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 w ...

) 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 wage, living writing novels and other fiction, while other ...

. She is a cell biologist at

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

, 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, United States. Founded in 1833, it is the oldest Mixed-sex education, coeducational lib ...

with a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

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

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of Postgraduate education, graduate study and original resear ...

degree in 1996 from the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

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 im ...

(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). Postdocs most commonly, but not always, have a temporary acade ...

at the

Cancer Research UK Cancer Research UK (CRUK) is the world's largest independent cancer research organisation. 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, Im ...

) studying

apoptosis Apoptosis (from ) is a form of programmed cell death that occurs in multicellular organisms and in some eukaryotic, single-celled microorganisms such as yeast. Biochemistry, Biochemical events lead to characteristic cell changes (Morphology (biol ...

and cancer with Gerard Evan, 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 includes all new businesses including self-employment and businesses that do not intend to ...

, Leadd BV. After moving into

scientific publishing Scientific literature encompasses a vast body of academic papers that spans various disciplines within the natural and social sciences. It primarily consists of academic papers that present original empirical research and theoretical ...

for a few years, Rohn joined

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

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 a part of the urinary tract. Lower urinary tract infections may involve the bladder (cystitis) or urethra (urethritis) while upper urinary tract infections affect the kidney (pyel ...

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 pathogenic bacteria, bacterial infections, and antibiotic medications are widely used in the therapy ...

s within core-shell capsules to treat persistent

s. Rohn grows

bladder The bladder () is a hollow organ in humans and other vertebrates that stores urine from the kidneys. In placental mammals, urine enters the bladder via the ureters and exits via the urethra during urination. In humans, the bladder is a distens ...

epithelia Epithelium or epithelial tissue is a thin, continuous, protective layer of cells with little extracellular matrix. An example is the epidermis, the outermost layer of the skin. Epithelial ( mesothelial) tissues line the outer surfaces of many ...

in culture to test new treatments for

urinary tract infections A urinary tract infection (UTI) is an infection that affects a part of the urinary tract. Lower urinary tract infections may involve the bladder (cystitis) or urethra ( urethritis) while upper urinary tract infections affect the kidney (pye ...

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 volume ...

(CSHLP) in 2008. This is written in the lab lit 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 is an inherent character or constitution, particularly of the Ecosphere (planetary), ecosphere or the universe as a whole. In this general sense nature refers to the Scientific law, laws, elements and phenomenon, phenomena of the physic ...

'' and ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

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 U.K. It is sold by institutional subscription, and around 95% of universities in the UK subscribe to it, along with government agencies and ...

"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 im ...

'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 Biologists from Ohio