Dr. Heather Ann Brauer

Dr. Brauer is a senior program officer for the HIV Frontiers initiative at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. She contributes to overall program strategy and manages key investments seeking to accelerate progress toward a cure for HIV and to ensure global access to new treatment interventions. Heather Ann previously spent time as a senior program officer within Discovery & Translational Sciences developing collaborative programs that leverage cutting-edge technologies and translational capabilities.

Prior to joining the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Heather Ann held various roles in diagnostic and product development at the Seattle-based biotech company, NanoString. As part of her tenue there, she designed and led the Translational Research Program for the incorporation of gene expression biomarkers into clinical research, supported FDA filings for label expansion, and developed research products for novel biomarker discovery. She completed her time at NanoString as the director of spatial genomics scientific strategy, where she had the opportunity to elevate scientific engagement globally around spatial genomic technology from oncology to infectious disease.

Heather Ann received her Ph.D. from the University of Washington. She completed her doctorate training at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, with a focus on developing and applying novel approaches for the detection of blood-based biomarkers. She continued her interest in biomarker discovery as a postdoc at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, evaluating breast tumor microenvironment metabolic and genomic biomarkers to assess the role of population-based health disparities.