New faculty spotlight: Tara Nordgren, Ph.D.

Tara Nordgren, Ph.D., is a new faculty member at UNMC.

• Name: Tara Nordgren, Ph.D.
• Hometown: Winchester, Va.
• Title and department at UNMC: Instructor, UNMC Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, Sleep & Allergy

Research interests:
I research mechanisms regulating inflammation resolution and repair in the lungs.

How I fell in love with research:

In high school, I was interested in pursuing a career in writing, until a photography class assignment led me to prepare a presentation on adult stem cell technologies. I was fascinated by this emerging field and was excited at the prospect of impacting human health with innovative research. This revelation led me to pursue a biology major in college and ultimately to follow a career path in academic research. Luckily, as a scientist, I still get to do a lot of writing.

Degrees:

• Ph.D., UNMC, 2011
• Post-doctoral work, pulmonary division, UNMC, 2011-2016

Memberships:

• American Thoracic Society
• American Association for the Advancement of Science
• American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition
• New York Academy of Sciences

Three things people may not know about me:

• I love hiking with my husband, 2-year-old daughter, and two dogs.
• I have gone skydiving twice.
• I have published a novel under a pen name.