Jennifer T. Thomas, Ph.D.
As a youngster growing up in southern Indiana, I aspired to be a zoo veterinarian and appear regularly with my animals on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. As luck would have it, I was given the opportunity in my senior year of college to be a laboratory assistant for a freshman biology course at the University of Evansville where I received my B.S. degree in biology. It was then that I knew that I wanted to be a professor and teach; I would just have to be on the Tonight Show for something else. I moved to Chicago and attended a Masters program in Immunology at Loyola University Chicago studying T cell leukemia. This experience confirmed my interest in research and prepared me well to receive my Ph.D. in Microbial Pathogenesis from Northwestern University in Chicago. I spent an additional year at Northwestern as a postdoctoral fellow prior to joining the biology faculty of Belmont in the fall of 2000.
My current research interests stem from my time at Northwestern where I focused on human papillomaviruses (HPVs), the causative agent of warts in both genital and non-genital sites. Specifically, I am interested in the association of HPV infection with cervical cancer incidence in women. My students at Belmont have examined HPVs’ role in cancer progression including metastasis, angiogenesis, telomerase activation, and drug resistance. With no compromise in my love of viruses, I have also had the pleasure of supervising molecular research with students studying “outdoorsy” organisms such as plants and ticks.
Since arriving at Belmont, I have developed courses in Genetics, Microbiology, Immunology, Cancer Biology, and Molecular Biology, as well as an introductory biology course for non-majors. I am actively involved in the Honors Program, serving as a tutor and research advisor for students and as a member of the Honors Council. In addition, I am the coordinator for the Biochemistry and Molecular Biology program.
My time away from school is spent with my husband, Scott, and our three young children, Gwen, Grantham and Claire. When not playing at the park, coloring, or playing with baby dolls and cars, I like to garden, work on the house, read, travel, and figure out a way to get on the Tonight Show.
I'd like to contact Dr. Thomas.
