She is a graduate of Vassar College, George Washington University Law School, and the Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health. She is a member of the District of Columbia Bar, and is admitted to practice before the U.S. District Court and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, and the United States Supreme Court. She was a partner in a Washington DC law firm before entering government service as Deputy Director of the Bureau of Consumer Protection at the Federal Trade Commission. Following her public health training, she served as Special Counsel for Health for the Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission, and as Chief Mediator and Ombudsman of the Food and Drug Administration.