MicrobiOLogy > Meet the OLogist: Lisa Cooper

MEET THE OLOGIST: LISA COOPER

What is your job?

LISA COOPER: My name is Lisa Cooper. I'm a medical doctor. And I'm also a researcher in the field of public health. Public health is a study of how people in communities can be as healthy as they possibly can be.

How did you become interested in public health?

LISA COOPER: After I became a physician, I realized that I was helping one patient at a time, which was very gratifying, but I didn't feel like I was actually impacting the health of my entire community. And so I found out more about public health, and that's when I decided to go to Johns Hopkins and study public health there.

And there I really learned that I could actually do something to impact the health of entire communities, particularly the African-American community that I was seeing in Baltimore that seemed to be getting sick at much higher rates and experiencing a lot of social hardships that were preventing them from being healthy.

When did you first get involved in vaccine trials?

LISA COOPER: When the Ebola outbreak happened in West Africa back in the mid-2010s, I was asked to serve on the Data Safety and Monitoring Board as the chair. And one of the reasons I think I was asked to do this is because I'm from Liberia, West Africa, originally. And so I was one of the scientists who could really relate to the people in those countries because they knew I had grown up there and that I would understand more of the concerns and questions they had about a new vaccine being given to people in their countries.

So that was a really interesting experience. And I had experience in doing clinical trials and working with vulnerable communities. But I actually hadn't worked on vaccine trials before. So I learned a lot about how vaccines are developed, and what kinds of side effects to look for, and what kinds of medical complications to look for. And basically, learned a lot about how we track all those things-- those side effects, those complications-- how we make sure people are well-informed about what the risks are, and how we actually monitor all of those things over the course of the trial to determine whether or not the vaccine is effective and safe.

How are you involved with the COVID-19 vaccine trials?

LISA COOPER: When the COVID vaccine was developed, the one by Moderna, in particular, I was invited to become part of the Data Safety Monitoring Board for those trials. So I was able to participate in looking at how those studies were recruiting and enrolling people from different racial and ethnic backgrounds, different age groups, and to look at the monitoring of the safety and the effectiveness of that vaccine.

How did you figure out what you wanted to be when you grew up?

LISA COOPER: The way I figured out what I wanted to be when I grew up is that I really like science, but I also really like people. So I wanted to use my interest in science to help people be healthier.

If you weren’t a scientist, what would you be?

LISA COOPER: If I wasn't a scientist, I think I would probably be a pianist. I love playing the piano, and I love music.

What’s your advice to kids who are interested in pursuing a career in science?

LISA COOPER: If you think you might want to be a scientist, I think it's a good idea to learn as much as you can about the world around you and how it works. Nature, learn about food, learn about the planet, learn about the environment. I think just be as curious as you can be about why things are the way they are.

What’s your favorite kid’s book?

LISA COOPER: I think one of my favorite books for kids is The Rainbow Fish. I really like that book because, number one, it's just pretty, it's blue, and the fish are all sparkly and different colors, but it was a really nice story about just liking yourself just the way you are. That's everybody special and everybody is beautiful.

What is your favorite ice cream flavor?

LISA COOPER: My absolute favorite ice cream flavor is salted caramel.