Dr. Whittemore received a B.S. in zoology from Iowa State University and a Ph.D. in anatomy from the University of Minnesota Medical School in Minneapolis, MN. She did post-doctoral training at the University of California, Irvine, and at the Karolinska Institute. She was on the faculty of the University of Miami School of Medicine before turning to work with non-profit organizations in 1994 including the Tuberous Sclerosis Alliance, Genetic Alliance, Citizens United for Research in Epilepsy (CURE), and the National Coalition for Health Professional Education in Genetics. Dr. Whittemore joined the staff of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke at the National Institutes of Health in August 2011 where she oversees a grant portfolio focused on the underlying mechanisms of the epilepsies, including the genetic causes of the epilepsies, animal models, translational and clinical epilepsy studies, and SUDEP.