Melissa Rowland-Goldsmith, PhD

When Melissa Rowland-Goldsmith (Dr. RG) was young, she wanted to be a physician. Chapman University’s Professor of Biological Sciences and Biochemistry and Molecular Biology pretended her stuffed animals had broken legs and would apply casts made of tissue and give them popsicle stick crutches.

In 7th grade, she saw firsthand how contributing to medical advances could make a significant difference.  A fellow classmate got leukemia, and other students were unkind to her.

“We had to change into PE clothes, and one day her wig fell off and exposed her bald head,” says Rowland-Goldsmith.  “The other girls laughed, but I felt terrible for her.  I ended up befriending her, and I will never forget her absence during the 8th grade class photo.  She had recently passed away.  I decided that day I wanted to be a doctor specializing in cancer.”

Though Rowland-Goldsmith ultimately didn’t become a physician, she has contributed to advancements in cancer through her research, which centers around pancreatic cancer inhibition and treatments with various agents, including pomegranate extract and caffeine.

She has also made vast contributions to science education and science communication.  Since 2003, she has served as a full-time faculty member at Chapman, impacting the lives of countless students—many of whom have gone on to become physicians, medical research scientists and other medical professionals.

Journey to Teaching

Rowland-Goldsmith, who grew up in Diamond Bar, started her college career at Chapman in 1985.  At the time, the college was much smaller than today and had the type of atmosphere she needed.  “I was very shy,” she says.  “Though I had been accepted to other colleges, I realized a small school would be best for me.”

She was initially on the premed track with a split major in biology and chemistry, but that focus changed when she volunteered at UCI Medical Center and discovered she feared the sight of blood.

“My junior year, I had a professor doing molecular biology research with human cell culture, who changed my trajectory,” says Rowland-Goldsmith.  “She pulled me aside and said she saw something in me she didn’t see in many people—that I could be a good professor and researcher.  At the time, I thought the idea was crazy, since I’d always wanted to be a medical doctor.”

It wasn’t until she graduated from Chapman in 1989 with a BS in Biology/Chemistry and decided to take a gap year that Rowland-Goldsmith discovered the instructor had been right.

“I worked in an industrial lab in Orange doing food and water testing,” she says.  “Because of my fear of blood, I knew I was at a crossroads.  I took a step back and realized what the professor said was correct about me being a teacher and biomedical researcher.”

She responded by applying to the University of California, Riverside’s Biochemistry PhD program and was accepted, earning her PhD in Biochemistry in 1997, followed by serving as a Postdoctoral fellow at UCI under esteemed endocrinologist and pancreatic cancer researcher Murray Korc, MD.  Pancreatic cancer interested Rowland-Goldsmith, because her good friend’s mother had died of the disease, and it was a field of research that needed further insight.

Joining Chapman

In 2003, Rowland-Goldsmith began working at Chapman, since then guiding many students in the sciences and making significant impacts on their academic careers.

“I took Dr. RG’s Introduction to Molecular Biology class during the spring semester of my freshman year in 2016, even though I heard it was tough,” says Chapman’s first Rhodes Scholar, Vidal Arroyo, who is currently a PhD student in biophysics at Stanford.  “I went to her office to ask how I could do well in the course, and she became my mentor.  That class was perceptually the hardest of my academic career, because she taught higher-level cognitive skills.  In that course, you can’t just memorize information.  You are forced to become a problem solver and to understand the subject matter at a deep level.  That resulted in me developing an amazing critical thinking and problem-solving skillset.”

Jeremy Hsu, PhD is Assistant Professor of Biology, Schmid College of Science and Technology at Chapman.  “Melissa is a supportive and thoughtful instructor who cares deeply about her students and their growth,” he says.  “I’ve talked to many students who are so appreciative of her guidance and mentorship.  She is also a leader in the field of science education and science communication. She serves on the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology’s Science Outreach and Communication Committee and has led multiple iterations of an “Art of Science Communication” course blended into the Cancer Biology class at Chapman that she co-teaches with Marco Bisoffi, PhD, Associate Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.  Her students rave about the transformative impact this class has for them.  I’ve seen firsthand how she has helped guide students to effectively communicate complex concepts about cancer biology and molecular genetics to the general public.”

The Human Side of Cancer

The course Hsu refers to includes a final presentation to cancer survivors and caregivers, who then evaluate the presentation, as well as a compassion in medicine project that pairs students with cancer survivors.  Survivors tell their stories and suggest how students can become better, more compassionate doctors.  The students must take a high-level concept learned in class and present the information in a way understandable to nonscientists.

For Rowland-Goldsmith, the germination of this focus to consider the human side of cancer stems from a significant experience she had meeting cancer survivors and their caregivers through the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network.  “I saw firsthand how cancer affects lives, and that taught me so much,” she says.  “I took what I learned into my daily life and what I teach students.”

In addition to making a difference for Chapman students, Rowland-Goldsmith has also helped the organization Higher Ground (HG), a nonprofit family resource center that provides services and support to underserved youth and their families in Orange County.

Founder of Higher Ground, Joe Baldo, recalls meeting Rowland-Goldsmith in 2016 after the screening of a documentary about an HG family.  “It was a moving film about a mother of four trying to manage while her husband served prison time,” he says.  “At the end of the screening, Melissa and her husband, Glen, said they were moved by the film and have been committed to supporting our mission ever since.

“Melissa introduced me to some of her associate professors at Chapman University, which opened doors for HG to receive more visibility and support, and she allowed me to speak with her students to explain Higher Ground’s mission,” continues Baldo.  “With Melissa’s support, Vidal Arroyo created a group of students, calling them STEMtors, who would come to HG and mentor our youth on a weekly basis.  She was also responsible for the donation of equipment that resulted in creating a stem lab on our campus in downtown Anaheim.”

During his time at Chapman, Arroyo was not your average student.  “I come from a low-income Hispanic family,” he says.  “I walked around with a lunchbox and spent an hour taking the train to and from campus each way.  Dr. RG was blissfully ignorant of my background, and I say that in the best possible way.  She has the rare quality of not judging a book by its cover, which is probably the strongest trait an educator can have—to see the ability in every student.  She’s an incredible human being dedicated to helping people, and I am so grateful for her mentorship.”