{"id":803,"date":"2013-05-29T20:42:28","date_gmt":"2013-05-29T20:42:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/alumni\/?p=803"},"modified":"2017-06-14T16:37:20","modified_gmt":"2017-06-14T16:37:20","slug":"alum-heidi-imker-03-directs-collaborative-research-effort-at-enzyme-function-initiative","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/alumni\/2013\/05\/29\/alum-heidi-imker-03-directs-collaborative-research-effort-at-enzyme-function-initiative\/","title":{"rendered":"Alum Heidi Imker \u201903 directs collaborative research effort at Enzyme Function Initiative"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Heidi<\/a><\/p>\n

By Shari Kiple
\nMay 29, 2013
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

When Heidi Imker \u201903 graduated from Winona State University, she might never have dreamed she would become the executive director of the Enzyme Function Initiative (EFI), a $33 million grant-funded collaborative effort sponsored by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences. Yet within just a decade of leaving Winona State, that\u2019s exactly where her curiosity has taken her.<\/p>\n

Hosted by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the EFI coordinates the efforts of about 100 researchers at 14 different academic labs nationwide. In simplest terms, its goal is to characterize the function of enzymes, which are complex proteins that catalyze the chemical reactions necessary for life.\u00a0 It\u2019s an incredible project with immense implications.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe impact is real and laudable, but it is very downstream,\u201d Imker says. \u201cFor me and most of my colleagues, facilitating discovery is our focus and our motivation. There are literally millions of proteins just waiting to be understood, so we\u2019re driven by the great need for strategies and tools to discover important biology quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n

That drive to discover new things was what prompted Imker\u2019s interest in undergraduate research at Winona State.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was proactive about talking with my professors about research possibilities,\u201d notes Imker. All I had to do was ask, and they were more than happy to help me get into research.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was always her curiosity that drove her,\u201d says Robin Richardson, professor of biology and Imker\u2019s advisor for her first research project, studying the nest-building behaviors of male beta fish.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt didn\u2019t bother me that I had to come in on the weekends or during breaks to take measurements and feed the fish,\u201d Imker explains. \u201cI had a natural dedication to the project; I was trying to answer a question.\u201d<\/p>\n

Studying fish behavior was just the beginning for Imker. The project sparked her curiosity, and Winona State professors shared connections to fully ignite her passion for research.<\/p>\n

Richardson connected her with a research opportunity at the Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center, a program managed by the U.S. Geological Survey in La Crosse, Wisconsin. \u201cMost people would probably have loved all the outdoor field work, but I loved the lab more,\u201d Imker admits.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just felt more comfortable there.\u201d She ended up back in the lab through a contact from Bruce Svingen, professor of chemistry, who connected her with a University of Notre Dame professor who was doing hardcore chemical synthesis.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think everyone should do research. It equips you to be able to troubleshoot later in life, and it teaches you to approach things in methodical, logical fashion,\u201d shares Imker. \u201cThe critical thinking skills you gain from research cannot be underestimated.\u201d<\/p>\n

As her advisor and mentor, Richardson knew Imker\u2019s drive and determination would serve her well in future study. \u201cShe\u2019s going to be someone who\u2019s always learning, someone who always wants to explore new things. That\u2019s exactly the kind of person who needs to go to grad school.\u201d<\/p>\n

Inspired by Svingen during a lecture on protein structure, along with the news during her senior year that the human genome had been sequenced, Imker knew what she wanted to study in graduate school \u2013 but where?<\/p>\n

She opted for the biochemistry program at the University of Illinois, where she completed her PhD in just five years. It was a big step, but one for which she felt well prepared.<\/p>\n

\u201cI knew how to study, and I knew how to think critically,\u201d says Imker, \u201cbut the biggest edge for me was the research experience. I left Winona State feeling really good about what I was going on to do and that was incredibly important, because it can be competitive in grad school.\u201d<\/p>\n

Going on to do her post-doctoral work at Harvard Medical School, she admits, was a \u201cmajor accomplishment,\u201d but also rather intimidating. Once again she drew upon what she had learned at Winona State. \u201cI dug into the confidence I had from earlier situations and did what worked in the past. Knowing I was well prepared, I tackled things in an organized and systematic way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her approach garnered success, not only at Harvard but also back at the University of Illinois. About halfway through her post-doctoral work at Harvard, her former UI advisor called to tell her about the Enzyme Function Initiative, asking her to serve as the program\u2019s executive director.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo matter what I do next, this has been a good experience. I\u2019ve had the chance to study something deeply and intensely, and I love what I\u2019ve learned. I\u2019m grateful for the things I\u2019ve gotten to do,\u201d shares Imker. \u201cI wouldn\u2019t have chosen any other way to go.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Shari Kiple May 29, 2013 When Heidi Imker \u201903 graduated from Winona State University, she might never have dreamed she would become the executive director of the Enzyme Function Initiative (EFI), a $33 million grant-funded collaborative effort sponsored by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences. Yet within just a decade of leaving Winona […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":52,"featured_media":1369,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2],"tags":[362,363,368,364,365,366,367,7,8],"class_list":["post-803","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-wsu-magazine","tag-function-of-enzymes","tag-general-medical-sciences","tag-heidi-imker","tag-national-institue-of-general-medical-sciences","tag-research-possibilities","tag-slider","tag-state-professors","tag-winona-state-university","tag-wsu"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/alumni\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2013\/05\/front3imker.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7PQMT-cX","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/803","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/52"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=803"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/803\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":811,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/803\/revisions\/811"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1369"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=803"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=803"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=803"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}