Dr. Laura Pisani, Medical Director in Global Clinical Development at Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical, is a passionate rare disease expert and advocate, bringing her clinical and academic background to clinical development. Laura received her BS in Medical Biotechnology and her MD from the Federico II University, Naples, Italy, where she was first exposed to the world of rare diseases and clinical trials by working in Niemann-Pick C disease. She went on to residency training in Pediatrics at Northwell Health, followed by fellowship training in Medical Genetics at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, both in New York. After working in Columbia University as a metabolic geneticist, she moved back to Northwell Health, where she successfully opened and directed a new New York state inherited metabolic disorder newborn screening center. She then joined Ultragenyx to further her commitment to help bring novel therapeutics to children and adults with rare disorders. She is currently an MBA Healthcare student at UNC Fayetteville State. She lives in the Bay Area, which she loves hiking, with her husband Joey and her daughters Freya and Arwen. She is an avid long distance runner, travel and languages enthusiast and big sci-fi and fantasy fan, who can be spotted on a weekend at the start line of a marathon, as well as at a Comic Con!
