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After graduation, I went to the National Youth Science Camp, which was quite an experience to spend a month with the other delegates from all 50 states, and have lunch at the White House with all the State Senators.
I attended BYU on a full-ride Trustees Scholarship from 1990-93, and earned my B.S. in Chemistry. While at BYU, I worked part-time in a lab identifying mitochondrial DNA polymorphisms linked to obesity. I also went on study abroad to Israel for 6 months. It was fascinating to explore the ancient and modern cultures there, learn Hebrew and Arabic, and attend Jewish and Muslim religious services. We went to Egypt and toured the Pyramids, Sphinx, Egyptian Museum, and climbed Mt. Sinai. It was disheartening to see the poverty, especially children living in mausoleums just to have a roof over their head. We also visited Jordan and had lunch at King Hussein's palace and met Queen Noor.
After returning to the U.S., I began work at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) on an Associated Western Universities Research Fellowship, programming in C+ code to track defense satellites. At LLNL I met my wonderful and handsome husband, engineer James Bodnar. We dated for a year, were engaged for a year, and then married in 1994 at beautiful Lake Arrowhead, California. We lived and worked in the Bay Area, and enjoyed hiking and traveling. We enjoyed visiting nearby Golden Gate Bridge, Angel's Island, Yosemite, beaches, and the Redwood Groves Forest.
I worked for Incyte Genomics in Palo Alto doing research in Technology Development and Automation, and saw the company grow from 30 employees to over 1000 in 3 years, and their stock price soar from $8/share to $300/share--(and then later back down to $8/share after I left for graduate school!)
I earned my Ph.D. from UCLA in Molecular Biology/Genetics in 2001. As part of my thesis, I identified a gene that causes elevated cholesterol and triglycerides (combined hyperlipidemia). I named the gene (Hyplip1) and filed for a patent on it. At UCLA I also enjoyed teaching discussion sections on Human Genetics, and Intro to Genetics computer classes. I have 8 scientific publications from my research work at UCLA.
After graduate school, I worked for Beckman Coulter, Inc. as a Staff Scientist. I developed 12-plex and 48-plex DNA microarrays for single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genotyping, and also a multiplex cytokine immunoassay using DNA oligo-linker and DNA microarray technology. Later, I was promoted to Project Manager and Program Manager, where I led up the development of new genomics or proteomics products by managing multi-functional development teams.
My sweet little angel daughter, Lorianne, was born in 2003, and she became my car-pool buddy after we moved to La Crescenta. Her preschool was close by my work, so I would see her for lunch everyday. After 5 years at Beckman, my division was downsized, so I have enjoyed a sabbatical for the last year, volunteering twice a week teaching science in Lori's kindergarten class.
James and I have been married now for over 15 years. I especially appreciate all of his love and support, in earning Ph.D., working, and raising a family. We enjoy traveling together, especially cruises. My favorite is our 5-year anniversary cruise to the Mediterranean, which went to 10 port cities and 5 countries (Italy, Greece, Egypt, Israel, and Turkey) in 13 days. James' favorite cruise is Alaska or Hawaii, and Lori's favorite is the Carribean. We visit Utah several times a year to see family, and we look forward to coming for the 20-year reunion!
