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Who is Kim Barrett? Switching Her Experiments From Chemistry to Physiology Kim was born in London, England. She is not really sure when her interest in science started, but as far back as she can remember she liked experiments and chemistry. As a seven-year old, she clearly remembers checking all of the science books out of the children’s section at her local library. When she’d been through all of them, she graduated to checking the adult science books out. She also begged her parents mercilessly until they bought her a chemistry set for Christmas and then methodically worked through the 80-some experiments. Kim never really considered studying anything else except science. Teachers were an incredibly important influence on her. She especially remembers her first chemistry teacher at high school, Elsa Cameron, who was also the headmistress, as well as the two teachers who taught her O-level and A-level (upper-level high school) chemistry, respectively – Ann Parkin and Gill Ellis. Her teachers were also critical in helping her shape her approach to college. By the time she was ready for college, they had helped her expand her horizons to include biological problems as well as chemical ones. College YearsKim decided to attend University College London in Bloomsbury, in the center of London. She loved London (still does) and was excited by the opportunity to study and live in its center compared with the suburban settings she’d grown up in. She was also attracted by a new course in Medicinal Chemistry, which combined her interests in chemistry and biology. However, Kim was the first in her entire family to attend college. Both of her parents had left school at 14 during the Second World War. So she didn’t really know what to expect. However, when she got there, she found that she felt completely at home in the college world. She was impressed by the friendliness and dedication of several faculty. Very quickly Kim decided that the life of a college professor was the one for her. It was a little while before Kim got around to studying biology. It took her having to discover that she was completely useless as a synthetic organic chemist (her original career goal) before she moved completely to work on biological topics. She ended up selecting Dr. Fred Pearce as her undergraduate tutor. When it came time to decide where to go for her Ph.D., Kim decided to stay on at University College London in the lab of Dr. Pearce. He was another important influence in her life and kept her on track when experiments didn’t always turn out right. Kim still was not really a physiologist by any means though. She received her Ph.D. in Biological Chemistry, although her research topic and approaches were really more those of immunology (studying how the body defends itself against diseases). Coming to the USAfter finishing her Ph.D., Dr. Barrett began thinking about where to go for additional research training (called postdoctoral training). Dr. Pearce encouraged her to expand her horizons and go to the US. She thought about it and decided it would be in her best interests to get a “BTA” (been to America), since she eventually wanted to get a college job in Britain. Up until that point Dr. Barrett had been quite a homebody, not even leaving her home town for college or graduate school, so this was a big decision for her to make. Dr. Barrett came to the US to train at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, MD, still working in the immunology field. But when her time in the US was almost over and it was time to return home, fate intervened on two fronts: she was dating someone she really didn’t want to leave at the time, and Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was overseeing a downsizing of colleges in the UK, which meant that there were no real jobs back home for her to go back for anyway. She was lucky to be contacted by Dr. Kiertisin Dharmsathaphorn, at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), who offered her a research position in his lab. It was at that time that Dr. Barrett met physiology. She was asked to take what she knew about immunology and apply it to a physiological problem: working on how immune cells interact with how the cells lining the gut move water and salts in and out. After that, she’s never looked back. Getting Her Own LabAfter a year or two working in that lab, Dr. Barrett was able to get a grant to fund her research and was made a regular faculty member. Eventually she got her own lab and people to work for her. At that point she also had the chance to teach physiology to medical students, something that remains one of the highlights of her job today. Dr. Barrett is currently Professor of Medicine and Vice-Chair for Research in the Department of Medicine at UCSD School of Medicine. When she first decided she wanted a career doing research and teaching at a college, Dr. Barrett liked the idea of both discovering new things and then sharing what she’d learned with students and other researchers. She thought it would result in making her life incredibly varied. She has not been disappointed. What she could not have known at the time was how much she would appreciate the fact that no two days are the same and that she has considerable say over what she wants to do her research on. She also loves having the chance to help with the administration and direction of both her university and national/international organizations like the APS. Finally, while Dr. Barrett is not a medical doctor, she has been fortunate to have ended up in a clinical department where she is constantly challenged to make sure that the research she does is important and relevant to patients. Everyday LifeDr. Barrett’s day can consist of many different activities. She needs to oversee the research in her lab (mostly a case of staying out of the way of her talented students and postdocs!). She has to write up her research results and review the papers other scientists have written. She has to write the research proposals to different organizations to get the money she needs to keep everything going. She teaches physiology of the gut to medical and graduate students. She also spends a lot of energy being on committees and doing other administrative tasks. Dr. Barrett has been asked to serve a number of national and international organizations, including the APS. For the APS, she was in charge of one of the scientific journals that it publishes. She was elected by the entire members of APS to be on the Council, which oversees all the operations of the Society. This year (2005) she was asked to become the Chair of the Publications Committee and oversee all 14 publications that APS publishes, which is a very important position. Finally, she’s just finished a textbook on the physiology of the gut. She hopes to see it in print very soon! ResearchDr. Barrett’s lab works on the cells that line the intestine, known as epithelial cells. These cells act as a barrier between the body and the outside world and cover a huge surface area. They must keep out harmful disease-causing organisms and toxins, while at the same time allowing the uptake of beneficial substances, such as nutrients. The lab specifically studies how these cells can transport salt and water into and out of the intestine and the ways in which that barrier function is controlled. They are particularly interested in the interaction of epithelial cells with harmful bacteria and the beneficial bacteria that may protect the intestine from harm. They also know that the transport and barrier functions of the intestine don’t work right in certain disease states. By understanding the basic mechanisms that control epithelial properties, Dr. Barrett hopes they might someday be able to find something that would be useful to develop new treatments for these diseases.
When Not at Work
Dr. Barrett’s biggest form of relaxation is cooking, either just for her husband and herself or for groups of friends. They recently moved back into a house that they had been remodeling for a year, and part of the project included her dream kitchen – she loves cooking in it. She also loves spending time with her family, although they are all rather far away and she can’t do as much of that as she’d like. She has two sisters, a brother, and six nieces and nephews, as well as a godson back in the UK. Her other interests include film (her tastes tend to the quirky and foreign), the theatre, and music from opera to rock. Finally, she loves to travel, whether it is for work or fun. Her husband and she made an amazing trip to Australia and New Zealand last year, and they’re having fun trying to decide where to go next. Advice for High School StudentsFollow your heart, not your head, and don’t worry too much about the precise mix of courses and experiences you accumulate – science is becoming increasingly interdisciplinary.
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