Elizabeth M. Burnette, Ph.D.

Clinical Neuroscientist & Science Communicator

About Me

I am a clinical neuroscientist and science communicator with a background in drug development: 5+ years of experience conducting clinical trials in phases 1-3. 

I completed my Ph.D. in neuroscience at UCLA in 2023. Eventually, I plan to pivot into a clinical research / development or medical affairs role.

For my PhD work, I conducted clinical research in the context of randomized controlled trials (RCTs), using functional neuroimaging (fMRI), psychoneuroimmunology, behavioral economics, and quantitative methods to study addiction neurobiology and behavior.

I received my B.S. in Neuroscience from Duke University in 2018, with minors in Music and Mandarin Chinese.

Outside of academia, I am a freelance science writer, editor, and content producer. I produce and host a podcast, write, and edit public-facing science articles featured on Knowing Neurons, Massive Science, and more.

In March 2022, I placed second in UCLA's Grad Slam event with my talk, "What E. Coli Endotoxin Can Tell Us About Addiction."  You can watch this 3-minute talk below:

Grad Slam is a campus and UC-wide competition that showcases and awards the best 3-minute research presentations by graduate students. Think TED Talks on steroids. The competition aims to strengthen the important career development skill of articulating graduate research concisely and effectively to a non-specialist audience. It also highlights the excellence, importance and relevance of UCLA graduate students and their research.