Erin Heckler serves as the Associate Provost for Postdoctoral Affairs. In this role, she manages the Office for Postdoctoral Affairs, which supports the academic life cycle of postdoctoral and postgraduate appointees and provides skill-building programs during their mentored training experience. Erin also oversees appointments for visiting scholars, including visiting fellows and laboratory associates.
Erin provides support and guidance across all academic units and in close collaboration with the Office for International Students and Scholars. She also leads the team that supports two trainee associations and provides professional development to postdoctoral and postgraduate appointees, with a focus on leadership and mentoring. This team works directly with the Office for Career Strategy, the Poorvu Center for Teaching and Learning, and colleagues who train postdocs and postgrads throughout Yale.
Erin has over ten years of experience in postdoctoral affairs. She has served on the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) Group on Research Education and Training Postdoctorate Section Steering Committee and has served with the National Postdoctoral Association, most recently elected to the Board of Directors.
Erin holds a BA in Chemistry from Rutgers University and a PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Delaware. She completed her postdoctoral training at Rutgers University - New Jersey Medical School in enzymology. Erin was co-PI on a Burroughs Wellcome Grant and is an author on a 2018 study of the postdoctoral experience: “United States National Postdoc Survey results and the interaction of gender, career choice and mentor impact.”