Scientist at Work: Sarah Trimpin
Sarah Trimpin was enjoying a short bike ride--one of her favorite activities in Bloomington--on a warm October morning. That is, until she was hit by a car. The accident happened when a young woman trying to quickly pull into the Kroger strip mall on College Avenue caught her by surprise. Luckily, Trimpin managed to brake quickly enough so that she hit the car instead of the car hitting her. Unluckily, she tore ligaments in her left wrist and suffered a concussion.
"I still get light-headed now and then," said Trimpin, who still wears a brace on her left wrist three months after the accident. "But it could have been much worse."
The accident may have stopped her cycling habits for now, but it did less to deter her research in the Chemistry Department at Indiana University, which recently caught national attention when she was named a Top Young Investigator of 2007 by Genome Technology Magazine. The list included only 30 other of "the best and brightest people who are poised to make serious contributions to their areas of interest," according to the press release.
Trimpin, currently a research associate to Professor D. E. Clemmer, studies human proteins using mass spectrometry while also searching for ways to improve the technique.
Mass spectrometry is a technique that uses charged ions to study the fundamental composition of a material. Trimpin is searching for ways to study membrane proteins and has developed solvent-free methods which do not require the difficult step of making these problematic materials soluble.
Trimpin plans on using the technique to study many proteins, one example being the G-Protein Coupled Receptor, which is relevant to human health. These proteins interact with specific molecules including drug molecules. The interaction with such chemical or physical stimuli causes the cell to start or stop specific molecular processes relevant to life. They are especially important to medications since learning how these mechanisms work could drastically improve many disease treatments.
Trimpin came to Indiana University in 2007 by way of Germany's University of Konstanz, Canada's University of New Brunswick, the Max-Planck Institute for Polymer Research, Oregon State University and Oregon Health & Science University. She was lured to the American Northwest after a brief interlude with a career in industry in Germany that lasted only a couple of interviews. After she realized that the industry scene wasn't for her, she took a position in Oregon for four years before settling in Bloomington just over a year ago.
Trimpin says she has enjoyed her time in southern Indiana because it is similar to Germany. At least, she says, it's more similar than the Pacific Northwest.
"I really enjoy the college scene and the bars downtown like Nick's. And I love the seasons and the landscape here," said Trimpin, who bikes and hikes when she has the time. "Lake Monroe and Yellowwood State Forest are both really pretty."
