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March 29, 2021
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text]We’d like to welcome Dr. Heather Drew as she joins the Global Change Center beginning April 1st in the new role of Communications & Strategic Initiatives Specialist! Heather completed her Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences from the University of Florida College of Medicine in May 2020. With a focus in immunology and microbiology, her specific PhD research was on a novel stress-response protein in Burkholderia pseudomallei. As a US Senate Science Policy Fellow in 2018, she worked to translate scientific information about climate change, human health and antibiotic resistance for decision makers.
Heather’s experiences in scientific research and the policy realm have guided her interests toward a career in scientific communications and cultivated her passion for environmental health, providing great alignment with the mission and initiatives of the Global Change Center.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”55076″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center” style=”vc_box_border”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]In her new role with the GCC, Heather will work to expand our communications efforts to share the awesome work that GCC affiliates and IGC fellows accomplish every day here at VT and beyond. Drawing from insight recent Ph.D. graduate, she’s excited to contribute to the growth opportunities ahead for the Interfaces of Global Change IGEP.
With two environmental engineers for parents, Heather was raised with an innate interest to observe and learn about the world around her. Her interests in infectious disease were sparked early on by the science fiction novel The War of the Worlds, in which aliens invade Earth but are defeated by an infectious disease. She remains motivated and fascinated by the evolving relationship among bacteria, infection and the human-host.
Welcome aboard, Heather![/vc_column_text][vc_separator style=”shadow”][/vc_column][/vc_row]