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Who is Keri Kles?
Learning What Career is Right for Her
Keri was born and raised in Grand Rapids, Michigan. She got interested
in science when she was still young. In school, she was in a science fair
called the Knights of Columbus Science and Art Fair. She also was in a
program called Project SEED, run by the American Chemical Society and
UpJohn Pharmaceutical Company. This program gives low-income high school
students the chance to check out careers in chemistry and other kinds of
sciences. During the summer, students worked in a lab doing hands-on
research with a scientist. Keri worked in a lab at Western Michigan
University doing biology and chemistry research (called biochemistry) with
Dr. Susan Stapleton. Being able to do all these things only made Keri want
to study science more.
College Years
When it came time to go to college, Keri knew she wanted to study
science because she never wanted to stop learning or asking the question,
“why”? Science is the perfect career for someone like that. She decided to
stay in Michigan and go to the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Not
only is it a great state school, but it is a top-rated school for both
research and medicine. She knew that would be a great way to start off her
career.
During those four years in college, Keri again was able to work in a lab.
This time it was a genetics lab, which let her learn about another area of
science. Keri got her degree in Biology and Women Studies in 1997.
Starting a Career in Physiology
After she finished college, Keri knew she wanted to study physiology.
She likes physiology because it lets her do research on questions that
affect the whole animal, even though she’s really testing the pathways
that chemicals take to have an effect in the body or organ systems (like
the gut). She knew that to do the research she wanted, she would need to
get her Ph.D. degree. So she started to think about where she should go to
study for that degree. She decided on the University of Illinois in
Urbana-Champaign. For her research project, she worked within the field of
physiology of the gut and how it moves the nutrients from food into the
body in both normal animals and in animals whose gut is not working
properly. She finished her degree in 2002.
More Research Training
Most people who get a Ph.D. degree still have to get more training
before they are ready to go out on their own (called post-doctoral
training) Dr. Kles went to her advisor for help in deciding where she
should go and who to work with for her extra training. Together they chose
a lab at the University of Chicago.
During her extra training, Dr. Kles got to learn new ways to do things and
new subjects. She went to another lab at Washington University in St.
Louis, Missouri, to learn some of these things. She had to learn how to
handle lots of projects at the same time. For some of these projects, she
has had to work with many labs and make sure they are all working
together.
Research Projects
Dr. Kles’ research projects included using both molecular biology and
physiology to study diseases of the gut. She has been able to help out on
a lot of different studies. These include looking at what drugs help
certain diseases in the gut and how kidney stones are made. Dr. Kles has
gotten awards for her research. These awards were given to her by the APS
and by the American Society for Nutritional Sciences.
When a research project was done, then Dr. Kles wrote about what she did.
She went to meetings to discuss these projects and tell other scientists
about her work.
Teaching Practice
Besides doing her research, Dr. Kles was also able to do some teaching.
While she was working on her Ph.D. degree, she helped teach college
students both at the University and at the local community college.
Recently she also taught nurses. In these jobs, she learned how to set up
a course; come up with lectures, homework, and tests; and grade homework
and tests. She also learned how to teach students who learn in different
ways.
Scientific Writer
This extra training helped Dr. Kles decide what she wanted to do next
in her career. While writing up what she did in her projects, she found
out she really liked to write. So, after finishing that training in April
of 2004, she decided to try becoming a writer. Dr. Kles is now working at
a drug company called Eli Lilly & Company as a scientific writer. She gets
to write about how drugs work for people who have diabetes.
For Fun
Dr. Kles enjoys doing a lot of different things in her spare time. She
works out, rock climbs, does yoga, watches movies, goes to the theater,
and listens to music.
She has worked in the past at a Soup Kitchen and a Hands-on Museum. For
the past few years, she has helped APS out during its meeting by being a
tour guide for local high school teachers and students, showing them
around the meeting. She also has been a State of Illinois science fair
judge and is now on a planning committee for the 2006 International
Science Fair. Currently she is a board member for the Crohn’s and Colitis
Foundation of Indiana.
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