Dawn Heimer grew up in a small town in western New York with more cows and corn than people. After she inherited suitcases full of college nursing textbooks, she could often be found with her nose in a book. Fortunately for us, those books had glorious illustrations of the layers of dissected frogs and human skin, sparking her interest in science. True to her upbringing, she has pursued academic and industry-sponsored research for over 30 years. She obtained her Ph.D. in Biobehavioral Sciences and Behavioral Genetics from the University of Connecticut, where she conducted family studies in dyslexia and befriended multiple generations of affected family members. She also conducted and published scientific research on gender differences in learning and memory in small animals and held clinical research posts at several top pharmaceutical and medical device companies.