KRISPR

Jennifer Handler is the pen name of a scientist, educator, and novelist whose career has focused on genetics, neuroscience, and human disease. She earned a BS in Molecular Genetics and a PhD in Genetics, completed postdoctoral training in neuroscience at the Cleveland Clinic, and served as a research associate in the Alzheimer's Research Laboratory at the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. She is a faculty member in the Department of Biology at Case Western Reserve University, where she teaches physiology and neuroscience. Her scientific research, teaching experience, and lifelong interest in making complex science accessible inform her fiction, blending authentic scientific concepts with character-driven storytelling.Much of the story of KRISPR is her story. Handler was born and raised in Cleveland but spent time as a young researcher at the prestigious Jackson Laboratory in Bar Harbor, living apart from her new husband. Raising her family in the Midwest, she accompanied her teen-aged daughter to New York City where she participated in an international modeling competition, and later moved her into her dorm at a university in Midtown Manhattan. As a professor, Handler has a real sense of what its like to be a college student in the 21st century. She also has the training and expertise to understand and make relatable technologies in genetics and neuroscience. And she has personally experienced the heart-wrenching and devastating effects of Alzheimer's Disease as she witnessed her dad suffer from it for several years prior to his passing. Jennifer Handler is the author's pen name, as her real name is a bit hard to pronounce.