About The Authors
Dr. Iswariya Venkataraman (Director of Scientific Affairs)
is responsible for the scientific affairs team at EUROIMMUN US. She holds a Ph. D in the field of neuroscience and during her study, she identified novel autoantigens in autoimmune hyper-excitability disorders.
She lives with her husband and her golden retriever puppy “Karma”. She is a vegetarian and loves Indian and Italian since they offer the most veggie options. She hates rain and ice cream and loves chocolate cakes.
Dr. Maite Sabalza (Senior Scientific Affairs Manager)
supports the EUROIMMUN US team with study collaborations and scientific education. She earned her Ph.D. in the field of plant biotechnology working on the production of human neutralizing antibodies against HIV. As a postdoc, she gained experience in virology and diagnostics for emerging infectious diseases. She is from northern Spain, but is a New Yorker by heart. She loves dogs and is training for a half marathon.
Dr. Ilana Heckler (Scientific Affairs Liaison)
is the Scientific Affairs Liaison at EUROIMMUN US. She holds a Ph.D. in Chemical Biology for her studies on bacterial communities called biofilms and is passionate about science communication.
She is obsessed with her miniature red poodle named Cinnabun and insists that she is “the cutest dog in the entire world”. She is originally from Long Island, NY and is a self-proclaimed bagel and pizza snob.
Dr. Jackie Weiss (Scientific Affairs Liaison)
is a Scientific Affairs Liaison at EUROIMMUN US. She holds a Ph.D. in the field of neuroscience for her studies on sleep and synaptic plasticity. She has a mostly toothless miniature poodle mix named Cookie. In her free time, she enjoys taking dance classes, seeing immersive theater performances, and watching Survivor.
Dr. Susan Durham (Senior Scientific Affairs Liaison) is the Senior Scientific Affairs Liaison at EUROIMMUN US. Her academic background is in animal nutrition/endocrinology with post-doctoral fellowships completed in Endocrinology (Mayo Clinic) and Pediatric Nephrology (Baylor College of Medicine) focusing on growth and development. In her role at EUROIMMUN US, she supports EUROIMMUN/IDS commercial activities and scientific endeavors in the realm of diagnostics.