Janet Iwasa, PhD, has been appointed Director of the Genetic Science Learning Center (GSLC) in the Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine at University of Utah, effective July 1, 2024.
Janet joined the Biochemistry Department in 2013. Her broad goal is to create accurate and compelling molecular and cellular visualizations to support research, learning, and scientific communication. Janet's award-winning illustrations and animations have appeared in the New York Times as well as in scientific journals including Nature, Science, and Cell. Her work has also been featured on television and in museum exhibits. Janet was named a TED Fellow and recognized as one of the "100 Leading Global Thinkers" of 2014 by Foreign Policy magazine and one of the “100 Most Creative People” of 2012 by Fast Company magazine.
As a postdoctoral fellow, she created a multimedia exhibit with Nobel laureate Jack Szostak and the Museum of Science, Boston, and later worked on biological visualizations as a faculty member at Harvard Medical School. She received her doctorate in 2006 from the University of California, San Francisco for her work on the actin cytoskeleton in the laboratory of Dyche Mullins and completed 3D animation training at the Gnomon School of Visual Effects later that same summer.
The GSLC has been teaching principles of genetics and biology since 1995 through videos, games, and animations. The team includes experienced teachers, writers, artists, and animators, as well as video and audio producers. The center’s mission is “making science and health easy for everyone to understand.” The GSLC also partners with centers and initiatives, both within the U and externally, to produce educational materials for patients and the broader public on a wide range of scientific topics.
As director, Janet will oversee strategic planning, program development, and daily operations of the GSLC. Her collaborative work with internal and external stakeholders will be instrumental in enhancing the center's already-significant impact on science education. She will also be responsible for fostering strategic partnerships, securing funding, and ensuring that the center’s programs align with overall system missions and goals.
Janet succeeds Louisa Stark, PhD, in the role. Louisa is a professor of Human Genetics and has been working with the GSLC since 1999. She has received multiple awards for her work, including the Award for Excellence in Human Genetics Education from the American Society of Human Genetics (2008), the first Science Prize for Online Resources in Education from Science Magazine (2010), the Utah Governor's Medal for Science and Technology (2010), the Elizabeth W. Jones Award for Excellence in Education from the Genetics Society of America, and the MERLOT Award for Exemplary Online Learning Resources (2017).
A major focus of Louisa’s research has been on improving formal education in science from the K-12 level through graduate and medical education. Under her direction, the GSLC team developed 29 free, web-based curriculum modules/units that incorporate multimedia, interactivity, 2D and 3D animation, video, and online games to elucidate science processes and engage users’ interest. This work has made a significant positive impact on science and health literacy for millions of people worldwide. The GSLC’s Learn.Genetics and Teach.Genetics websites are the most highly used online life science education resource worldwide, with over 15 million unique visits and over 60 million page views from 189 countries annually.