Jana Von Hehn

Dr. Jana von Hehn is a molecular biologist and geneticist who devoted her academic career at Emory University and Yale University to the study of pediatric genetic disorders including fragile X syndrome, galactosemia, and ataxia-telangiectasia (A-T). During her training she authored several peer-reviewed publications and was funded by the A-T Children’s Project.

Dr. von Hehn has significant experience within the biopharmaceutical industry in clinical development planning and clinical trial operations for pediatric and adult seizure disorders, fragile X syndrome, autism spectrum disorder, as well as solid and liquid tumors, autoimmune, and respiratory disorders. With 15 years of experience in drug development under 13 Investigational New Drug applications, she ran pivotal studies that contributed to a drug approval by the FDA in 2019, and is an inventor on a patent for a small molecule drug currently in development. In 2017, she was recruited to teach graduate level coursework in clinical trial design and scientific concepts by a local state university.

Prior to pursuing her PhD, Jana earned her B.S. in molecular biology and microbiology at the University of Central Florida. As an undergraduate, she earned a scholarship for the pursuit of higher education from the Miss America Organization when she won the title of Miss University of Central Florida 2000 with her platform for advancing genetic research to treat disease. She was an officer in the Alpha Delta Pi sorority and a member of the Golden Key National and Rho Lambda Honor Societies.