Dawn Beraud, Ph.D.
Executive Director of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE)
Seminar Information
The executive and legislative branches of the US government play pivotal roles in developing policies that govern and fund the scientific enterprise. These activities, often conducted without scientific voices, help shape research and funding decisions across several federal agencies and at institutions across the country. Given the complex interplay between policy and research, scientists’ involvement in the process is more crucial than ever. There are several impactful ways for bioengineers to contribute to public policy to benefit society.
Dawn Beraud, Ph.D., serves as the Executive Director of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE). As a science policy leader with senior government experience and a keen understanding of Capitol Hill processes, Dr. Beraud brings to AIMBE her passion for helping scientists join the conversation and influence policy decisions. She is a strategic thinker who drives results through collaboration and consensus building. Prior to joining AIMBE, Dr. Beraud led congressional relations and external outreach for the National Institute on Aging (NIA), one of the 27 Institutes and Centers at NIH. During her tenure at NIA, Dr. Beraud skillfully communicated research plans and progress to congressional Members and their staff. These efforts supported additional appropriations for Alzheimer’s disease research and correlated with a more than 5-fold budget increase during this time. Dr. Beraud’s career at NIH spanned more than a decade and also included work on autism spectrum disorder research policy at the National Institute of Mental Health.
Dr. Beraud received a B.S. in psychology from the University of Florida where she performed research on executive functioning in healthy older adults and a Ph.D. in neuroscience from Georgetown University, where her dissertation work focused on misfolded proteins and inflammation in Parkinson’s disease.