Carrying on the legacy
Lisa Wilson is the first recipient of the Dr. Bonnie Avery Advancing Women in Pharmaceutical Sciences Award.
Science is never finished. UF College of Pharmacy graduate student Lisa Wilson sees it as a lifelong journey — filled with new questions and challenges that emerge along the way.
Wilson’s journey toward a science career began early in life. Growing up in St. Louis, she expressed an interest in becoming a doctor at age 5. In high school, she was enamored by math and science, while her classmates were attracted to sports, music and other interests. When she decided not to become a physician, several influential mentors helped her find a future in the pharmaceutical sciences.
Making her mark in science
Wilson’s first experience in a research lab came in 2006. She accepted a summer internship working under the direction of Rae Matsumoto, Ph.D., M.S., a professor in the University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy, studying the use of sigma receptor antagonists as an inhibitor of cocaine-induced seizures. The idea that a drug could stop an animal from having a cocaine-induced seizure amazed this young scientist and fueled her interest in further exploration.
“I had a hunger to learn, and the science was all so new and exciting to me,” Wilson said. “To be a good scientist, you must ask the questions that are really hard and have the perspective to sit back and say ‘I have to figure this out.’”
For the next decade, Wilson worked as a research scientist and lab technician at Ole Miss. She led animal studies examining various aspects of sigma receptors, while working with esteemed faculty. In the back of her mind, she contemplated starting a master’s degree or doctoral program, but it wasn’t until 2017 that she made the leap of faith and enrolled at UF. The move to Gainesville offered Wilson the opportunity to expand her research interests under the direction of Jay McLaughlin, Ph.D., a professor of pharmacodynamics in the UF College of Pharmacy.
As the inaugural recipient of the Dr. Bonnie Avery Advancing Women in Pharmaceutical Sciences Fellowship, graduate student Lisa Wilson has made it her mission to introduce young women to science.
Wilson has studied novel sigma receptor antagonists as a treatment for chronic pain and stimulant abuse. Additionally, this work led to a study that suggested kratom — a plant native to Southeast Asia — could be a treatment option for opioid dependence. As a graduate student, she has already earned authorship on seven peer-reviewed publications. Her aptitude for quickly learning new materials, her ability to perform assigned experiments above expectations and her intellectual grasp of the work immediately impressed McLaughlin.
“Lisa is a remarkable young scientist and perhaps one of the best talents in all my years of training students,” McLaughlin said. “Her accomplishments in graduate school predict a particularly promising career.”
Outside the research lab, Wilson is emerging as a mentor and natural leader in teaching young students about science. She visits local schools and after-school programs running experiments and providing demonstrations to show kids that science can be fun. She serves as a lab assistant for various elementary schools in Alachua County, Florida, and helps underprivileged students perform science labs. In addition, she has already mentored 16 high school and undergraduate college students.
“When I was in high school, science was not popular,” Wilson said. “I want to change that perception and show children — especially young women — that science can be interesting and fun. You can learn so much as a scientist, and the things you know today might not be what you know tomorrow.”
Bonnie Avery: The brilliant scientist and mentor
One of Wilson’s mentors and trusted advisors was the late Bonnie Avery, Ph.D., a wife, mother and accomplished scientist. Avery filled this role perfectly, because of her own experiences as an early career scientist. In the 1990s, as a single mother of two young children, she put herself through a doctoral program at the University of North Dakota in her home state.
“She worked hard to get a Ph.D. in analytical chemistry,” said Chris McCurdy, Ph.D., a professor of medicinal chemistry in the UF College of Pharmacy and the late Avery’s husband. “It was a challenge, at the time, because there were not a lot of women in the pharmaceutical sciences. It is still a male-dominated profession.”
Avery and McCurdy were a dynamic duo at the University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy and later the UF College of Pharmacy. She analyzed drugs and studied how they move through the body, while he designed drugs to treat pain and addiction. They became role models and mentors to dozens of young scientists — including Lisa Wilson, who joined their lab as a research scientist in 2008.
“Being a woman in STEM and trying to navigate the challenges of finishing my undergrad degree and figure out what I wanted to do with my life was overwhelming,” Wilson said. “Dr. Avery gave me the confidence and direction I needed in life. She was a brilliant scientist and someone I deeply admired.”
Avery’s diverse expertise stretched across the pharmaceutical sciences. She specialized in analytical chemistry, pharmacokinetics and drug metabolism of potential drug candidates as well as complex natural product mixtures. She taught the importance of working collaborations, and Wilson learned just how valuable these partnerships can be.
Championing women in science
In November 2018, Avery was diagnosed with gallbladder cancer. The shock of the diagnosis soon turned to grief, as she passed away four months later.
As McCurdy came to grips with losing his colleague and companion, he sought to carry on Avery’s legacy. To this end, he helped endow the Dr. Bonnie Avery Advancing Women in Pharmaceutical Sciences Fellowship fund in the UF College of Pharmacy. The fellowship supports Ph.D. candidates in pharmacy, particularly women — a cause close to Avery’s heart, and now McCurdy’s.
“She was the definition of a lifelong learner,” McCurdy said. “And above all, a champion of women in the sciences.”
When it came time to award Avery’s inaugural fellowship in 2020 there were multiple nominees, but one stood out above the rest — Lisa Wilson. The selection committee was impressed by her commitment to teaching students, particularly young women, about science.
“The fellowship came as a total surprise to me,” Wilson said. “But with the surprise came the honor of carrying Dr. Avery’s legacy on through this award. I hope I make her proud as a woman in science.”
