Profile of Barbara Imperiali

Abstract

Barbara Imperiali’s research interests lie at the interface of chemistry and biology. She interrogates biology with a chemical lexicon, using chemically driven strategies to provide new insight into the fundamental processes of life (1). In doing so, she and her team have revealed diverse aspects of protein structure, function, and design, and the role of proteins in cellular function and disease. Barbara Imperiali. Photograph credit: Bachrach Photographers, Boston, MA. Imperiali, a professor of Biology and Chemistry at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, says, “I taught organic chemistry to many unwilling students for 25 years,” adding that much of the first semester was spent trying to convince students that chemistry was interesting. By the second semester, many did indeed catch what she calls “the chemistry bug.” As a result, several generations of chemists and other scientists credit Imperiali for their inspiration. In recognition of her continuing achievements, Imperiali was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 2010. Imperiali was born on New Year’s Day, 1957. She grew up in England, where she attended The Southbank School in Caterham. “There were four different grades all crammed into one room,” she says. Later, she attended Coloma Grammar School in Croydon. The British grammar school system allows for early specialization in certain subjects and, for Imperiali, there was no question that science was to be her focus. From the age of 14 she dedicated much of her studies to learning about chemistry, physics, biology, and math. She attended University College London, where she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in medicinal chemistry with honors in 1979. The same year, Imperiali made a significant move. “I shocked everyone at home by coming to the US,” she explains. The primary draw was the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where she earned a PhD in synthetic …