Jana Villemain
Because of the technology and further exploration it involves, Jana Villemain has never lost interest in biochemistry. She loves learning more and is fascinated by her field’s ubiquitous nature. As a faculty member at IUP, she enjoys sharing that passion. Learn more about her in this week’s Meet Our Faculty feature.
What is it about the biochemistry field that initially drew you in—and ultimately keeps you interested?
I love the way that chemistry explains the basis of life’s biological processes and how things fit together to make something work.
Growing up, I worked with my grandparents fixing and making things, from gardening and sewing to fixing and repairing tools and equipment. I explored and investigated how things went together, and I read a lot. I have always been extremely curious about how things work at the most basic level, and I love to build a bigger picture by putting pieces of a puzzle together. Biochemistry is an amazing puzzle with all the pieces being revealed by experiments and new techniques that must be assembled and refined to draw a conclusion that withstands scrutiny.
The field of biochemistry is also always changing and advancing due to new technologies and the rise of computing power, so the novelty never wears off. It is also very relevant to health, medicine, nutrition, and even information storage in nucleic acid molecules. It is so interdisciplinary that it touches many other fields. I can’t imagine not being able to read about what’s new in biochemistry.
Why do you enjoy teaching in this discipline?
Biochemistry is fascinating and answers so many questions about how organisms function in their environment and respond to all kinds of signals and challenges. I’m very lucky that I get to work every day to help students appreciate and understand the basics of biochemistry and foster their curiosity and scientific reasoning in research. They can then build on this foundation in their chosen career path as a researcher, physician, or other science professional.
What advice would you give students about how to succeed in college?
Find a field to focus on that you are continually drawn to learn more about so that you never lose passion for it. Some things you learn will be supportive of your main passion, and you will need a good dose of discipline and initiative to power through tough spots. However, your broader experiences all shape how you recognize, approach, and solve problems in your field.
Tell us something most of your students may not know about you.
I started out in college with a mixture of biology and art courses, not sure in what direction I wanted to go. I focused on biology and chemistry in the end, but I still love creating things like beautiful protein structures with 3D printing and doing all kinds of crafts, both indoors and out.