Alumni Association of Lakehead University

Dr. Elizabeth Murray (BSc 86 HBSc '88), Scientist and Community Advocate

For most high school students, a spare period is a welcome break from the demands of regular classroom activity. A chance to take a breather, get caught up on assignments or perhaps hang out with friends. But for Liz Murray, the circumstances that came together to create a spare in her Grade 10 morning class schedule at Port Arthur Collegiate Institute High School put her on a path that would impact her career choices and ultimately, her life. 

When I interviewed Liz via telephone conference from her Calgary home, I asked her if she had always been drawn to the Science field, an area where she has excelled as a research scientist, administrator and leader in the burgeoning field of biotechnology.

Liz chuckles when she recalls the serendipity of the events. As a clarinet player with the school band, she was accustomed to having practices first thing in the morning.  In grade 10, she found that she had a spare for the first period.  “I didn’t want to go to school and have this hour that I had to kill” she says. “So I ended up filling it with a science class because that was the only thing that was available.”she adds, with obvious irony.  She found that she “quite liked it” and the fire was lit.  From that point, Liz took more science classes, eventually restricting her educational pursuits to only the science field and the rest, as they say, is history.

Elizabeth Murray was born in Whitehorse where her father, a civil engineer, was assigned with the military.  The family lived  on both the East and West coasts,  Chiliwack and Halifax respectively, before Liz’s father left the military to teach at Lakehead University and settle in Thunder Bay.  Liz was five years old when her family arrived and she spent her formative years in the land of the Sleeping Giant.

She graduated from Lakehead University in 1988 with an HBSc in Biology and went on to obtain her MSc from Queen’s University.  Her Masters thesis was on the genetics of von Willebrand’s Disease,a field which would continue to beckon to her.  She tells me that she had considered medical school at one time but felt that she would be a better fit with medical science and research.  Motivated by a strong desire to help people and pursue research that would make a difference and improve lives, Liz is particularly proud of her Doctoral Studies in Human Genetics at Queen’s.

“We worked with real people, which is rare when you are doing research” she says. “ So that connection was instant because we actually had families that we worked with in the Kingston area that were affected by the blood disorder that we were looking at. “

In the process of taking samples from the family participants and sequencing their DNA, Liz would utilize that information to locate the cause of the problem that they were having.  The team would then provide genetic counselling to the participants to help them with family planning.   She recalls an especially inspiring moment when a sample from a new born baby was given to her for genetic sequencing.   As a result of that process, Liz was able to confirm that he did have a genetically inherited mutation that was the cause of a suspected blood disorder.  The guesswork was now eliminated and the baby could be treated appropriately and would be spared the discomfort of future testing.

Liz found it “very motivating” to be able to get firsthand feedback on the benefit of research and found herself drawn to the career track that would have her involved with research that would benefit people in a direct and measurable way.   She completed that research and obtained her Ph. D in Pathology from Queen’s in 1994.

Her post doctoral research found her at the University of Calgary studying cancer biology in the Faculty of Medicine.   In 1999, she started as a Research Scientist with SemBioSsys Genetics Incorporated, a publically traded biotechnology company that makes protein based drugs from genetically modified plants.  The plants are genetically modified to produce human proteins and the company’s first product, insulin, goes to clinical trials at the end of this year.

Liz is acutely aware of the direct benefit to the human population, and in this case a disadvantaged population, of producing a drug that is already in short supply.  She tells me that the incidence of diabetes has increased dramatically in Third World countries and nations like India do not have the same access to insulin as the developed world.   SemBioSys offers a platform where it is much cheaper to produce insulin by supplying the drug companies that are already making it with a whole new source that would allow them to offer the drug at a much lower price and still make a profit.  This will get the drug into those markets that otherwise might not be able to afford it.

And most importantly, Liz points out, helping people that are less fortunate, something which clearly matters to her.

SemBioSys is also working on a second protein, “Apo AI”which is used to produce a recombinant HDL which can then be injected into people.   This HDL, Liz believes, “can reverse the deposition of plaque that’s in your vessels”.   This could make a dramatic difference in the lives of people who are suffering from cardiac disease.   Another development with a profound potential to improve the quality of lives and perhaps even save lives down the road.   It seems that Liz has found that arena where she can use the science, her considerable knowledge and intellect to work towards a positive and tangible outcome. 

Liz is currently running the Efficacy and Pharmacology group for SemBioSys, the team that essentially is charged with the responsibility of proving that the drugs can do what the company says they can do.   This functional testing is an integral part of meeting the FDA process for approval and ensuring that the drugs get to the people who need them.

But life isn’t all about the lab and the office for Liz.  She’s a people person with a broad perspective and range of interests.  A resident of St. Andrews Heights community in Calgary, Liz is the president of the community association and finds herself frequently in an advocacy role as she dialogues with developers who are seeking to build in her older inner city neighbourhood.  The feedback that the association provides to the City is an integral part of the approval process and Liz recently sat on a committee of stakeholders for the City that wrote the new land use bylaw for residential areas.   She has always had an interest in community involvement and political concerns, dating back to her graduate and post secondary school days when she was involved in University politics.

“I always wanted to make sure that my peer group had a voice” she explains.

Liz relaxes and decompresses by biking the commute to work and enjoys coming home to her 3 large dogs, two Tibetan Mastiffs, Taku and Mobi and a Burnese Mountain Dog named Thor, all whom she humourously observes “are always glad to see her.”  Her penchant for advocacy has extended to her interest in the welfare of these large breeds and she is currently registered as a contact person for Tibetan Mastiffs in Alberta.  When a rare breed Mastiff needs to be rescued or “rehomed”, Liz is responsible for facilitating that process, a mission which she has actually had to take on a couple of times this year already.

Although the plains of Calgary are her home setting these days, Liz returns to the Thunder Bay area every few years to visit family.  She looks back on her days at Lakehead University with affection and tells me that LU was an obvious choice for her, allowing her to “stay at home but get into a University setting without disrupting my life.”  She cites the small class sizes and ability to develop personal relationships with professors as being distinct assets for students.    Liz recalls that when her grandfather passed away during final examinations, she faced the dilemma of wanting to maintain the high marks that she had always achieved but realizing that her concentration was understandably compromised.    Because of the personal relationships with faculty, she had the comfort level to call her professor, explain her situation and have the exam rescheduled.

Although Liz has experienced many teachers and potential mentors throughout the course of her education, she tells me that the most profound role model for her was someone who she has observed and been inspired by all of her life—her father.  Roy Murray, former Dean and President of Confederation College, taught his daughter the importance of achieving her full potential, always getting involved and as a critical part of that process,  " letting people have their say and consulting people to make sure that you have the information to make the right decision. "

“I’m very much like my Dad.” Liz observes.

The future is a wide open frontier of potential challenges and discovery as Liz pursues her passions for scientific research and community involvement.   She obviously doesn’t like to be bored and it was that same active mind that led her from an unwelcome spare period to Science class to a PhD in Pathology.  As part of the team that will herald cost effective insulin and a recombinant HDL that could change the course of treatment for cardiac patients, Liz Murray is an inspiration for all aspiring Science students and a credit to Lakehead University.

By Maureen Arges Nadin '74