Author: Kimberly Smith

Kim is a biomedical researcher turned science writer who loves creating accessible science content that encourages enthusiasm for science, technology, engineering, and math in kids and adults.

Posts by Kimberly Smith

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Bil Clemons: Following Scientific Curiosity

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A portrait image of Dr. Bil Clemons.
Credit: Courtesy of Dr. Bil Clemons.

“I found a passion for both biology and chemistry in high school and thought, Well, that must mean I’m a biochemist! Luckily my naïve thought was correct. I am a biochemist,” says Bil Clemons,
Ph.D. He’s a professor of biochemistry at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in Pasadena, where he’s been teaching and running a lab for nearly 20 years.

A Path to Research

Dr. Clemons doesn’t remember a time when he wasn’t interested in science or curious about the world. “I think, fundamentally, that’s what being a scientist is: being curious about how the world works,” he says. As a child, he’d open seed pods to see the insides or take toys apart to see how their tiny motors worked. He couldn’t always figure out how to put the toys back together, though, which led to his parents warning him not to ruin his siblings’ new toys on Christmas morning.

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From Science Fair to Science Lab: Q&A With Chelsey Spriggs

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A headshot of Dr. Spriggs.
Credit: Courtesy of Dr. Chelsey Spriggs.

“It’s a thrill to make a discovery in science. In that moment, you’re the only one who knows about this new finding. Then you get to share that discovery with the world,” says Chelsey Spriggs, Ph.D. Dr. Spriggs is an assistant professor of cell and developmental biology at the University of Michigan (UMich) in Ann Arbor. We spoke with Dr. Spriggs about her early introduction to science through school science fairs, current research on viruses, and efforts to broaden participation in microbiology research across the world.

Get to Know Dr. Spriggs

  • Books or movies? Books
  • Coffee or tea? Coffee
  • Favorite music genre? R&B (’90s and ’00s)
  • Cats or dogs? Guinea pigs
  • Early bird or night owl? Early bird
  • Childhood dream job? Veterinarian
  • Favorite hobby? Painting
  • Favorite pipette size? 200uL
  • Favorite lab tool? Confocal microscope
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Haley Bridgewater: Taking the Sting Out of Vaccines

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Haley Bridgewater, a graduate student at Boise State University in Idaho, is sure she wants to continue studying infectious diseases after she graduates with her Ph.D., but she’s finding it difficult to choose a specific topic within that branch of biomedical science. “My problem is that I like them all. The more I look into specific research topics to narrow down my options, the longer my list of potential topics grows,” she says.

A portrait image of Haley Bridgewater standing on a bridge over a river.
Haley Bridgewater in front of the Boise River on Boise State University campus. Credit: Elise Overgaard, Ph.D., Boise State University.

Haley’s early introduction to science wasn’t related to the biological sciences at all. She grew up in Los Alamos, New Mexico, where her dad studied nuclear chemistry. Discussions about chemistry, physics, and rockets surrounded her, and she would often stare up at the night sky to catch a glimpse of a meteor shower or the International Space Station passing by. But she was even more curious about what was below her feet: What makes an insect different from a rock? What does the microscopic world look like? She received a microscope one year for her birthday and carried it with her everywhere so she could try to answer these questions.

Global Experiences

Haley took an advanced biology class in high school, where she learned not only about the living world, but also the many exciting scientific careers available, such as becoming a researcher. She moved to Tacoma, Washington, and earned a bachelor’s degree from Pacific Lutheran University (PLU), where she majored in biology and global religion.

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Investigating the Inner Workings of Ion Channels With Sudha Chakrapani

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A headshot of Dr. Chakrapani.
Credit: Courtesy of Dr. Sudha Chakrapani.

“Curiosity was a central theme in my learning process,” says Sudha Chakrapani, Ph.D., a professor and chair of the department of pharmacology at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. As a high schooler in India, she especially enjoyed her science classes because they fostered her curiosity and allowed her to ask more questions than other subjects did. She was curious about how to use science to solve the challenges she and her community faced, like access to safe drinking water. Seawater surrounded them, so could they find a way to convert it into drinking water?

As part of India’s annual National Teachers’ Day celebration, high school seniors take on the role of educators and teach their younger peers for the day. Dr. Chakrapani loved the experience, and it solidified what she already knew: She wanted to go to college to be a science teacher. After earning her bachelor’s degree, she entered back-to-back master’s programs in biochemistry and biomedical engineering, where she had the opportunity to do hands-on research.

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Advice to Future Scientists

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This post is part of our miniseries on becoming a scientist. Be sure to check out the other posts in this series that you may have missed!

We’ve interviewed many NIGMS-funded researchers over the years to learn about their career paths and passions inside and outside the laboratory. Many have shared advice for students who are interested in pursuing a career in science. We’ve compiled a handful of those nuggets of advice here and hope that they help you find inspiration to chase your career goals. Check out the links to the full Biomedical Beat blog posts featuring these researchers if you haven’t already.

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What Is CRISPR?

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It might sound like a science fiction author made up genetic engineering, but it’s a real tool researchers use in the laboratory! A gene is a segment of DNA that codes for a protein. The information within a gene directs the building of a protein, block by block, through the process of gene expression. For a variety of reasons, including learning about certain cellular processes, scientists use genetic engineering in the lab to manipulate a cell’s genes and the proteins they encode.

Bacteria, shaped as a cluster of orange spheres with bumpy surfaces, on top of an uneven surface.
Streptococcus bacteria under the microscope. Species in this genus, such as Streptococcus pyogenes, have a CRISPR-based defense system. Credit: NIAID/NIH.

One of the most commonly used genetic engineering techniques is called clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR), named for the odd, repeating sequences that researchers found in bacterial DNA in 1987.

Eventually, researchers discovered that these sequences are part of a bacterial immune system. (Just like humans, bacteria are susceptible to viral infections!) Some bacteria are able to insert short sequences of DNA from viruses that previously infected them into their own genome, allowing them to “remember” and more quickly recognize that virus in the future. If the invader tries to attack again, the bacterium recognizes and kills it by chopping up the part of its DNA that matches the “memory” using a special type of protein, an enzyme called CRISPR-Associated (Cas) protein. Our own immune systems also have the ability to remember pathogens through our adaptive immune response.

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Sepsis in the Spotlight

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Sepsis is a condition that can occur when a person’s immune system responds inappropriately to an insult, such as an infection or injury. This condition occurs unpredictably and can be life threatening. Of the 1.7 million adults in the U.S. who develop sepsis every year, at least 350,000 die as a result.

Learn more about sepsis and the future of sepsis research with this infographic. Click to enlarge. Also available in Spanish. Credit: NIGMS.
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What Careers Can Biomedical Scientists Have?

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This post is part of a miniseries on becoming a biomedical scientist. Check out other posts in the series if you missed them!

Many of us enjoy learning about topics like plants, weather, or rocks, but did you know that you can make a career out of your love for science? Scientist is a job title, just like carpenter, firefighter, or lawyer. At NIGMS, we work to get students interested in careers in health science. Read on to learn about some of the different jobs that biomedical scientists do and the level of education they require. (Find more info on the different education paths in our first post of this series.) And who knows, maybe this post will spark your interest in pursuing one of these jobs in the future!

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