Dr. Heather Masson-Forsythe

After completing her Ph.D. in Biochemistry & Biophysics at Oregon State University, Dr. Heather Masson-Forsythe joined the National Science Foundation as a American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Science and Technology Policy Fellow in the Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE), Office of the Assistant Director. During her Ph.D., Heather used a variety of molecular biology and biophysical methods, particularly nuclear magnetic resonance, to answer biological questions related to cataracts and COVID-19. She also spent one year as a Ph.D. research and development intern in Hewlett-Packard’s microfluidics lab contributing to the company’s growing healthcare and life sciences product development. 

Heather’s greatest claim to fame to date is turning her Ph.D. work into a dance performance, winning the COVID-19 category in the 2021 Dance Your Ph.D. contest. Heather is passionate about effective science communication, and in an effort to make science available to increasingly more diverse members of the community, she has also used dance to create hundreds of TikTok videos discussing science & science culture. On the popular social media app, she quickly accumulated over fifty-thousand followers, earning her recognition in Forbes and International Business Times. Throughout her graduate work, she also worked on Inspiration Dissemination, a live radio show, podcast, and blog interviewing Oregon State University Graduate Students about their research and career paths. She is also a contributing writer for ASBMB Today, the member magazine for the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.

In her free time, Heather continues dancing, and is an ardent traveler, hiker, rock-climber, karaoke singer, and dog mom to her mini australian shepherd.