Justine Liepkalns

Associate Professor Microbiology, Immunology, and Pathology

About Justine

Dr. Liepkalns is an associate professor, education researcher, and textbook author. After having received her PhD, she became adjunct faculty at Emory University where she taught biology to undergraduate majors and non-majors. She later joined the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases (NCIRD) at the Center for Disease Control and prevention (CDC) in Atlanta as a research scientist, where she studied immune responses to Influenza viral infections in mice and immune responses to Influenza vaccines in clinical trials. As a recipient of the National Institute of Health (NIH) Institutional Research and Academic Career Development Award, she changed labs to focus her research on the Influenza virus binding protein and taught courses at Clark Atlanta University with teaching faculty mentors. In 2016, she joined the Biology Department faculty at the University of Washington, where she became an Associate Teaching Professor. There, she used evidence-based pedagogies including active-learning (such as problem-based learning), metacognition, and using flipped-classroom formats to structure courses in molecular and cellular biology, introductory biology to prepare students for a major in biology, and immunology. She created a new curriculum in immunology for majors and one for non-majors, the latter focusing on the body’s responses to vaccines. Dr Liepkalns published the 2nd edition of the “Vaccines and Immunotherapies Explained” textbook in 2023. She and colleagues are studying what undergraduate immunology scientific literacy is optimal for undergraduate students to have by the time they graduate She and colleagues are studying what undergraduate immunology scientific literacy is optimal for undergraduate students to have by the time they graduate. At CSU, she will continue to work on undergraduate course curricula in immunology and microbiology focusing on preparing students for a successful academic career and beyond. Her area of research focuses on developing a conceptual framework for the understanding of immunological concepts, which maps the journey a novice learner goes through when developing expertise in immunology.

Education

Ph.D. Immunology and Molecular Pathogenesis, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, 2012M.S. Biology, Tufts University, Medford, MA, 2005B.S. Biology and B.A. French, Eckerd College, St. Petersburg, FL, 2004

Certifications

The National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science (Issued 2015)
Completed 40 hours of training on the use of case study teaching in science