Professional Biography: Cheryl A. Kerfeld
Cheryl received her BA in Biology and English from the University of Minnesota, an MA in English Literature from the University of Minnesota via the Regents’ Scholars Program, and a PhD in Biology from UCLA. Her career has had two distinct phases of emphasis, curriculum development for undergraduate education, and research in bacterial microcompartments and cyanobacterial photoprotection.
Undergraduate Life Sciences Curriculum Development
After completing her training as a National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at UCLA, Cheryl was part of a team developing innovative life sciences curricula under the Vice Provost of Undergraduate Education at UCLA. Cheryl’s contributions included development of writing-intensive life sciences courses, and strategies to situate real research in the undergraduate curriculum. A major deliverable was the development and implementation of the UCLA Undergraduate Genomics Research Initiative (UGRI), which combined the laboratory components of several different courses (including a General Education Biology course) to emulate the collaborative nature of modern research. These courses were nucleated by a novel interdisciplinary research-based course developed by Cheryl, Principles and Practices of Genomic Research, in which the lecture component covered topics in physics, mathematics and chemistry relevant to genome sequencing—underscoring how breakthroughs in these domains drive the progress of life and health sciences research. Students could elect to re-enroll in subsequent quarters in which they took on greater responsibility as researchers and in mentorship. The UGRI also exemplified how interactions between industry and academic research support innovation; Cheryl established by partnerships with several biotech companies and the JGI, they contributed equipment, supplies and data. The UGRI is more fully described in Kerfeld and Simons 2007.
In 2007, Cheryl established and led the Genomics and Bioinformatics Education Program at the US Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute. The Genomics and Bioinformatics Education Program was created to train undergraduate faculty in STEM to disciplines use bioinformatics tools and databases in the context of their courses and for research projects. Cheryl and a group of faculty consultants developed the web portal IMG-ACT to enable the use of bioinformatics across the undergraduate curriculum. Between 2008-2013 over 365 college and university faculty used IMG-ACT to engage almost 8000 students in gene and genome analysis as part of courses or independent research projects. Representative results of these efforts were published in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Education. In conjunction with these efforts, Cheryl and Professor Brad Goodner of Hiram College organized and taught, in collaboration with the American Society for Microbiology, the ASM-JGI Bioinformatics Institute which addressed the challenges faced by faculty in keeping up with the rapid pace of advance in the life sciences in the post-genomic era. Cheryl also co-founded and served as Academic Editor between 2010-2013 for the PLOS Biology Education Series. In 2011 Cheryl’s work in undergraduate education initiatives was recognized by the American Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology with their Award for Exemplary Contributions to Education.
Research
Concurrently with her appointment in teaching and curriculum development at UCLA, Cheryl was a Research Scientist in the UCLA-DOE Institute for Genomics and Proteomics where she started and obtained the initial funding for research on photoprotection and bacterial microcompartments that remain the core interests of her research group today. Cheryl currently is the Hannah Distinguished Professor of Structural Bioengineering in the MSU-DOE Plant Research Laboratory and the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Michigan State University. She also holds appointments in the Molecular Biophysics and Integrated Bioimaging Division of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, the Department of Plant and Microbial Biology at UC Berkeley and the Berkeley Synthetic Biology Institute. The Kerfeld group combines methods in bioinformatics, cellular imaging, synthetic and structural biology for understanding the fundamental principles of and the engineering bacterial metabolism. An updated list of her research publications can be found here.
Arts and Humanities
Throughout her career in education and research, Cheryl has been active in the arts and humanities, including collaborating on Ecce Homology and publishing numerous reviews on books and art exhibitions. (link)
Cheryl received her BA in Biology and English from the University of Minnesota, an MA in English Literature from the University of Minnesota via the Regents’ Scholars Program, and a PhD in Biology from UCLA. Her career has had two distinct phases of emphasis, curriculum development for undergraduate education, and research in bacterial microcompartments and cyanobacterial photoprotection.
Undergraduate Life Sciences Curriculum Development
After completing her training as a National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at UCLA, Cheryl was part of a team developing innovative life sciences curricula under the Vice Provost of Undergraduate Education at UCLA. Cheryl’s contributions included development of writing-intensive life sciences courses, and strategies to situate real research in the undergraduate curriculum. A major deliverable was the development and implementation of the UCLA Undergraduate Genomics Research Initiative (UGRI), which combined the laboratory components of several different courses (including a General Education Biology course) to emulate the collaborative nature of modern research. These courses were nucleated by a novel interdisciplinary research-based course developed by Cheryl, Principles and Practices of Genomic Research, in which the lecture component covered topics in physics, mathematics and chemistry relevant to genome sequencing—underscoring how breakthroughs in these domains drive the progress of life and health sciences research. Students could elect to re-enroll in subsequent quarters in which they took on greater responsibility as researchers and in mentorship. The UGRI also exemplified how interactions between industry and academic research support innovation; Cheryl established by partnerships with several biotech companies and the JGI, they contributed equipment, supplies and data. The UGRI is more fully described in Kerfeld and Simons 2007.
In 2007, Cheryl established and led the Genomics and Bioinformatics Education Program at the US Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute. The Genomics and Bioinformatics Education Program was created to train undergraduate faculty in STEM to disciplines use bioinformatics tools and databases in the context of their courses and for research projects. Cheryl and a group of faculty consultants developed the web portal IMG-ACT to enable the use of bioinformatics across the undergraduate curriculum. Between 2008-2013 over 365 college and university faculty used IMG-ACT to engage almost 8000 students in gene and genome analysis as part of courses or independent research projects. Representative results of these efforts were published in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Education. In conjunction with these efforts, Cheryl and Professor Brad Goodner of Hiram College organized and taught, in collaboration with the American Society for Microbiology, the ASM-JGI Bioinformatics Institute which addressed the challenges faced by faculty in keeping up with the rapid pace of advance in the life sciences in the post-genomic era. Cheryl also co-founded and served as Academic Editor between 2010-2013 for the PLOS Biology Education Series. In 2011 Cheryl’s work in undergraduate education initiatives was recognized by the American Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology with their Award for Exemplary Contributions to Education.
Research
Concurrently with her appointment in teaching and curriculum development at UCLA, Cheryl was a Research Scientist in the UCLA-DOE Institute for Genomics and Proteomics where she started and obtained the initial funding for research on photoprotection and bacterial microcompartments that remain the core interests of her research group today. Cheryl currently is the Hannah Distinguished Professor of Structural Bioengineering in the MSU-DOE Plant Research Laboratory and the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Michigan State University. She also holds appointments in the Molecular Biophysics and Integrated Bioimaging Division of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, the Department of Plant and Microbial Biology at UC Berkeley and the Berkeley Synthetic Biology Institute. The Kerfeld group combines methods in bioinformatics, cellular imaging, synthetic and structural biology for understanding the fundamental principles of and the engineering bacterial metabolism. An updated list of her research publications can be found here.
Arts and Humanities
Throughout her career in education and research, Cheryl has been active in the arts and humanities, including collaborating on Ecce Homology and publishing numerous reviews on books and art exhibitions. (link)