Student Spotlights Liza Burton
By Joyce Jones
By Joyce Jones
Hooked on Science
W
ith the soaring cost of higher education, it is truly a gift to begin university life knowing what you want to do with the rest of your life. Liza Burton, a fourthyear Ph.D. candidate in CAU’s Department of Biological Sciences, had her epiphany in ninth grade when she first saw a cell under a microscope. “From then on, I was hooked on science. It made science come alive and learning that one cell has the same functions as a whole human being made me want to know more,” she says. “And science was the way to go.” Liza, who hails from Stratford, New Jersey, then spent every moment she could in the library reading whatever she could find on the subject. When she went off to Oakwood University in Huntsville, Alabama, she was an active member of the science club and worked on research projects during the school year and summers, including one on lung function in neonates. After earning her undergraduate and master’s degrees, Liza spent the next six years teaching a variety of science courses, such as anatomy and physiology, cellular and molecular biology, and immunology, at her alma mater. Teaching is a critical component of Liza’s master plan. She hopes to one day become a dean at a university or college, a role she will use to get other students hooked on science. As an Oakwood instructor, she worked with about 40 students who were applying to medical, dental, and graduate school. In addition to 20
CLARK ATLANTA UNIVERSITY
FALL 2015
helping them get internships, she worked with them to prepare for the MCAT, DAT, and GRE. All of them went on to earn advanced degrees and have successful careers today, she proudly states. When Liza, who for the past seven years has been a part-time instructor at Georgia’s Chattahoochee Technical College, inevitably becomes a dean at whatever institution is lucky enough to win her, she also will bring some major research bona fides. This past August, she was awarded a $74,000 National Institutes of Health Ruth I. Kirschstein National Research Service Award for Individual Predoctoral Fellowship to Promote Diversity in Health-Related Research (see page 5). Each year, more than 1,000 people apply for the grant, “and for some reason mine got chosen,” she marvels. But all modesty aside, Liza acknowledges that Clark Atlanta prepared her well for the extremely competitive process. “At Clark they prepare you for writing grant proposals through a qualifying exam we have to take where you’re basically writing a mini grant from start to
finish without any help from the faculty,” she explains. When she passed the exam, she thought, why not go for the real deal, and with the help of her adviser, Dr. Valerie Odero-Marsh, an associate professor and assistant director of research, they streamlined the proposal and submitted it to NIH. “I chose one of the best mentors for my research. Dr. Odero-Marsh has definitely helped me cultivate my ideas. She meets with us weekly to make sure we’re actually developing our research and has an open door policy, so any time I need her or have a question, I can stop in or text her,” Liza says. Still, winning the grant came as a huge surprise. Liza believed in her proposal but when April, the month in which awards are announced, came and went, she figured she’d been passed over. Then in August, she got an email informing her of the good news. “I was very surprised,” Liza says, but thrilled to know that the ten people who review the grant proposals actually believed in her research. “That’s important.” n