Hetal Shah, PhD

Dr. Hetal Shah is a Senior Program Officer at the Coalition for Aligning Science, with workstreams in both neurodegeneration and neurodevelopment. Dr. Shah primarily works on CAS’ flagship initiative, Aligning Science Across Parkinson’s (ASAP), a discovery science initiative aimed at unraveling the etiology of Parkinson’s disease. 

Within her role, she focuses on research operations, due diligence assessments, scientific communication, and scientific facilitation. Dr. Shah also leads CAS’ internship program, which currently provides doctoral students an opportunity to learn about scientific consulting.

Dr. Shah earned her PhD in Neuroscience and Cognitive Science from the Graduate Partnership Program, a partnership between the National Institutes of Health and the University of Maryland. In the laboratory of Dr. Richard Youle, her thesis work focused on studying the molecular mechanisms underlying mitochondrial quality control. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Neurobiology and Bachelor of Arts in French at the University of Iowa and completed post-baccalaureate training at the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders.