Her idea of fun is hanging around a lab. She loves playing with chemicals--mixing them, watching reactions, and seeing what happens. “The best part,” says Lisa Heath, “is that I learn something new everyday--how one chemical reacts with another, how they form different bonds--and therefore a new product. It's fun but it's also serious work because that's how we can find cures and new drugs that treat and fight disease.”
Arriving at the University as a returning student in the fall of 2003 was the end of a long and difficult journey for the Camarillo native. Heath had been interested in a nursing career, and had been working as an x-ray technician. But at 23 she decided to join the army, influenced by her father, mother, and brother who had served in the military.
After she was discharged in 1994, Heath began work at a local Camarillo hospital. It was at this time that her mother died of Pagent's Disease, a form of skin cancer. To make matters worse, Lisa broke her back while trying to move a patient. “I had five stress fractures,” she says. “I knew I couldn't do nursing any longer, so I thought about a career in biotechnology.”
It would not be easy. Heath had a slight dyslexia problem as a child, one of her two children is autistic, and she was dealing with pain from major back surgery. Nonetheless, she graduated from Moorpark College, and, at age 41, enrolled in CSUCI as a student with disabilities pursuing a biology major.
“She's dealt with a lot, says Terri Goldstein, CSUCI coordinator of disability accommodations. “She always has some back pain or discomfort, and now she's also learned that she's been diagnosed with a form of skin cancer. But she's tough and resilient. She's really a great person. And she's really excited about being here.”
In her first year, Heath took only once class because she was dealing with her injury, taking care of two children, and working full-time at Kreido Labs in Camarillo. She soon became the first student to enroll in CSUCI's new chemistry program, and it didn't take long for her to gain respect from faculty.
“Lisa impressed me as one of the brightest students in our organic chemistry class,” says Gil Rishton, a part-time lecturer and founding scientist of the new CSUCI Alzheimer's Institute. “In a short time, I've gained a great appreciation for her as a student and as a person.”
Phil Hampton, professor of chemistry, agrees. “Lisa has an eye for details, and she's so hard working. She's more like a colleague to me. In fact, we're so happy with her, we hired her as a lab technician for the new chemistry program.”
And Heath is equally happy. She's found her niche in life. “This is what I was meant to do. I lose all sense of time here. I can do experiments all day and all night. My goal is to become a researcher in cancer treatment, and right now I'm now working on a project to speed up the reactions of known chemicals, which, if successful, we'll be able to create new medicines more quickly.
“And my biopsy shows that I'm in a precancerous stage, so that's encouraging. God has plans for me, so I won't quit anything. I just love being here.”