Linda Chelico
Saskatoon
Position: Professor
Organization: University of Saskatchewan
Dr. Linda Chelico (PhD) is a professor in the Department of Biochemistry, Microbiology, and Immunology. Her research spans biochemistry, virology, and cancer biology. She earned her PhD in 2004 from the University of Saskatchewan (USask), specializing in the study of DNA repair in fungi. It was then that Chelico became amazed at the potential of mutations in DNA for an organism’s adaptability. Chelico then completed postdoctoral training at the University of Southern California with Myron F. Goodman, who studies multiple mutation-inducing polymerases in bacteria. While she thought she would work on that topic, instead she worked on a new protein family called APOBEC that was discovered shortly before her arrival. Chelico brought this expertise to USask in 2009. The protein family her lab studies purposefully induces mutations as part of the immune response in humans, but has been also linked to cancer evolution. Chelico was the first to purify and characterize multiple proteins from this newly discovered family. Her lab currently studies how APOBEC-induced mutations inhibit virus replication and contribute to cancer evolution.
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My Work
What I do:
Our lab has two main projects that examine host restriction factors that restrict viral replication and the origins of mutations in cancer cells. These seemingly disparate topics are unified by the enzyme family involved in both processes, the APOBEC3 family of cytosine deaminases. The overall lab theme is how mutations can be beneficial. We study this using biochemistry, cell biology, virology, and immunology model systems.
Ask me about:
Ask me about mutations, following your research interests while trying to stay focused, cancer, viruses, immunology, and how mutations can be beneficial, if not essential to human life. My specialty is summarized in this TEDx talk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZArE_pmb0s
Why me:
My research is not bound by disciplines but spans multiple disciplines and aims to investigate several fundamental questions on evolution and how an inherent instability in the DNA due to constant mutations and corrections can be beneficial and detrimental depending on the context. Following this research interest and changing disciplines multiple times has initiated personal and scientific development during my career. I speak about both scientific and personal trials and accomplishments that are informative to young scientists that can learn from the non-linear path that life and career can take.
Fun facts:
I am a third culture kid, I love to drive my antique VW car, and I love to garden in the short but sunny Saskatchewan summers.
About Me
Sector: Academia (Post Secondary)
English proficiency: Read, Write, Speak
Other Language(s): Arabic, Greek
Title: Professor
Pronouns: She/Her/Hers
Gender: Female
Demographic: West Asian