Dr. Heiman-Patterson is Professor of Neurology at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University where she is  Director of the Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases and for the MDA/ALS Center of Hope.  Her research has focused on ALS and includes both clinical and laboratory interests. She has been principal investigator for more than 25 trials in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Her clinical research is directed at extending survival and improving the quality of life including application of technologies to enable independence and optimizing respiratory interventions. In the laboratory, Dr. Heiman-Patterson has worked with murine models of ALS in order to identify genetic modifiers of disease that can be translated to human disease.  She has authored or co-authored numerous papers, abstracts and book chapters on ALS and related motor neuron diseases. She is president and co-founder of the ALS Hope Foundation a nonprofit committed to making a difference to people living with ALS,  she has served as Co-Chair of the Northeast ALS (NEALS) Consortium and has served on multiple grant review committees including the Congressionally Directed Military Research Program.  She is committed to patient care and education actively participating in the Clinical Research Learning Institute to train PALS to be Research Advocates. She is a member of the American Academy of Neurology and the American Neurological Association.

She is the 2017 recipient of the Diamond Award, given to a scientific leader dedicated to eradicating ALS and the 2015 recipient of the Forbes Norris Award given annually to a neurologist thought by his/her peers in the ALS/MND community to have shown exceptional care and compassion in the study and management of ALS/MND.  She has been named frequently in Best Doctors in America.