I'm a 30 year veteran of the life sciences industry with 21+ years of experience at the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO) in global health, regulatory, IP, and market access policy, advocacy, problem-solving, and program development/implementation (2000-2021). I excel at writing persuasive comments, testimony and white papers pertaining to life sciences patents, trade, market access and regulatory issues.

While at BIO, I developed and implemented BIO's domestic and global intellectual property and regulatory priorities, specifically, I developed and advocated BIO's IP positions in the America Invents Act and the Affordable Care Act. I also represented BIO's positions before the US government, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), World Trade Organization (WTO) and World Health Organization (WHO).

Additionally, while at BIO I developed the organization’s global regulatory framework and represented BIO at the US FDA, the International Council on Harmonization (ICH) and Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Regulatory Harmonization Steering Committee (APEC RHSC) on global regulatory issues. I helped BIO to build and maintain partnerships and coalitions with universities, academic institutions, NGOs, and investors and established BIO's long-standing conference for biopharmaceutical patent professionals; and BIO's University Industry Partnership Program.

Before joining BIO I was a patent examiner at the US Patent Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) examining biotechnology applications (1990-2000). While at the USPTO I was first a Supervisory Patent Examiner and then the Quality Administrator for the Biotechnology Patent Examining group group 1600 with a focus on recombinant technologies. I started my career as a laboratory scientist in the National Institutes of Health (1986-1989) working on tumor antigens for testing, developing viable vectors for gene and cell therapy and recombinant monoclonal antibodies.

I am a graduate of George Washington University in Molecular biology, and the University of Virginia in Biology.

I am a native speaker of English, fluent in Farsi with reading fluency in Spanish. 

While at the USPTO, I was awarded the Department of Commerce’s Bronze Medal Award in 2000.