Eli Lilly research scientist and former TSU Trustee Dr. Anne Reifel Miller's face lights up when she describes her love for the painstaking, trial-and-error process leading to her company's manufacture of drugs to ease suffering and manage illness.

Loving the "stuff"—the beakers, Petri dishes, and test tubes common to any laboratory—certainly simplifies Dr. Reifel Miller's groundbreaking work, and her impact on the medical world. But it points to the driving force behind the labor of scientists like the 1978 TSU biology graduate. These folks simply love lab work—the ideas, the people, the equipment, the processes.

The Pioneer, Ohio, kid who entered many science fairs and knew she wanted a career in science shares that passion with a unique core of individuals. "The people are different," she said, offering some insights during a fall visit in her Indianapolis office. "They're introverted. Few people working in science are making a fortune, so they work in this field for other reasons. The people in the lab are often here to seek truth, identify and execute unique discoveries, and participate in deep, intense intellectual conversations that take place daily."

That truth emerges via a difficult process of repetition, elimination, and often, failure. "Twenty percent of the experiments work, and we spend the rest of the time trying to understand the failures. But some level of progress is made daily. It keeps us coming back to the lab day after day," she said.

"Just pursue what you enjoy doing and what you're good at, because you will need to demonstrate your worth over and over again."

Small progress over time yields important discoveries. Her work at Lilly has produced six molecules that have entered clinical trials in people with type 2 diabetes or sepsis. That defied some pretty imposing odds.

"It's not uncommon to work here for an entire career and never get one molecule into a person. One of 1 million compounds goes into a person...¦You have to love the process of getting that 'eureka' moment" she said. She recalled an inspiring quote from the company's current CEO—You have the ability to change people's lives, and in some cases make life possible."

Reifel Miller echoes that sentiment. "Improving lives is what a career in science can achieve. Indeed, it is for this reason that we come back to the lab every day to face the staggering odds that are common to the drug discovery process."

The TSU graduate completed licensing as a medical technologist at Lutheran Hospital's School of Medical Technology in Fort Wayne for her fourth year of TSU credit. She moved on to complete a master's degree in genetics with honors at Ball State University in Muncie and a doctorate in molecular biology with honors at Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis.

After joining Lilly as a senior scientist in the Endocrinology Research Division in 1991, she rose through the ranks to become acting director of the division's diabetes section, and then senior research scientist, research adviser, and senior research adviser for the division. Since 2005, she served first as chief scientific officer and then as research fellow for the Diabetes Drug Hunting Team in the Endocrine and Cardiovascular Cluster at Lilly Research Laboratories.

Her research is world-renowned. She has published a dizzying array of review articles and manuscripts for medical journals, and research abstracts for conferences across the globe. Her long list of invited lectures, workshops, and research presentations include appearances at TSU, Ball State, Indianapolis, Hamburg, London, Chicago, Bangalore, and Calgary, among many others.

A tremendous success in the world of science, she avidly supports the roles of women in leadership positions. In 2002, she traveled to her alma mater to present the workshop, "Credibility, Composure, and Confidence for Today's Career Woman," and the speech "Words of Inspiration" as TSU's Senior Banquet guest speaker in 2004. She is active in Women in Lilly Discovery (WILD), a networking forum for senior-level research scientists at Lilly Research Laboratories. "It's a great support group of bright women, one of whom discovered the breast cancer gene, BRCA1," she said.

Ascending to executive positions as a minority in the field gives her great pride, and she advises younger women to persevere in disciplines that tap their strengths. "Just pursue what you enjoy doing and what you're good at, because you will need to demonstrate your worth over and over again."

Her TSU undergraduate degree served her well in the professional world. "I felt very prepared for Lutheran Hospital, and then the master of science in genetics," she said. She honored a family tradition of women studying at TSU—her grandmother attended two generations before her.

She praised TSU Professor Pete Hippensteel and Professor Miller in the School of Arts and Sciences as big influences in her undergraduate studies. Like other alumnae, she said TSU simply took hold and never let her go. "Dad said to start out at TSU because it was safe and close to home. I started, I loved it, and I stayed."