| Linda Marie Columbus | |
| Workplaces: | University of Virginia |
| Alma Mater: | Scripps Research Institute University of California, Los Angeles Smith College |
| Thesis Title: | Investigating backbone and side chain dynamics of alpha-helices in the nanosecond regime with site-directed spin labeling |
| Thesis Url: | http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/732921756 |
| Thesis Year: | 2001 |
| Website: | Columbus Lab |
Linda Columbus is an American chemist who is Professor of Chemistry and Molecular Physiology at the University of Virginia. Her research considers the structure-function properties of membrane proteins.
Columbus was born to young parents, neither of whom were educated beyond high school, and grew up in New Hampshire.[1] Columbus was an undergraduate student at Smith College and moved to the University of California, Los Angeles, for graduate research.[2] Her doctoral research with Prof. Wayne L. Hubbell involved the use of spin labelling to understand the backbone and side chain dynamics of α-helices in the nanosecond regime.[3] After earning her doctorate, Columbus joined The Scripps Research Institute as an NIH research fellow.[4]
In 2013, Columbus joined the University of Virginia as an assistant professor. She was promoted to full professor in 2019. She studies the membrane proteins that comprise around one quarter of a proteome. These membrane proteins are involved with information transfer across lipid bilayers, and are used as drug targets.[5] Columbus investigates the membrane proteins that mediate interactions between hosts and bacterial pathogens.[6] To study the structures of the membrane proteins involved in cellular invasion by bacterial pathogens, Columbus makes use of site-directed spin labelling and nuclear magnetic resonance.[7]