Dr. Heenan is an associate in the Biotechnology/Chemical Group. She assists in the preparation and prosecution of U.S. and foreign patent applications. Dr. Heenan's professional expertise includes genetics, molecular biology, and biochemistry.
Prior to joining the firm, Dr. Heenan interned in the Chambers of the Honorable Arthur J. Gajarsa at the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit where she drafted legal research memoranda and aided in the preparation of various types of cases before the court.
While earning her Ph.D., Dr. Heenan mapped the domains of Vps15, a newly discovered member of a G-protein signaling pathway that originates intracellularly in yeast. Dr. Heenan determined the role of each domain of Vps15 in the signaling pathway, and designed and tested mutant forms of Vps15. This work was published in the journal Biochemistry. For her work, Dr. Heenan received the Diane Harris Leadership Award in Biochemistry and Biophysics, the J. Irvin Logan Fellowship, and a Cancer Cell Biology Predoctoral Training Grant funded by the National Institutes of Health.
Dr. Heenan is also a recipient of the Sterne Kessler scholarship at GMU Law, which she won in the fall of 2010.
