Sun Nov 08 2009
(Editor's note: This is another in an occasional series highlighting career accomplishments of area graduates. Today, Tinora High School alumnus, Dr. Sarah Heilshorn, professor of materials science and engineering at Stanford University, is featured.)
By JACK PALMER
palmer@crescent-news.com
For Dr. Sarah Heilshorn, every day is Make-A-Difference Day.
A 1993 graduate of Tinora High School, she serves as professor of materials science and engineering at Stanford University.
"The major areas I'm working on right now are tissue engineering for both heart and spinal cord regeneration," Heilshorn said in a phone interview.
"I work with a great team of researchers and colleagues and I really enjoy it. I have a real passion for what we are doing."
Heilshorn, daughter of Defiance residents Mike and Cindy Heilshorn, was selected for her current post after a worldwide general faculty search of more than 100 applicants.
"This is the job I wanted," she stated. "There are not a lot of universities that have their medical school and engineering school right next door. It takes five minutes to walk over to see my faculty colleagues in the medical school. Their input is very important. Nothing beats face-to-face discussion."
Several exciting new materials are being developed in Heilshorn's laboratory, which includes a post doctoral scholar, five doctoral students and five undergraduates.
"We make and design new proteins that interact with cells and integrate with the body," she said. "These engineered proteins contain "instructions' that cells can read, just like natural proteins."
The creation of lab-produced proteins is significant, since they provide new treatment methods for some of medicine's most formidable challenges such as heart damage, spinal cord injuries and Parkinson's Disease.
"We have already applied for patents which involve making new materials that mimic the tissues," she said. "Right now we are about a year out from moving into the pre-clinical stage, which involves highly-regulated laboratory animal testing."
Heilshorn said the pre-clinical studies, which takes place in collaboration with Stanford's medical school, are regulated by the university's administrative panel on animal care
"After that comes clinical studies, which would be performed by companies that would license our technology," she continued. "Then it goes into the marketing stage. It takes a lot of collaboration to achieve these types of medical breakthroughs."
Heilshorn has always had an interest in science, but participated in a wide range of activities as a youth.
"Marv Hire, my high school chemistry and physics teacher, made a big impression. I really enjoyed his classes," she stated. "But I enjoyed other classes, too, like art and German.
Outside of school she was actively involved at Trinity United Methodist Church and Defiance Dance Studio.
"I took dance lessons from age five through high school," she said. "That helped develop my social skills and taught me life lessons, like the importance of teamwork."
Heilshorn spent her junior year as an exchange student in Germany.
"Pam Reid, our German teacher, did a fabulous job of helping me prepare and match up my classes over there so I could graduate on time," she said. "Her mentoring was very important. She pushed all of the students to see themselves as world citizens. She always encouraged me to try new things and experience new adventures. This adventuresome spirit laid the foundation for me to continue to take advantage of new opportunities and adventures throughout the rest of my life."
Successful in all subjects, Heilshorn was unsure what to study in college.
"I liked a lot of different subjects as a high school student," she said. "My parents thought engineering was a career where you could take a lot of different directions, open up a lot of doors. Someone suggested Georgia Tech as a good engineering school, so that's one of the places I applied."
When Heilshorn was invited to Atlanta to interview for a scholarship, she fell in love with the school and the campus.
"It had all the benefits of a traditional big city, but with a lot of open spaces," she said. "So when they offered the scholarship, that's where I went."
She gained additional real world experiences during her co-op program, spending summer and winter months at Proctor and Gamble in Cincinnati and fall and spring months in classes at Georgia Tech.
"Proctor and Gamble had a nice global presence and offered me a job after graduation," she said. "But I wasn't sure I wanted to work with hair and skin products. When I visited several graduate schools, I fell in love with the idea of doing cutting edge research."
She settled on California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in Pasadena, Calif., which she called "a perfect match for my personality." She remained their six years, earning a masters degree in 2000 and her Ph.D. in 2004.
"All of my degrees are in chemical engineering," she said. "I minored in biology in graduate school."
Heilshorn spent two school years as post-doctoral scholar at UC Berkeley, where she developed her research skills and own independent research ideas.
By that time, she had become fascinated with the design of new materials and molecules which have the potential to affect people's lives.
"I really enjoy what I am doing in the lab," said Heilshorn, who also
teaches an undergraduate introductory course in materials science and graduate courses in organic materials and biomaterials for regenerative medicine. "This is a field which is both intellectually stimulating and has the potential to help people."
Heilshorn is a strong role model and mentor in her own right, visiting high schools primarily to encourage female students to purse science and math careers.
"Even today, only about eight percent of engineering professors are women," she said. "That's not enough. I think sometimes women get caught up in stereotypes and think they have to be nerdy to be an engineer.
"Ever since I was little I was involved in many different activities, so being a well-rounded person was never a contradiction for me. I credit my parents for that. They encouraged me to be whatever I wanted."
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