Heidi Kletzien is one of few scientists in the world who studies basic scientific mechanisms behind swallowing – how we move food, water, and phlegm down our throats. It’s a topic she was exposed to in her first long-term research associate position outside of her biology degree. Now, as a new faculty member in the College of Biological Sciences’ Department of Genetics, Cell Biology and Development, Kletzien looks forward to advancing her research.
“[Swallowing] is one of these functions that we take for granted,” says Kletzien, who iterates that healthy humans swallow an average of 1,000 times a day, and its functionality is determined by countless cellular and physiological processes. “It involves the coordination and precision of over 50 pairs of muscles and six cranial nerves. Just one minor perturbation to any one of those tissues or nerves can have dire consequences on human health.”
Its importance is evident when one considers oral and throat cancers and the swallowing disorders evident in up to 20% of the healthy, aging population. Many individuals with neurological disorders like Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease die from aspiration pneumonia, which can be linked to an “unsafe swallow.” Those with head and neck cancers also have swallowing disorders. “When you think about that, and then you also think about the healthcare burden, or cost, for patients and also their families, it's very high.”
Environmental factors like tobacco and cigarette use can alter the genetic makeup of our oral and throat cells, changing the way they age and develop. As a postdoc at Harvard, Kletzien used large datasets to determine what genetic and physiological markers are associated with things like oral and throat cancer, swallowing disorders, and more. She went so far as to create a mouse model that uses an adeno-associated virus technology that can alter the genetic makeup of head and throat “stem” cells directly in mice. By altering the oral and throat cells of mice, Kletzien’s’s lab at the University of Minnesota can study how these genetic markers are related to development, aging, disease, and more.
A possible application of her work is gene therapy. “I’m really interested in stem cells from a therapeutic standpoint, so basically learning whether or not we can rejuvenate the ‘original’ cells of aged individuals or those with age-related diseases,” says Kletzien. “I absolutely love what I do. We can use this platform in so many ways. For example, we can use it as a model to describe how mutations can drive [oral and throat] tumor formation, but we can also use it as a model to explore immunotherapies that target and restrict specific types of tumor formation.”
Though her recent appointment as new faculty member in GCD likely comes to no surprise to her previous colleagues and peers at Harvard University, Kletzien’s career in science almost didn’t happen. She started on a decidedly different path as a pre-law student athlete at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. An anatomy course she took during senior year as an undergraduate at the University of Wisconsin-Madison changed everything.
“When I entered college, I really wanted to major in biomedical engineering,” she explains, saying her mom’s lifelong battle with rheumatoid arthritis exposed her to the challenges and value of medical research. But Kletzien had one obstacle in her way. She was positioned to be a committed student athlete in the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s NCAA D1 women’s hockey program, and felt pressured to take on a lighter course load. Hockey has one of the longest seasons during the school year of any sport, and science programs often require lab courses that can be more than three times as long as a regular lecture.
Now as a new faculty member in the College of Biological Sciences, Kletzien wants to advocate for STEM mentorship in college athletes, knowing from experience that student athletes can have some of the best time-management skills out there. Kletzien took the energy, ambition, and drive she demonstrated as an aspiring athlete to pursue several more years of schoolwork and lab experience.
But first she has to set up her lab. And considering the collaborative nature of the University and the College, Kletzien has a lot to look forward to in terms of connecting with other researchers in GCD and beyond. “That was a huge draw. People are genuine in the midwest, yeah? There’s such an array of model organisms and people studying different things. There’s a lot of opportunity for collaboration here.” Including hockey – she plans to make connections outside the lab, too. “Now that I am back in the midwest, I will so be playing hockey again.” – Adara Taylor