60 seconds with… Liza Cubeddu

Liza Cubeddu, from the School of Science and Health, is a Senior Lecturer in Biochemistry based on the Campbelltown campus. She has been working at UWS since August 2011, having moved from a research-only role at the University of Sydney.

Liza joined UWS because of her strong research-driven focus; before joining UWS as a Senior Lecturer, she was a Research-only Fellow for around nine years and continues to hold an honorary appointment at the University of Sydney.  “Our research group is interested in understanding the mechanisms of how our cells deal with damage to our DNA (what our ‘genes’ are made of),” she explains. “Damage to DNA is the most common reason for getting a tumour. We are therefore interested in developing DNA repair proteins for use as new cancer drugs.”

Liza also teaches second-year Biochemistry and a few other specialty lectures in the third-year Medical Science program. “I am passionate and determined that students understand the basic concepts of how proteins and other molecules in our body work and to build upon these concepts,” she says.

What’s the best thing about working here?
My new work colleagues are great; it is a very collegial and friendly atmosphere.

What is your favourite place on one of the UWS campuses and why?
Walking up the hills around the green trees/bushes on the Campbelltown campus, you can forget very easily that you are anywhere in metropolitan Sydney. That is a great thing to be able to do toward the end of the day.

When you’re not at work, what will we find you doing?
Outside enjoying the fresh air, cycling, walking or swimming, so preferably near some salty water. 

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
I wanted to be an astronaut, some sort of scientist or a vet – but then I was scared of dogs, so not sure how that would have worked out. In reality, I was interested in anything to do with science from a very early age – for example, in primary school I was fascinated by the fact that we evolved from apes.

I actually participated in a talented science student program when I was in Year 9. Funnily enough, this program was held at what was the previous incarnation of UWS Kingswood. I seem to have gone full circle.

What was your first job?
My first job was as a sales assistant at Jeanswest in Pitt St Mall, Sydney. I actually did this all through my undergraduate university years; I liked the personal interaction.

My first job after my PhD was a Wellcome Trust International Post-doctoral Research Fellowship to work in a well-known DNA repair lab in Scotland, where I stayed for nearly five years.

What has been your greatest success?
Being part of a research team who a few years ago discovered two new human proteins. These proteins are crucial to how our body repairs our DNA. People don't realise that our DNA is under constant assault from lots of factors every day (e.g. the sun). Being able to repair our DNA properly makes sure that our DNA integrity is maintained. Understanding how new proteins function in repairing our DNA is exciting and novel and is the thrust of our research group's focus.

If you could go to just one country in the world for a vacation, which country would it be and why?
I would go to Sardinia, Italy. My parents migrated to Australia from Sardinia; it is a wonderful place. Most people know this island as just another Mediterranean island for a holiday, but it has some awe-inspiring history. Under the many Greco/Roman ruins that dot the island to the west and south, and newer Spanish towers in the north, there is another civilisation buried underneath that is around 6000 years old: the Nuragic civilisation, as old as the Egyptian pharaohs. They built many fortress-like structures that you can see around the rugged mountains and hilltops, called Nuraghi (Google it and you will find them). There are also whole Nuragic cities; one archaeological spot in the centre south of the island has been well preserved. The Nuragic people were fiercely combative; they worked bronze (were around in the Bronze Age) and some history texts point to the Sardinians being the "Swiss Guards" of the Pharaohs.

What is your favourite book, movie and/or album?
Favourite book: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. It mixes a lot of different themes. There is a powerful alchemist in this book that is in possession of the Elixir of Life and the Philosopher's Stone (to turn base metals such as lead into gold or silver).
 
If you could invite anyone to dinner who would it be and why?
Rosalind Franklin. She was a pioneering scientist; she had an essential role in discovering the structural basis of our genetic make-up, our DNA. I would ask her how she felt about her essential contribution in deciphering the structure of the DNA double helix not being recognised. The 1962 Nobel Prize for Physiology and Medicine went to James Watson and Francis Crick (and Maurice Williams). Watson and Crick are most commonly associated with this remarkable feat; they used Franklin's data to build the complete DNA structure. Rosalind Franklin died of cancer in 1958 at age 37; the Nobel Prize is not awarded posthumously.