Joan Shea received a B.Sc. in Chemistry at McGill University and a Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Following postdoctoral studies at the Scripps Research Institute, she joined the department of Chemistry and the James Franck Institute at the University of Chicago in 2000. Joan moved to her present position as an assistant professor of chemistry and biochemistry at UCSB in 2001. Her research interests are in the fields of theoretical and computational biophysics. She is the recipient of a Cottage Hospital Biomedical Award, an NSF Career Award, a David and Lucile Packard Fellowship and an A.P. Sloan Fellowship.