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Biology and art professor From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Helen Donis-Keller is the Michael E. Moody Professor and Professor of Biology and Art at Olin College of Engineering in Needham, Massachusetts.
Helen R. Donis-Keller | |
---|---|
Alma mater | Harvard University |
Scientific career | |
Institutions | Olin College of Engineering |
Thesis | Enzymatic RNA sequencing and fractionation methods (1979) |
Donis-Keller has a B.Sc. and an H.B.Sc. from Lakehead University. She earned her Ph.D. at Harvard University under the direction of Walter Gilbert in 1979.[1] After employment at the biotechnology companies Biogen and Collaborative Research, she joined the faculty at Washington University School of Medicine.[2][3] In 2001, she earn an MFA in studio art from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and Tufts University[citation needed] and she joined the faculty at the Olin College of Engineering.[1] In 2012, she was named the Michael. E. Moody Faculty Chair.[4]
Donis-Keller's graduate research established a method to do RNA sequencing.[5][6][7] During her time at Collaborative Research, her research group created the first genetic map of the human genome.[8] Donis-Keller was unable to secure either NIH or venture funding for generating the RFLP map, but convinced Collaborative Research's management to fund the project.[9][10] She continued to work on the genetic linkage map[11] and led research into understanding the genetic basis of cystic fibrosis,[12] thyroid cancer,[13] and breast cancer.[14][15]
In addition to teaching art at Olin,[2] Donis-Keller is herself an artist, and her art can be seen at Needham's 2021 Open Studios event[17] and other venues.[18][19][20] Her Ph.D. advisor, Walter Gilbert, has also begun to investigate the intersection between art and science though, in a 2015 interview, Donis-Keller did not recall his interest in art while she was a student in his lab.[21]
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