Dr. Kraatz-Wadsack is the chief of the weapons of mass destruction branch in the office for disarmament affairs at the United Nations. Previously, she served in the German federal foreign office in Berlin as an advisor on WMD disarmament and non-proliferation issues; served as a science and policy advisor for countering bioterrorism at the Central Federal Institution for Disease Control and Prevention within the Robert Koch Institute; was the chief of biological operations for the United Nations Monitoring, Verification, and Inspection Committee (UNMOVIC); served as the chief weapons inspector and representative in field operations on 26 inspection missions related to WMD disarmament and ongoing monitoring and verification in Iraq for the United Nations Special Commission (UNSCOM); and served as the chief of monitoring operations at UN headquarters. She holds a military rank of colonel in the German Armed Forces Medical Service. She has a doctorate degree in veterinary medicine and an additional degree as specialist in microbiology from the Ludwig–Maximilians University in Munich.