Jennifer Leigh Rohn (born 1967 in

Stow, Ohio Stow is a city in Summit County, Ohio, United States. The population was 34,483 at the 2020 census. It is a suburban community within the Akron metropolitan area. History Stow is named for Joshua Stow, its original proprietor. Joshua Stow was ...

) is a British-American scientist and

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others aspire to ...

. She is a cell biologist at

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

, editor of the webzine ''LabLit.com'' and founder of the ''Science is Vital'' organization that campaigns against cuts to the public funding of science in the United Kingdom.

Education

Rohn graduated from

Oberlin College Oberlin College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Oberlin, Ohio. It is the oldest Mixed-sex education, coeducational liberal arts college in the United S ...

with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree in Biology in 1990. Following this Rohn was awarded a

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common Academic degree, degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields ...

degree in 1996 from the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...

for work on

Feline leukemia virus Feline leukemia virus (FeLV) is a retrovirus that infects cats. FeLV can be transmitted from infected cats when the transfer of saliva or nasal secretions is involved. If not defeated by the animal's immune system, the virus weakens the cat's i ...

(FeLV).

Career and research

After

postdoctoral research A postdoctoral fellow, postdoctoral researcher, or simply postdoc, is a person professionally conducting research after the completion of their doctoral studies (typically a PhD). The ultimate goal of a postdoctoral research position is to p ...

at the

Cancer Research UK Cancer Research UK (CRUK) is the world's largest independent cancer research organization. It is registered as a charity in the United Kingdom and Isle of Man, and was formed on 4 February 2002 by the merger of The Cancer Research Campaign and t ...

London Research Institute (now incorporated into the

Francis Crick Institute The Francis Crick Institute (formerly the UK Centre for Medical Research and Innovation) is a biomedical research centre in London, which was established in 2010 and opened in 2016. The institute is a partnership between Cancer Research UK, Impe ...

) studying

apoptosis Apoptosis (from grc, ἀπόπτωσις, apóptōsis, 'falling off') is a form of programmed cell death that occurs in multicellular organisms. Biochemical events lead to characteristic cell changes (morphology) and death. These changes incl ...

and cancer with

Gerard Evan Gerard Ian Evan FRS, FMedSci (born 17 August 1955) is a British biologist and, since May 2022, Professor of Cancer Biology at King's College London and a principal group leader in the Francis Crick Institute. Prior to this he was Sir William ...

, Rohn moved to the Netherlands to lead a research group at the biotech

start-up company A startup or start-up is a company or project undertaken by an entrepreneur to seek, develop, and validate a scalable business model. While entrepreneurship refers to all new businesses, including self-employment and businesses that never intend t ...

, Leadd BV. After moving into

scientific publishing : ''For a broader class of literature, see Academic publishing.'' Scientific literature comprises scholarly publications that report original empirical and theoretical work in the natural and social sciences. Within an academic field, scient ...

for a few years, Rohn joined

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

in 2007, setting up her own group in the Centre for Nephrology at

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

in 2015. Rohn's initial research interest was in

virology Virology is the Scientific method, scientific study of biological viruses. It is a subfield of microbiology that focuses on their detection, structure, classification and evolution, their methods of infection and exploitation of host (biology), ...

. Over the following 15 years Rohn studied

and the shape of cells. Rohn's current research interests include study of

urinary tract infection A urinary tract infection (UTI) is an infection that affects part of the urinary tract. When it affects the lower urinary tract it is known as a bladder infection (cystitis) and when it affects the upper urinary tract it is known as a kidney ...

s. Rohn works with engineers to put

antibiotic An antibiotic is a type of antimicrobial substance active against bacteria. It is the most important type of antibacterial agent for fighting bacterial infections, and antibiotic medications are widely used in the treatment and prevention of ...

s within core-shell capsules to treat persistent

s. Rohn grows

bladder The urinary bladder, or simply bladder, is a hollow organ in humans and other vertebrates that stores urine from the kidneys before disposal by urination. In humans the bladder is a distensible organ that sits on the pelvic floor. Urine enters ...

epithelia Epithelium or epithelial tissue is one of the four basic types of animal tissue, along with connective tissue, muscle tissue and nervous tissue. It is a thin, continuous, protective layer of compactly packed cells with a little intercellula ...

in culture to test new treatments for

urinary tract infections A urinary tract infection (UTI) is an infection that affects part of the urinary tract. When it affects the lower urinary tract it is known as a bladder infection (cystitis) and when it affects the upper urinary tract it is known as a kidney ...

Publications

Rohn's first novel, ''Experimental Heart'', was published by

Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press was founded in 1933 to aid in Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory's purpose of furthering the advance and spread of scientific knowledge. CSHL Press publishes monographs, technical manuals, handbooks, review volumes ...

(CSHLP) in 2008. This is written in the

lab lit Lab lit (also "lablit") is a loosely defined genre of fiction, distinct from science fiction, that centers on realistic portrayals of scientists and on science as a profession. Definition Unlike science fiction, lab lit is generally set in some ...

genre, which she is well known for championing, and represents a departure for CSHLP, which had previously only published scientific non-fiction. Her second novel, ''The Honest Look'', was also published by CSHLP in November 2010. Her third novel, ''Cat Zero,'' was published by Bitingduck Press in June 2018. Rohn has also had short fiction, news and opinion published in ''

Nature Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physics, physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomenon, phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. ...

'' and ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

Awards and honours

In 2011, Rohn won the inaugural

Research Fortnight ''Research Fortnight'' is an independent publication that reports on research policy and funding in the UK. It is sold by institutional subscription; some 95% of universities in the UK subscribe to it, along with government agencies and researc ...

"Achiever of the Year" award, and received the

Society for Experimental Biology The Society for Experimental Biology is a learned society for animal, cell and plant biologists. It was founded in 1923 at Birkbeck College to "promote the art and science of experimental biology in all its branches". It aims to demonstrate the i ...

's President's Medal in the Education and Public Affairs Section.http://www.sebiology.org/meetings/Past_Meetings/Glasgow_2011/pres-meds.html Presidents Medallists 2011 She won the

Suffrage Science award The Suffrage Science award is a prize for women in science, engineering and computing founded in 2011, on the 100th anniversary of International Women's Day by the MRC London Institute of Medical Sciences (LMS). There are three categories of awar ...

in 2013.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rohn, Jennifer 1967 births Living people 21st-century American novelists 21st-century American biologists American women novelists Science activists Academics of University College London Novelists from Ohio University of Washington alumni 21st-century American women writers People from Stow, Ohio Francis Crick Institute alumni American women academics