Heather Jensen-Smith, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Genetics, Cell Biology, and Anatomy
Director, Advanced Microscopy Core Facility
Dr. Jensen‑Smith is the Operational and Scientific Director of the UNMC Advanced Microscopy Core Facility. She has more than 20 years of experience supporting, managing, and directing shared research resources, including leadership of advanced multimodal imaging, multiphoton intravital microscopy, and quantitative image analyses.
She has served as PI, Co‑I, or Key Personnel on her own and shared federally funded research grants, as well as instrumentation and workforce development grants. Her research portfolio and publication record span several interconnected scientific areas: mitochondrial and metabolic dysfunction in sensory systems; ototoxicity and cochlear hair cell biology; cancer microenvironment and collagen matrix remodeling; quantitative spatial biology; and nanoparticle delivery in cancer, kidney, and liver disease models.
She has a strong commitment to training and mentorship, having supervised undergraduate researchers, graduate students, cross‑disciplinary interns, and post‑baccalaureate scholars across UNMC, Creighton University, and statewide STEM pipeline programs. Dr. Jensen‑Smith is deeply invested in expanding equitable access to advanced imaging and analytical technologies for a broad array of researchers and scholars, strengthening scientific rigor, reproducibility, and collaboration across Nebraska and beyond.
- Leadership and Management in Core Facilities, Kellogg Executive Education, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL
- Postdoctoral Training, Cellular Physiology and Biomedical Sciences, Creighton University, Omaha, NE
- PhD, Biomedical Sciences, Creighton University, Omaha, NE
- BA, Biopsychology, University of Nebraska - Lincoln, Lincoln, NE
- Optical metabolic imaging, redox analyses, tissue clearing, and high‑resolution phenotyping
- Imaging‑supported cancer research (especially pancreatic and breast cancer matrix biology)
- Neurobiology of sensory systems, mitochondrial metabolism, and ototoxicity
- Advanced light microscopy (confocal, multiphoton, light‑sheet, widefield, and super‑resolution)
- Quantitative image analysis, spatial biology, and correlative multimodal imaging
- Taylor, H., Spruill, L., Jensen-Smith, H., Rujchanarong, D., Hulahan, T., Ivey, A., Siougiannis, A., Bethard, J. R., Ball, L. E., Sandusky, G. E., Hollingsworth, M. A., Barth, J. L., Mehta, A. S., Drake, R. R., Marks, J. R., Nakshatri, H., Ford, M., & Angel, P. M. (2025). Spatial localization of collagen hydroxylated proline site variation as an ancestral trait in the breast cancer microenvironment. Matrix Biology: Journal of the International Society for Matrix Biology, 136, 71–86. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matbio.2025.01.006
- Kitzerow, O., Christensen, S., Hong, J., Adam, R. J., Zucker, I. H., Jensen-Smith, H., & Wang, H. J. (2025). Anatomical mapping of neural lineages expressing the transient receptor potential vanilloid type 1 receptor using a modified and combined PACT and CUBIC protocol for rapid tissue clearance. Acta physiologica (Oxford, England), 241(2), e14275. https://doi.org/10.1111/apha.14275
- Vance, K., Alitinok, A., Winfree, S., Jensen-Smith, H., Swanson, B. J., Grandgenett, P. M., Klute, K. A., Crichton, D. J., & Hollingsworth, M. A. (2022). Machine learning analyses of highly-multiplexed immunofluorescence identifies distinct tumor and stromal cell populations in primary pancreatic tumors. Cancer Biomarkers: Section A of Disease Markers, 33(2), 219–235. https://doi.org/10.3233/CBM-210308
- National Strategic Research Institute (NSRI) Fellow, Medical Countermeasures & Science/Technology Working Groups, 2025
- Outstanding Scientist Award, Association of Biomolecular Resource Facilities, 2023
- Clare Boothe Luce Research Fellow, 2001-2006