Professor Heidi Elmendorf has been at Georgetown University since 1999 as a faculty member in the Department of Biology.

Prof. Elmendorf has spent her research career in the field of global health, studying parasitic diseases that primarily affect some of the world’s most underprivileged peoples. Her laboratory conducts research on the intestinal parasite Giardia. Over the past two decades, she has taught a wide range of courses in Biology to both majors and non-majors and has won numerous teaching honors for her work.

Prof. Elmendorf has long been committed to increasing opportunities in the sciences for a greater diversity of students. In 2002 she founded, and has since directed, a STEM partnership with D.C. Public Schools. Since 2010 she has coordinated and taught in the science week of the Summer College Immersion Program, a partnership with Cristo Rey and KIPP schools. And she now leads efforts on the Hilltop as Director of the Regents Science Scholars Program.

Current Projects
Founder and Director of the Hub for Equity and Innovation in Higher Education, a discovery and design unit at Georgetown University dedicated to the development of equitable and innovative models of education. Founder of The Pivotal Network, a national network that seeks to support students' journeys to college and careers by supporting the work of their high school teachers and by building partnerships between these teachers and colleges and universities. Founder and Director of the Regents STEM Scholars Program, a wing of Georgetown's ground-breaking Community Scholars Program that works to address the critical shortage of underserved and first-generation college students who successfully complete degrees in STEM fields. I teach... a lot... with great colleagues and great students: large first-year Biology courses, science pedagogy courses, and science courses to incarcerated individuals (the latter through Georgetown's Prison and Justice Initiative).

Areas of Expertise
Inclusive pedagogies for large course format, STEM courses, K-12 education and education outreach, & Data-driven design.