Susanne Hildebrand-Zanki, PhD
Associate Director, Immune Tolerance Network
San Francisco Office

Susanne Hildebrand-Zanki, MBA, PhD, has been raising the bar as a public health care policymaker for over 10 years. Prior to joining the ITN as Director of Operations, Dr. Hildebrand-Zanki was Director of the Tobacco-Related Disease Research Program (TRDRP) based at University of California’s Office of the President. At TRDRP, Dr. Hildebrand-Zanki was largely responsible for keeping the program alive through the budget crisis of the 1990s, when program funding was cut by nearly 80%. She later was actively involved to help restore those funds by way of legal challenge, participating in the “Save Prop 99” campaign to restore tobacco control and research funding in California as a member of the steering committee. Upon the successful restoration of funding, Dr. Hildebrand-Zanki hired a skilled team of professionals that led TRDRP into a new era of heightened visibility and increased public outreach.

In addition to setting policy, Dr. Hildebrand-Zanki is trained as a scientist and author of over 20 publications. Since joining the ITN in October of 2002, Dr. Hildebrand-Zanki has managed the ITN’s explosive growth. She is dedicated to ensuring ITN funds go to research – not administrative costs – through innovative programs such as one that has reduced ITN travel costs by 50%.