Julie Kimbell pursued her interest in music at Middlebury College in Vermont where she majored in mathematics. She continued her education at Duke University, where she earned her Master's Degree and, in 1988, a Ph.D. in Differential Geometry. After completing her Duke career, Julie was recruited by the Chemical Industry Institute of Toxicology, a nonprofit, independent research facility in Research Triangle Park. A post-doctorate fellow for three years, Julie earned a position on the institutes full staff.
Julie and her husband, Rory Conolly, both work at CIIT. They have two children, a three-year old daughter named Annie and an eight-month old son named Max. Julie says that CIIT has been very understanding and helpful as she has learned to juggle family and a career.
For more information on Julie Kimbell's life, read her responses to our questions.
As a post-doctorate at CIIT, Julie soon began working with renowned veterinary pathologist, Kevin Morgan. At the time Morgan was studying respiratory airflow in rats using dyes and physical models. He focused on regional dosimetry: how much of the various components in the air was each part of the rats' nasal passages being exposed to? Morgan's goal was to see if the points of highest exposure corresponded with the position of lesions that were consistently turning up in the nasal passages of rats and primates. If a correlation existed, he could potentially translate his data to human nasal passages and figure out exactly what amount of various toxins could have adverse effects in humans.
While with Morgan, Julie wrote a computer program that would effectively simulate airflow through nasal passages. By quantifying Morgan's work, Julie developed a more accurate and efficient system to determine regional dosimetry. Her program first required cross-sectional scans of a rat's nose, which it linked together in 3 dimensions and fit the model to a grid that broke the nasal passages down into tiny cubes. By applying the FIDAP program, Julie's program could then solve the Navier-Stokes equations, which govern the law of conservation of momentum, for every cube of the model. These equations would in turn lead to a converged airflow simulation.
For more information on Julie Kimbell's quantitative work, read her responses to our questions.
Julie's ultimate goals involve applying her computer program to humans, which would allow her to determine patterns of regional dosimetry for all humans. With this knowledge, scientists will have a better idea of the amounts of various toxic substances in the air that affect different portions of the nose. This quantified data will lead to accurate regulations concerning permissible levels of toxins produced by industry. Further, information in regional dosimetry can show exactly what damage exposure to cigarettes, drugs, and other chemicals can do to the nasal passages. Julie's research will lead to a healthier and more efficient society.
For more information on the impact of Julie Kimbell's work, read her responses to our questions.
Marie Schroeder
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Diemecha Hilliard