My undergraduate education was at William and Mary where I earned a BS in psychology. I took a year off between my undergraduate studies and pursuing a master’s in social work (MSW) from Virginia Commonwealth University, where I graduated in 1993 with a focus on health care. I then went on to practice as a healthcare social worker for fifteen years. I worked in various places including Virginia, Ohio, and Illinois. Most of my medical social work career was spent in critical care settings and rehabilitation (brain & spinal cord injury).  Most of my critical care time however was as a perinatal social worker working with high-risk pregnancy and the neonatal intensive care unit. I discovered a love for teaching through adjunct positions at Bowling Green State University and Owens Community College. I returned to Bowling Green State University to pursue my PhD in American Culture Studies while working full-time at the University of Toledo as a member of the social work field faculty. My dissertation research used cultural studies methods (historiography, literary analysis, and semi-structured interviews) to investigate understandings of poverty created by medical education culture in the United States. I started teaching at the University of Toledo in 2008 as a visiting professor, I completed my PhD in 2015, was hired as an Assistant Professor and was then promoted to Associate in 2019. Most of my publications are under the name of Heather Sloane. I remarried in the summer of 2021 and eventually added the name Cleary.