Staff
Heather Moran-Teal, M.Ed.
Executive Director
Heather brings extensive leadership experience across healthcare, public health, patient advocacy, and nonprofit sectors. Following her son’s autism diagnosis, she redirected her career toward Education and Health Promotion, shaping a career focused on integrative health, early intervention, community health, and patient advocacy.
Heather has held leadership roles across healthcare, nonprofit, and global advocacy sectors, including Executive Director of The Healing Net Foundation, Chief Programs and Operations Officer at the Global Patient Advocacy Coalition for Headache, Director of Programs and Advocacy with the American Migraine Foundation, and leadership positions with MaineHealth, one of the nation’s top integrated healthcare delivery networks. Her work also includes collaboration with the World Federation of Neurology and the World Health Organization on global neurology, advocacy, and public health initiatives.
Throughout her career, she has led initiatives focused on community health, patient engagement, advocacy, and organizational growth, with expertise in scaling mission-driven programs and building collaborative partnerships that improve health outcomes and access to care.
Heather continues to contribute as a patient advocacy author and through service on local boards and global committees.
Jill Beirl
Communications & Marketing Coordinator
Jill has served as Communications & Marketing Coordinator for the NNPDF for the past ten years. Her journey with the organization began in 2005 as a freelance graphic designer, where she created newsletter graphics and promotional materials. Those projects opened the door to learning about Niemann-Pick disease, the families impacted by it, and the critical research efforts underway. What began as a design project quickly became something much more personal as she found herself deeply connected to the community and its mission.
In 2016, Jill officially joined the NNPDF staff as Communications & Marketing Coordinator. In this role, she oversees communications, marketing initiatives, storytelling, and outreach efforts that connect families, researchers, advocates, and supporters across the Niemann-Pick community. She is honored to help share the voices, experiences, and progress that continue to drive hope and awareness for those affected by Niemann-Pick disease.
Jill lives in southern Wisconsin with her family. In her free time, she enjoys creating art, reading, biking, swimming whenever Wisconsin weather is warm enough to cooperate, and spending time with friends and family.
