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Dr. Laura M. Zimmerman (born June 26, 1984) is an American biology professor and a distinguished politician. Dr. Zimmerman broke barriers as a young woman during her college time at Illinois State University where she was a graduate research assistant, and a graduate teaching assistant. She now is a biology professor for Millikin University teaching;  Immunology; Genetics; Diversity of Life; Infectious Diseases; Anatomy & Physiology I Lecture and Lab; Field Ecology, and Senior Seminar.

Early Life and Education

Dr. Zimmerman was born in Gibson, Illinois, and grew up in Bellflower, Illinois. She is one three children born to Janet Zimmerman, Bellflower Village Board Trustee, and Myron Zimmerman, retired from USDA. She has two sibling, Randy Zimmerman, State Farm Bank, and Eric Zimmerman, engineer at Alamo Group. During her childhood Dr. Zimmerman attended  Bellflower Elementary until it consolidated, then moved to Blue Ridge High School where she graduated from. She graduated Millikin University in 2006 with a Biology; Molecular and Cellular Concentration major and a minor in Chemistry. She continued her education at Illinois State University where in 2009 she obtain her masters in Biology; Behavior, Ecology, Evolution, Systematics Concentration and in 2013 she obtain her Phd in Biology; research area: Immunology. While in ISU she was a  graduate teaching assistant, teaching: Immunology Lab; Human Physiology and Anatomy; Human Physiology and Anatomy II Lab; Biotechnology Laboratory II: Cell Biology Techniques; Fundamental Concepts in Biology Lab.

Career

From 2006- 2013 Dr. Zimmerman was a graduate Teaching assistant at Illinois State University. In 2008 she also became graduate research assistant of Illinois State University. In 2014 she was visiting assistant professor at Wofford College. From 2014- 2015 she was part of Watershed Coordinator, Champaign County Soil &amp;amp; Water Conservation District, where she update management plans, wrote grants, and worked with implementation committee. Meanwhile she was also the adjunct professor for Millikin University. Finally in 2015 she became a professor for Millikin University. Dr. Zimmerman is currently running for County Board for Macon county in the 2018 elections.

Academia

Dr. Zimmerman researches ecological immunology at Millikin University, where she is a professor of biology. Her research concerns the study of the distribution and abundance of organisms and their interactions with their environment, including parasites and pathogens. She also studies the physiological functioning of the immune system in states of health and disease.

Dr. Zimmerman has attended various conferences where she’s presented her research: Gray, W.A. and L.M. Zimmerman. 2018. Relationship between Salmonella prevalence and LPS-binding antibodies in red-eared slider turtles (Trachemys scripta). Presented at Celebration of Scholarship, Millikin University; *Smith, B., S. Hwan-Oh, L. Hoyer, and L.M. Zimmerman. 2018. Locating and characterizing agglutinin-like sequence (ALS) genes in Candida metapsilosis. Presented at Celebration of Scholarship, Millikin University.

Professional Organizations

Dr. Zimmerman is member of Society of Comparative and Integrative Biology, Beta Beta Beta National Biological Honor Society, Research Coordination Network in Eco-Immunology, and Phi Sigma (Beta Lambda Chapter) Honor Society. Dr. Zimmerman has helped organized numerous conferences.

Awards and Honors