For the last 13 years, Maria Todd, assistant professor of biology, has lived in the U.S. dividing her time between Texas and Colorado. She loves the seemingly endless, blue skies characteristic of both states but has never quite adapted to the intense heat of a Lone Star summer. England is, after all, about 1400 miles farther north of the equator than Texas. "My ultra UV-sensitive Celtic skin cells have certainly taken quite a beating over the years!"

Cancer, though not the type caused by too much UV exposure, is what brought Todd to Texas in the first place. "I was offered a postdoctoral fellowship in the lab of Dr. Susan Naylor at UTHSC in San Antonio. At the time, her lab was mapping chromosome 3 as part of the Human Genome Project, and I was attempting to clone a tumor suppressor gene on chromosome 3 that was involved in lung cancer. It was a perfect marriage of ideas and approaches."

While working on her postdoc, Todd found a reason to stay in Texas beyond research. She says, "I married a lovely Texan called Sean. We met when he was a graduate student and I was a new postdoctoral fellow. As my dad likes to say--we 'met over a lighted Bunsen burner.'"

In fact, it was her parents that instilled a love of the natural world, and ultimately the sciences, in Todd. "They encouraged us (Maria has a sister, Ita, and a brother, Stephen) to explore and examine the diversity of life in the rivers and fields around our home. Our backyard was a wild, rambling English garden and as a child I used to spend hours picking and, yes, dissecting flowers and leaves--appreciative both of their beauty and complex structure."

Today, Todd's research is largely devoted to ovarian and breast cancer and attempting to correct some of nature's aberrations. She finds her work extremely rewarding and inspiring. She explains, "This is a terribly exciting time to be a molecular biologist! In the last decade we have made great advances in our understanding of genome structure and function, and this information has accelerated the identification of key genetic defects involved in disease etiology. It is my hope that in the not too distant future, cancer gene therapies will be tailored to the needs of individual patients."

Teaching is equally important. She finds great joy in exposing her students to emerging research ideas and their practicality. "As a graduate student at Cambridge University, I was given the opportunity of tutoring undergraduates in molecular biology. By the end of the first tutorial, I felt a sense of sheer elation that I continue to experience on a daily basis as I witness students opening their minds to explore new and challenging ideas and concepts. In my classes I try to discuss the relevance and application of both the theoretical and practical aspects of molecular biology to areas of medical research, biotechnology and forensics. Having the opportunity to combine teaching and research activities at SU is for me, quite literally, a dream come true."

Conducting research, maintaining a strong commitment to teaching and active learning and nurturing a collaborative intellectual community are central elements of the liberal arts experience. Yet, they were more of a very pleasant surprise for Todd. She notes, "I confess that I knew virtually nothing about the U.S. liberal arts university system, having been educated in the UK. However, one visit to SU was all that it took for me to realize that I had found a university whose principal strength lay in it's people--the community of students, staff and faculty whose openness to new ideas and willingness to listen to and consider the opinions of others has created an environment that fosters innovative thought and creative collaborations."

Todd looks forward to continuing her research work with students and hopes to develop research partnerships with other faculty in the near future. Additionally, she is at work creating new upper division courses in molecular biology and, perhaps, tumor biology.

She also has some study abroad plans. "It probably goes without saying that I hope very much to participate in the London Semester program where I would delight in introducing our students to the Londoner's London!"