{"320691":{"#nid":"320691","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Jessilyn Dunn: Pushing Boundaries in Biomedical Engineering and Beyond","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003EAt just 11 years old, Jessilyn Dunn was determined to learn more about the heart. After being by her grandmother\u2019s side for her second heart valve replacement surgery, Dunn became frustrated at the lack of a permanent fix for her grandmother\u2019s condition.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003EShe began to study vascular aging, and found a passion that would chart the course for her entire academic career. Dunn obtained her B.S. in Biomedical Engineering from Johns Hopkins University, and today is a 5th year Ph.D. student at the Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University. She\u2019s working to better understand cardiovascular disease\u2013the same condition that affects her grandmother.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003E\u201cCardiovascular disease continues to be the number one cause of death in the developed world, despite major advancements in medicine,\u201d said Dunn. \u201cI study how blood flow affects gene expression, which will either prevent or accelerate harmful plaque buildup that leads to heart disease.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003EDunn\u2019s know-how in the lab is rivaled only by her exceptional skills as a multi-tasker. She spent time this past summer interning at the CDC through the strategy and technology consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton, and now continues working as a graduate research fellow in the Jo Lab of Vascular Mechanobiology and Disease. It\u2019s here that her abilities as a researcher shine. Dunn\u2019s thesis centers around a genome-wide analysis of gene expression and DNA methylation in cardiovascular disease.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003E\u201cPut simply,\u201d Dunn explained, \u201cthe genome is like a puzzle where the pieces are constantly changing. When one piece changes, the surrounding pieces must alter their behavior in response. I find it fascinating to learn why and how this happens.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003EHer fascination is what drives her, and gets results. Dunn\u2019s thesis culminated in a May 2014 publication in the Journal of Clinical Investigation\u2013one of five published studies Dunn has under her belt.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003EBut Dunn\u2019s success hasn\u2019t come without its fair share of challenges. Early on, she faced gender bias in a field that\u2019s still predominantly ruled by men. She found solace in supportive groups like MIT\u2019s Women\u2019s Technology Program and the Society of Women Engineers.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003E\u201cThese groups taught me about reducing gender discrimination that still persists in the field, and how to be a role model for young women in science,\u201d Dunn said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003EIt\u2019s a role Dunn doesn\u2019t take lightly. While on the BBUGS Education and Outreach Committee, she helped organize a program to introduce biomedical engineering to 8th grade girls from the Bronx Preparatory Middle School in New York. The girls took basic biology lessons learned in the classroom and applied them to form hypotheses about sets of research. Dunn hopes programs like this will inspire and encourage young girls to pursue STEM fields\u2013science, technology, engineering and mathematics.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003E\u201cThese young women truly represent the next generation of researchers in biomedical engineering,\u201d Dunn said. \u201cIn several years, one of these girls could be working right here in this lab\u2013with even more advanced technology and equipment.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003EDunn credits Georgia Tech\u2019s Biomedical Engineering Department with helping her achieve her research goals, providing the computational infrastructure to perform large-scale analyses of data sets. Down the road, she hopes to pursue a career converting and translating biomedical \u201cbig data\u201d into real and impactful conclusions.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003E\u201cGeorgia Tech has introduced me to a wide variety of research fields that I otherwise would have known nothing about,\u201d Dunn said. \u201cThe faculty have helped me take the interest that I had when I was younger and turn it into a real, concrete career path doing something that I believe in.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003EListening to Dunn describe her ambitious goals in the biomedical engineering arena, you might not guess that she pursues another passion: ballet dancing. Not only does she find the time to practice ballet regularly, but she also founded the Johns Hopkins University Ballet Company during her time as an undergrad there. The Company holds free classes and performances for the Baltimore community and teaches ballet at public elementary schools.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003EIt\u2019s all part of Dunn\u2019s larger mission to instill young girls with a clear and strong message: you can succeed at whatever you put your mind to, and you can excel at many different things if you simply take the chance to try.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003E\u201cIn biomedical engineering, in dance and in life, your strongest proponent is yourself,\u201d Dunn said. \u201cIt can be difficult to challenge longstanding beliefs or do something that has never been done before, but it\u2019s only through doing this that you achieve enormous success.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOf that, Dunn is living proof.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/pub\/jessilyn-dunn\/38\/34\/828\u0022 target=\u0022_self\u0022\u003EConnect with Jessilyn Dunn on LinkedIn\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/scholar.google.com\/citations?user=O2nUrQIAAAAJ\u0026amp;hl=en\u0022 target=\u0022_self\u0022\u003EFollow Jessilyn Dunn on Google Scholar\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWritten by Chris Calleri\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"At just 11 years old, Jessilyn Dunn was determined to learn more about the heart. After being by her grandmother\u2019s side for her second heart valve replacement surgery, Dunn became frustrated at the lack of a permanent fix for her grandmother\u2019s condit"}],"uid":"27960","created_gmt":"2014-09-02 15:46:09","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:16:59","author":"Chris Calleri","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2014-09-02T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2014-09-02T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"320681":{"id":"320681","type":"image","title":"Jessilyn Dunn","body":null,"created":"1449244997","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 16:03:17","changed":"1475895029","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:50:29","alt":"Jessilyn Dunn","file":{"fid":"200086","name":"jess-dunn2.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/jess-dunn2_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/jess-dunn2_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":53262,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/jess-dunn2_0.jpg?itok=i6SMaN0w"}}},"media_ids":["320681"],"groups":[{"id":"1254","name":"Wallace H. Coulter Dept. of Biomedical Engineering"}],"categories":[{"id":"42941","name":"Art Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"1612","name":"BME"},{"id":"29531","name":"Jessilyn Dunn"},{"id":"365","name":"Research"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EChris Calleri\u003Cbr \/\u003E Communications Manager\u003Cbr \/\u003E Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering\u003Cbr \/\u003E Georgia Institute of Technology \u0026amp; Emory School of Medicine\u003Cbr \/\u003E 313 Ferst Drive, Suite 2120\u003Cbr \/\u003E Atlanta, GA \u0026nbsp;30332-0535\u003Cbr \/\u003E Phone: \u0026nbsp;404.385.2416\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}