Varinia Bernales

Growing up, Varinia Bernales had a family that instilled in her a commitment to devote one’s career to protecting humankind. She especially looked up to her aunt Belgica, who worked with the World Health Organization, doing research and developing policies on asbestosis to improve worker safety. Bernales couldn’t fathom it when she was a kid in Chile, but that family credo has guided her through a thriving career in science and advocacy. Today, Bernales is one of the lead research scientists at UL Research Institutes, just outside Chicago, where she works on simulating and creating materials to make the world a cleaner, safer place. Starting as an undergraduate at the University of Chile, Bernales fell in love with chemistry and was always looking for new research opportunities. She volunteered in laboratories that ran the gamut of the central science: supramolecular chemistry, inorganic synthesis, solid-state chemistry, and quantum physics. As she