Jen Heemstra received her B.S. in Chemistry from the University of California, Irvine, in 2000. At Irvine, she performed undergraduate research investigating the folding of synthetic beta-sheet mimics, which instilled in her a love of supramolecular chemistry. She then moved to the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, where she completed her Ph.D. in 2005 studying the reactivity of pyridine-functionalized phenylene ethynylene cavitands. After a brief time in industry as a medicinal chemist, she moved to Harvard University to pursue postdoctoral research exploring mechanisms for templated nucleic acid synthesis. Jen began her independent career in 2010 and she is currently the Charles Allen Thomas Professor and Chair in the Department of Chemistry at Washington University in St Louis. Research in the Heemstra lab is focused on harnessing the molecular recognition and self-assembly properties of nucleic acids and proteins for applications in biosensing and bioimaging. An avid science communicator and mentor, Jen has received numerous awards for her teaching, research, and leadership, including the Cottrell Scholar Award and the National Science Foundation CAREER Award. She is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science..

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Outside of work, Jen enjoys spending time with her husband and two sons, as well as rock climbing, cycling, and running. You can check out her blog here.