Penn Port Postdoctoral Fellows IRACDA Conference 2017, Birmingham, Alabama. Pictured from Left to Right: Dr. Kimberly Williams Assistant Professor at Spelman College, Dr. Samantha Wilner, Assistant Professor of Chemistry at Ursinus College, Dr. Dondra Bailey Griggs, Assistant Professor at Coppin State University, Dr. Heather L. Bennett, Assistant Professor at Trinity College, and Dr. Erica Perez Assistant Professor at Xavier University of Louisiana
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Dr. Heather Bennett discusses her research at the SACNAS Science Cafe, University of Pennsylvania.
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Heather was born and raised in Egg Harbor Township, NJ. Heather received a Bachelor of Science degree in biology from Stockton University. After college, she completed a post-baccalaureate program at the University of Pennsylvania under the mentorship of Dr. Stefania Gallucci., M.D. where she earned the reputation of being a very ambitious and hard-working student in the Gallucci laboratory. As a result, Dr. Gallucci allowed Heather to work on an independent research project, an opportunity that is typically reserved for graduate students. Heather's independent project focused on characterizing the role of Type I Interferons in the development of kidney disease in the autoimmune disease Lupus in several different mouse models of Lupus.
Heather earned her PhD from Brown University in the Molecular, Cell, Biochemistry (MCB) graduate program, and completed her dissertation research with Anne C. Hart, PhD, where she investigated the genetic and molecular pathways that regulate sleep and compensatory sleep in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans). In addition to Heather’s scientific advances at the laboratory bench at Brown University, Heather was actively involved in a number of organizations and committees, including the Samuel M. Nabrit Black Graduate Student Association, the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS), and the Leadership Alliance, all dedicated to enhancing the biomedical graduate student and undergraduate experience, increasing scientific outreach, and creating more diverse representation in the sciences. In addition to these efforts, Heather served as a graduate student trainee on the Genetics Society of America's Education committee where she participated in discussion on how to make science education more accessible to younger and more diverse groups.
Heather completed her postdoctoral training with Robert G. Kalb, M.D., where she worked on the neurobiology underlying hypoxic and anoxic stress in C. elegans. She was also a recipient of an Institutional Research and Academic Career Development Award (IRACDA) postdoctoral fellowship sponsored National Institute of Health’s division of the National Institute of General Medical Sciences. As a postdoctoral fellow, Heather taught courses at Lincoln University and Rutgers Camden.
In 2018 Heather began as an assistant professor of biology at Bard College, where she was the first African American faculty member in the science division.
In July of 2021, Heather opened her research lab at Trinity College in Hartford, CT, where she is an assistant professor in the biology department.