About Me
Lisa earned her bachelor’s degree in genetics from the University of Georgia, followed by a PhD from Emory University in the Immunology and Molecular Pathogenesis program. She moved to Utah to explore MHC and T cell function in Peter Jensen’s lab. She next worked as a scientist at Myrexis, where she gained experience in the fields of cancer and drug discovery. Lisa joined the Schiffman lab in September of 2011. As lab research leader, she oversees the lab’s many bench science projects. Most recently, with the help of collaborators and other lab members, she demonstrated that elephant cells have an increased apoptotic response to DNA damage compared to human cells, potentially related to multiple copies of TP53. Lisa is very excited to follow up on these discoveries to further our understanding of mechanisms related to cancer suppression and also to explore the potential for evolutionary mechanisms to improve human health. In addition, she is committed to identifying genetic risk factors and how these factors function to increase risk for all types of pediatric cancer, including Ewing sarcoma.