Dr. Heffner's clinical interest is in hospital medicine. She helps to formulate inpatient care plans for patients with complex medical issues. She also works with internal medicine residents and medical students on their inpatient medicine rotations. She is the co-lead for the Introduction to Clinical Medicine course at the UPSOM and has taught physical exam to medical students in their pre-clerkship years. She is co-director for the UPMC Enhanced Observership Program for international medical school graduates. She served as co-director of DGIM Grand Rounds from 2022-2023. Dr. Heffner has previously conducted research in nervous system development, telemedicine, and clinician burnout, subsequently earning several awards for the quality of her work.
- BA, Neuroscience, University of Virginia, 2013
- MD, University of Pittsburgh, 2017
- Internal Medicine Residency, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, 2020
Education & Training
Kuhn KD, Edamura K, Bhatia N, Cheng I, Clark SA, Haynes CV, Heffner DL, Kabir F, Velasquez J, Spano AJ, Deppman CD, Keller AB. Molecular dissection of TNFR-TNFa bidirectional signaling reveals both cooperative and antagonistic interactions with p75 neurotrophic factor receptor in axon patterning. Molecular and Cellular Neurosciences. 2020; 103:103467.
Heffner DL, Thirumala PD, Pokharna P, Chang Y, Wechsler L. Outcomes of spoke-retained telestroke patients versus hub-treated patients after intravenous thrombolysis: Telestroke patient outcomes after thrombolysis. Stroke. 2015; 46(11):3161-7.
Wheeler MA, Heffner DL, Kim S, Epsy SM, Spano AJ, Cleland CL, Deppmann CD. TNFa/TNFR1 signaling is required for the development and function of primary nociceptors. Neuron. 2014; 82(3):587-602.
Kodis EJ, Smindak RJ, Kefauver JM, Heffner DL. First messengers. Encyclopedia of Life Sciences. 2012.
- Dean's Summer Research Award, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, 2014
- 2nd place poster, IXth Annual Meeting of the Pennsylvania Neurological Society, 2014
- Certificate of Merit for Excellence in Scholarly Research Project, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, 2017
- Resident of the Month, UPMC Internal Medicine Residency, 2017
- HONORS Research Award, American Society of Hematology, 2019
