Haigwood earned a doctor of philosophy at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1980.

A large portion of this was at the Chiron Corporation (Novartis) and the Bristol-Myers Squibb Pharmaceutical Research Institute.

She was a professor of microbiology and pathology from 1997 to 2007 at the University of Washington and a member of the Center for Global Infectious Disease Research.

She is a volunteer board member of the Cascade AIDS Project and an advocate for science education and outreach.

"[1] Haigwood contacted the Federal Bureau of Investigation in early 2002 after she had suspicions that Bruce Edwards Ivins was behind the 2001 anthrax attacks.