I received my Bachelors in Chemistry (with a minor in Physics) from Berea College, KY. I went on to obtain my PhD in Biochemistry from Rice University, TX under the mentorship of Dr. John S. Olson and Dr. George N. Phillips. While pursuing my graduate research as a wet lab biophysicist on hemoglobin assembly, I ran into research questions involving rapid changes the molecules were undergoing – questions I discovered could not be addressed by simply applying experimental techniques. This led me to pursue my post-doctoral training in computational biophysics with Dr. David Case at Rutgers University, and later on with Dr. Martin Gruebele at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. My academic training over the years helps me to navigate research questions at the intersections of chemistry, physics, and biology. When not doing science, I like to spend my time taking evening walks and birding with my husband Matthew Russell (my favorite Mathematician!), and cooking comfort food from my home country Malaysia. Fun fact: Kimia is the Malay (Malaysia's national language) word for Chemistry!

Mentorship outlook 

My mentoring goal is to create a supportive and safe safe where budding researchers of diverse backgrounds can thrive and pursue their passion for science! I am grateful for all the supportive mentorship I have received from my undergraduate, graduate, and post-doctoral mentors, and for the leap of faith some of them took on for me and for believing in me during some of hardest times. Now, I realize it is my turn to give back to the next generation as I try to grow as a mentor. 

I have had a non-traditional journey to reach where I am now. My dad passed away during my last year in high school, an event that disrupted my educational pursuit for a bit. Berea College, a work-study college that offers four-year full tuition scholarships to all its accepted students who come from low income backgrounds, opened news doors and opportunities for me that I did not think I had access to. Life took another hard turn when my mom, my only living immediate family member, passed away right before I started my graduate school at Rice. If not for the supportive mentorship from my graduate advisors and Rice academic family, I could never have managed surviving those early years at Rice (while dealing with grief), let alone passing my qualifying exam. But then I did survive, got papers published, and even got the best thesis award thanks to Dr. Olson and Dr. Phillips. The next leaps of faith I saw mentors took on me are when David Case and Martin Gruebele let me pursue computational chemistry research, giving me the time to grow in a new field of research for me. 

Even now, as an independent researcher, I often find myself reaching out to my past mentors for advice when things get hard in science, as it often does especially for a new PI. I realize from my mentors that mentorship does not have to end when you graduate or walk out of the lab door, it is a longer relationship that you cultivate. Now, as I continue building my research group, I hope to emulate the supportive mentorship that I have been lucky enough to be on the receiving end over the years.