Dr. Heise is originally from Germany and received her Master of Science and Doctor of Philosophy in Biomedical Sciences degree from Colorado State University in Fort Collins, CO. During her graduate work, she focused on educational research within the anatomical sciences and mentored various students. Dr. Heise has presented her research at various conferences and has received numerous awards and scholarships for her work.
After graduation in May of 2021, Dr. Heise transitioned into a junior faculty position and is currently working as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Pathology and Anatomy at EVMS. Besides teaching in the anatomy laboratory, Dr. Heise contributes to a variety of other courses. Although her primary research focus is within the pre-clerkship coursework, Dr. Heise has experience with research proposals involving student and patient education during clerkship rotations and aims to pursue more in the future.
Dr. Heise is further committed to outreach involving the greater community and to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts. Throughout the majority of her graduate studies, Dr. Heise served as an Assistant Student Outreach Director in her department and was part of the college's DEI committee. At EVMS, she is now closely working with the Office of Diversity and Inclusion to generate new outreach and mentorship programs. In the future, Dr. Heise hopes to generate future educators thriving to improve existing teaching methods in medicine.
Dr. Heise's research has centered around the evaluation of outcome assessments and the value of various pedagogical approaches in the human anatomy and neuroanatomy classroom: in traditional, hybrid, and fully online courses. A major focus has been investigating the role of technology in education, specifically examining learner engagement and retention utilizing Virtual Reality. Additionally, Dr. Heise is interested in STEM outreach and measuring the efficacy of teaching methods used in distance education.
