Linda Wass is doing a postdoc at Stanford with ALF funding

ALF FUNDING. Biomedical Scientist Linda Wass has just settled in Stanford, California, where she will spend two years as a postdoc. She is the first non-physician to do an international postdoc with ALF funding.

During her first week at Stanford, Linda Wass has had to focus on getting the various practicalities in place – electronic keycard, workplace, telephone, and US social security number. For a transitional period, she is living in an apartment in a condominium reserved for visiting scientists at Stanford.

“It is like a resort, with furnished apartments, swimming pool and a gym. All my neighbors are also new postdocs at Stanford. We will stay here until we find another solution for the accommodation,” says Linda Wass.

She adds that she is struck by how beautiful the surroundings are, and how impressive the Stanford campus is.

First non-physician

Just before Christmas, Linda Wass defended her thesis on the relatively newly discovered bacterial infection neoehrlichiosis, which is caused by the bacterium Neoehrlichia mikurensis. The bacterium is common among ticks in Sweden and in large parts of Europe. The supervisor was Christine Wennerås. For several years, Linda combined her thesis work with clinical work as a biomedical scientist, which she feels really enriched her research. It is important to her that research results are translated into new analyses and methods that can be used in everyday clinical practice. The completion of her thesis was accelerated when she was awarded an ALF position for PhD students, as the first biomedical scientist to achieve this.

Linda Wass is now the first PhD researcher without a medical degree to benefit from ALF Västra Götaland’s pilot initiative on international postdocs.

“The ALF funding has meant a lot, and I am very happy to receive support once more. I hope it can inspire others interested in experimental research to apply for ALF. I also think it is very good that those responsible for the ALF in Gothenburg are so clearly encouraging other health professions to apply for funds.”

Well-equipped lab

During her thesis work, Linda had the opportunity to work with the advanced Helios mass cytometer, powered by CyTOF technology. It is an instrument costing several million, but thanks to external funding, one is located at the Clinical Chemistry Department of Sahlgrenska University Hospital.

“It is an incredible instrument, which allows us to study the immunological memory of patients at the single-cell level.  A lot of information can be obtained about e.g. specific cell populations, intracellular proteins, and surface markers in patients,” says Linda.

In her new lab in California, there is a whole fleet of machines like the instrument that Gothenburg is proud to have one of, thanks largely to donations from the Gates Foundation. The laboratory is led by Holden T. Maecker, Professor of Microbiology and Immunology and Director of the Human Immune Monitoring Center at Stanford University. It was Linda’s co-supervisor Christine Lingblom who recommended her to apply here. Christine Lingblom has herself previously been a postdoc in the same group and spoke very highly of both the research environment and its research leaders.

As a postdoc, Linda Wass is now switching focus from a bacterium to a virus. The project focuses on cytomegalovirus, a member of the herpes family, and its impact on T-cell lymphoma cancers.

“I love microbiology, and in the past, I have thought that I would like to develop my interests further with virus research. For me, it is a chance to add a piece to the puzzle, and it is exciting to learn more about how the immune system responds to viruses,” says Linda Wass.

BY: ELIN LINDSTRÖM