Toxicology graduate conducting chemical defense research for US Army

Heather Bensinger pictured on far left during summer research at Ashland University

Our Toxicology graduates go on to diverse careers in medicine, forensics, bioscience research and environmental science, but recent grad Heather Bensinger '11 is the first to work with the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Chemical Defense.  Heather is researching how the immune system responds to mustard gas exposure in order to discover new therapeutic drugs.

Heather writes that:

The techniques that I use daily I learned at Ashland University in my Biology and Toxicology coursework, which really helped me to see real-world applications.  Some of the specific classes that I liked and where I learned many techniques were Immunology, Genetics, Microbiology and Toxicology.  To someone who is looking to get into the same field, I would stress the importance of hands-on experience and application.  The research I conducted with the professors at Ashland and the internship at WIL Research Laboratories also helped me to gain a thorough understanding and valuable experience.