Anne Damiano is an expert of bioterrorism.
As she tells us, and a group she was giving a speech to at the beginning of the first recorded adventure, she has "been active in bioterrorism preparation for the past fourteen years. Currently [she is] a member of the National Vaccine Advisory Committee as well as a member of the Secretary of Health's Vaccine Advisory Committee".
Prior to these impressive positions, Damiano paid her dues in other arenas, including for considerable time working with the CIA, providing her expertise in the field of global threat assessment while increasing her own knowledge about the terrible potentials of using biological weapons for mass killings.
Damiano, when we first meet her, is already a mature woman, likely in her late 50's or more. This comes from the description of her having "a few distinguished silver strands in her curly dark hair" as well as her statement that "thanks to the Company, [she'd had] forty years to learn about disguise and covert operations".
We do learn that growing up she had wanted to take care of sick people so she attended Rutgers College of Nursing and worked as a nurse for 17 years. She then accepted the challenge of a doctor to head to medical school where she got her license and then went on to get a degree in Psychiatry, leading to her residency in that field. From there it would be working with the CIA for a time, leading to her current expertise in bioweaponry and terrorism.
Damiano is well known enough in her field to have her opinion valued at some very high levels. The American President knows her well enough to address her in a warm manner by her first name and she is comfortable with him as well. Hers is not the only opinion, though, so she has to work hard to prove her point and sometimes that means putting her life on the line out in the field.
Costarring in these adventures and playing a major role in both is Connor Quinlan, an old friend from childhood who became even closer over time. Quinlan was the reason Damiano was invited to work for a time with the Agency and horrific problems arise years later, it is the two of them that will reunite to combat it. In the first adventure, we learn that Quinlan, who calls himself a "poor country lawyer" has risen past his attorney days and his years in the CIA to become what Damiano calls the National Security Advisor.
In an amusing anecdote, we learn that Quinlan's pet name for Damiano is 'Wiggles', a reference to the time when she was 17 and on a dare tried to disguise herself so that Quinlan would not recognize her at a party. While her wig and cosmetics did the job well enough, her manner of walk gave her away.