Help us welcome Erica Boldenow to Biology
Calvin College’s Biology Department welcomes Professor Erica Boldenow onto its staff this year. Boldenow’s field of interest is reproductive biology, particularly how infections and environmental chemicals can influence pregnancy. In the past, she has done research with both human and animal models, in addition to cell and tissue culture models.
Finding a Path
Reproductive biology and toxicology were not Erica Boldenow's original interests. After studying biology at Calvin as an undergraduate, Boldenow went to University of Michigan's School of Public Health, where she studied in the Environmental Health Science Department. While there, she found an advisor who was doing research on how chemicals like brominated flame retardants (chemicals that reduce flammability) and phalates (chemicals that make materials like plastic more flexible) influenced preterm birth.
Her advisor was also working on a project that was studying group B streptococcus, or Streptococcus agalactiae, which are bacteria normally found in the lower intestine. While it is normally harmless, it can cause complications with the mother and child during pregnancy.
"I was studying group B streptococcus in her lab, and I was really interested for my dissertation how environmental chemicals could interact with group B streptococcus. We know both are bad, but how do both work together to create possibly even worse outcomes," Boldenow said.
Boldenow continued to work on studying group B streptococcus after gradate school at Seattle Children's Hospital. Having studied the mechanics of the bacteria, Boldenow continued to look at which virulence factors (molecules that produce pathogens) were secreted and what was promoting an immune response in women that could lead to preterm birth.
After gaining research experience, Boldenow knew she wanted to teach at a Christian liberal arts school.
"I love bench-research and I love teaching. Those two things have to go together - and when you look at small liberal arts schools like Calvin, mot of them don't have the same research capacity that Calvin has. And that's ultimately what drew me here," Boldenow said. "You can do the science and you make your students do it too, which is so wonderful to be able to do both of those things."
Current Research
Boldenow recently worked on a collaborative study with 32 other researchers connecting Zika to brain lesions in a non-human primate fetus. The study was published in Nature magazine this past June.
"We infected a non-human primate with Zika virus, who was pregnant, and we wanted to see if we could find microcephaly [in the fetus]," said Boldenow. "We didn't see microcephaly in its full form, but we did see brain lesions. This is the first animal study that's seen brain lesions in a fetus, which is one of the criteria for calling it causal."
"It's not a full study, so we're still waiting for the rest of the study to actually show that that's truly the case with the rest of the statistics. But that's kind of the first piece of the puzzle," she said.
Boldenow is currently trying to get a lab up and running on Calvin's campus to study pathogens and preterm birth.
Life and Faith
Outside of the classroom, Boldenow enjoys doing outdoor activities like canoeing and hiking. Boldenow also loves making her own food, whether it be canning her own jellies, jams, and pickles or baking her own bread.
When asked about how her faith has been a part of her journey as a biologist, it was clear that awe, wonder, and a sense of responsibility were themes in Boldenow's answer.
"One thing that I love about biology is that it's an exploration on how God created things and we get to look at that every day. It's so complex and so beautiful. So when I'm looking at cells under the microscope. I think about that sometimes. It's usually a little bit more subconscious than anything, but I think: one, kind of in awe and wonder that you can do this, and two, see it and how much we don't know. The more I go through and become more advanced in biology, the more I realize that I don't know anything, which I think is also proof of God's miraculous world," Boldenow said.
She continued, "I think other parts include integrity in science, too. There's a reason why we want to do this. Having studied public health, I have a desire to care for God's people and God's creation and those together, and how they work together. And so my faith has motivated that, having chosen this field of biology or public health, and that's because I think we are called to care for God's people, we are called to care for creation."
By Alexandra Kuipers, JR biology and philosophy major