellular and Molecular Biology from Boston University and a BA in Biology from Merrimack College.