Jeanette Wilmanski, Ph.D.

I’m an alumna of Saint Peter’s, class of 2000. Like many of my classmates, I went on to pursue an advanced degree. I earned my Ph.D. at UMDNJ in Newark. I spent two years as a Postdoctoral Fellow at Harvard University. It was a great experience. I had the opportunity to work with well-known scientists in a highly competitive environment. I studied innate immunology – the immune system we are born with vs. the immune system we acquire. The reason I studied the immune system is because it has to do with our genetics. My focus was on Crohn’s disease and Colitis. There was link between a mutation of a particular gene that gave susceptibility to that particular gene.

The sciences can be very challenging. At Saint Peter’s, having a professor who is positive can make all the difference in student success. The Biology department has mostly female faculty and it reflects our students. We are role models for them – that hat doesn’t happen in all the sciences. The classroom is only a small part of the experience with the student, there’s a lot that goes on outside the classroom.

I was a commuter and a first generation student. My family is from Poland so I understand the student experience because I was once in their shoes. We serve many first generation students at Saint Peter’s. I think that the level of kindness here must have left an impression on me so that I would want to come back here and teach. When you care for the whole person you are better able to nurture students’ individual talents.