Dr. Sobel’s career has emphasized technologies to support national security, counter-WMD, improved big data analytics and far forward medical care in extreme environments such as special operations, space, high altitude, and diving. She worked for over a decade helping operationalize counter WMD technology strategies in cooperation with the IDF.
She was a Distinguished Military Graduate from Princeton University’s Army ROTC program, Distinguished Member of the Technology Staff at Sandia National Laboratories, Graduate of Air War College and the Army Command and General Staff College. She was New Mexico Homeland Security Director and Deputy Secretary for Public Safety. She served as the Senior Assistant to the Chief, National Guard Bureau, (NGB), as well as the Chief’s Advisor for Civil-Military. She served in the US Army and taught combat medicine skills to SF Medics (18D) and PJs at Ft. Bragg and Pope AFB. She was a member of the first Forward Surgical Team and Senior Flight Surgeon for the 57th MEDEVAC, Ft. Bragg. Support during and post-9/11, and the first Director of Intelligence (J2) for NGB, and supported Hurricane Katrina humanitarian response. In parallel, she served on the Defense Intelligence Agency’s Scientific Advisory Board and several NRC study panels.
She was recipient of Case Western ReserveUniversity School of Medicine’s Alumni Association visionary leadership award in 2023 and the Anti-Defamation League’s Distinguished Public Service Award for service as Director of Homeland Security in New Mexico. She was also awarded the Lubbock, Texas YWCA’s Women of Excellence (Government category), Case Western Reserve School of Medicine Visionary Leadership Award, and the NATO award for lifetime service for understanding the threats posed by WMD, and SecAF Julian Ward Award. She was a US Army Astronaut Candidate in 1989.
Dr. Sobel was recognized as an Honorary Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing (FAAN) for her pioneering work in telemedicine implementation, having flown as crew on the first aeromedical evacuation technology demonstration in European Command and subsequent implementation in Antarctica. She served as a Guest Scientist at Los Alamos National Laboratory’s Bioscience Division.
Dr. Sobel was residency trained in Family and Community Medicine at Duke University, and at Wright State University’s Aerospace Medicine/human factors residency program. She was a senior advisor to the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, where led an
initiative to predict and counter global infectious disease challenges. She also supported the Defense Threat Reduction Agency.