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“There were many times when I wanted to give up. I didn’t know how
I got there or if I was even good enough. Eventually it got to the point
where I would talk to certain members in my department, such as Dr.
[Richard] Nowakowski [the department chair] and Dr. Bhide, who always
said, ‘We wouldn’t let you get to this point unless you were capable and
knowledgeable enough to do so.’”
From an early age, Jones’ ability to overcome scientific challenges taught
her she could do the same when facing tests outside the lab.
“I remember everyone was kind of challenged by science class, and I took
that and made it something competitive for myself,” Jones said. “I told
With FSU President John Thrasher at graduation. myself it would be amazing if I could understand it. My scientific curiosity
African-American Ph.D.
graduate inspires others sparked so many other parts of my personality to where I can take challenges
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a lot easier now. I don’t see trouble when I think of certain elements of life. I
see it as something I can get past or learn to get through.”
Jones’ path to FSU began near the end of her master’s program at Virginia
n Aug. 5, Lataisia Jones received her Ph.D in neuroscience. Her
family was thrilled. Her sister posted a graduation photo on
Twitter – fairly routine stuff. Except for one thing: Her sister’s
Twitter post was “liked” or shared more than 6,000 times, and
Jones began getting requests for advice from students around the globe.
Why? Jones was the first African-American Ph.D. graduate at the Florida
State University College of Medicine – and one of only a few in the whole
country. As of 2014, among the 4,923 graduate students in U.S. neurobiology/
neuroscience programs, only 163 were black or African-American.
“I never imagined it to be this big, but I’m glad it is,” Jones said. “It’s
2017 and still an African-American being a first has created such honor
and motivation and inspiration. I’m talking to people in Tennessee,
or California, or other countries and they’re asking me for tips about
biomedical programs, putting up with long hours in the lab and asking
State University when she took an opportunity to study abroad and teach
kids in Ghana. “I was teaching kids who got so excited to learn, even if I was
just teaching them the smallest thing,” she said. “I loved that feeling so much
that I realized I wanted to continue doing that. I wanted to teach, study,
volunteer and even create study-abroad opportunities for other students.”
While at the College of Medicine, she continued to teach, visiting
elementary schools with predominantly minority students and conducting
hands-on experiments to introduce kids to STEM. She hopes a faculty
or postdoctoral position now will enable her to continue influencing and
encouraging the next generation of minority neuroscience researchers.
“I think it is very important to have that pipeline created even as early
as elementary school,” Jones said. “I fear for the people who don’t have
advisors like I did, who can guide them toward their future and give them
the knowledge and motivation to do it on their own.”
what kept me interested and driven. I think it’s wonderful.”
The significance of Jones’ achievement is not lost on the College of
minority researchers – and to continue to diversify the faculty.
Jones, now a role model herself, credits the mentors and advisors who
guided her.
During her five years at FSU, she worked under Professor Pradeep Bhide,
the Jim and Betty Ann Rodgers Eminent Scholar Chair of Developmental
Neuroscience in the Department of Biomedical Sciences. She successfully
defended her dissertation on dystonia, a disease causing involuntary muscle
contractions.
“She has had a number of challenges that she went through outside of
research, and she is very resilient, deals with it well and gets things done,”
Bhide said. “It’s great that she’s gone this far. She would stand up against
any student anywhere.”
There was always a lot of pressure, acknowledged Jones, who in late
September was weighing options in Washington, D.C., and Houston to
become a postdoctoral researcher.
“Not only am I the first black graduate,” she said, “but I was Pradeep’s
first grad student, I’m the first Ph.D. in my family, and I don’t have any
friends who have a Ph.D.
Moved by her story
The College of Medicine is strongly committed to
encouraging minority students like Lataisia Jones toward research
careers, said Jeffrey Joyce, senior associate dean for research and
graduate programs. He points to the medical school’s Bridge to
Clinical Medicine program as a possible template.
“If funding is available, we’d like to actually establish a Bridge
to Ph.D. program as a pipeline to make students competitive
and give them research laboratory experience,” he said. “I think
one of the most important things is to continue to work toward
diversifying our faculty as well.”
Providing diverse role models for minorities is one way to
attract a more diverse population of students.
“It’s important to have people in place who look like me for
Medicine. Discussions are underway to improve the pipeline for future
students up-and-coming,” Jones said. “Because although I can go
talk to any of my professors, it’s different when you’re talking to a
professor who looks like you, who went through those same things.”
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