Sandra is a senior legislative advisor to Senator Martin Heinrich on matters of health policy (including veteran’s health), child welfare, social security and poverty.   Previously, she served as Senior Legislative Assistant for Health Care in the office of Senator Jeff Bingaman (2011- 2012).  She started in Senator Bingaman’s office in 2010 as an American Association for the Advancement of Science/American Psychological Association Congressional Fellow focusing on health and mental health policy.  Sandra completed her PhD in Clinical Psychology in 2000 and has over 15 years experience as a scientist-practitioner specializing in adult psychopathology.    She has worked at the National Institute of Mental Health, the San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center, and various hospital, university and community settings in New York, Chicago and Virginia.