Jones joins OUWB Department of Foundational Medical Studies

Eric Jones, Ph.D., can't help but smile when recalling his favorite story as an educator so far.

It was when the former professor at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, bumped into a student who had previously struggled with science-related topics.

The student said Jones - the newest faculty member of OUWB's Department of Foundational Medical Studies - had changed his way of thinking and that he subsequently went on to find success.

It's also the kind of difference Jones says he wants to make at OUWB. Jones joined the school in September and is primarily teaching biochemistry-related topics in OUWB's Biomedical Foundations of Clinical Practice (BFCP) to first- and second-year medical students.

"That former student told me that he couldn't have done it without my help," says Jones. "He said, 'I never thought of anything that way until your class. Thank you for helping me see these things.'"

"That was really cool," he adds. "And that's the kind of impact I hope to have at OUWB."

'Realized I could teach'

Jones talks with Tonya Bailey, Ph.D., associate dean, Diversity & Inclusion & Community Engagement, during an OUWB Diversity Month event in October.

Jones grew up in Chico, California. His father was a medical doctor, and Jones says that fostered his interest in biology and medicine at a young age.

As someone who "always found chemistry super fascinating," Jones earned a bachelor's degree in polymer chemistry at Case Western Reserve University.

But, he says, biology offered a "much more wide-open space" in terms of potential, so he pursued a Ph.D. in biophysics, also from Case.

He loved it, too, especially when working on his Ph.D. project that involved prions - a type of protein that can trigger normal proteins in the brain to fold abnormally. This can lead to brain damage and other symptoms.

"Prions are really fascinating," he says. "The idea that you can have something that is a molecule that has sort of an evil zombie dark side to it, and it can switch between two different states…it's amazing."

After 10 years in Cleveland, Jones moved back to the West Coast for a postdoc position at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (one of the U.S. Department of Energy's national laboratories).

He was there for two years before taking a postdoc position at University of Washington. During his five years at Washington, he took on a second job as an adjunct lecturer at a local community college.

Jones was hooked.

"I realized I could teach," he says. "I liked that the impact was immediate…you're explaining things to people or helping them realize that they can figure it out for themselves, and you see a sort of immediate light that goes on. That's always rewarding."

In 2013, he landed a faculty position at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. Jones says he's grateful for his time there, but that he "grew away from it."

Joining OUWB in 2024 made sense, he says.

'Owe it to our students'

Jones says there were several reasons he wanted to make the move to OUWB.

"First and foremost, there's the very clear expectation that my job is to teach and to use my expertise training medical trainees," he says.

He also likes that all the students are on the same track.

"I can focus on medical students and refine my teaching so that it works for that audience," says Jones. "I couldn't do that as much before because I had different constituencies."

Because he's responsible for what he calls "a narrower slice of the curriculum," Jones says, he's intent on making sure he is the best possible educator he can be.

That means he's spending time familiarizing himself with the OUWB style of teaching, watching how others do it, and preparing for what he anticipates will be a larger role at the school.

"We owe it to our students, and we owe it to their future patients, to ensure we do everything right," says Jones.

When he's off the clock, Jones is generally getting used to life in Michigan.

He likes to forage for edible mushrooms and is happy that the season is longer in Michigan. He also volunteers at Michigan Animal Rescue in Pontiac.

And Jones, his wife, and their two children, 17 and 19, are looking forward to taking advantage of Michigan summers and state's many opportunities to enjoy rivers and lakes.

"Anyone who has lived in southern California appreciates rivers with water in them," he says. "In my part of California, rivers were sand pits for six months of the year. In Michigan, if you want to go swimming or rafting down the river, you can just do it. It's great."

For more information, contact Andrew Dietderich, senior marketing specialist, OUWB, at [email protected].

To request an interview, visit the OUWB Communications & Marketing webpage.

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