Linda Chelico

Dr. Linda Chelico is a Professor and Department Head of Biochemistry, Microbiology & Immunology at the University of Saskatchewan's College of Medicine. Her research focuses on APOBEC cytosine deaminases, studying their roles in HIV restriction and cancer mutagenesis. She leads a lab investigating how these enzymes interact with retroviruses like HIV-1, their mechanisms of DNA deamination, and their unintended oncogenic consequences. Her work bridges virology, biochemistry, and cancer biology, with recent grants exceeding $1.6M from CIHR and NSERC.

Education: PhD in Applied Microbiology (USask), postdoctoral training at University of Southern California (USC). Key areas include HIV restriction factors, DNA deaminases, enzyme mechanisms, and mutagenesis. She explores APOBEC interactions with viral proteins (e.g., HIV-1 Vif) and cellular DNA repair pathways, while also examining their role in cancer via mutagenic activity in genomic regions.

Research highlights include identifying APOBEC3's dual role as a virus suppressor and cancer mutagen, studying enzyme competition with DNA-binding proteins like RPA, and developing assays to measure deamination activity. Her team's work on HIV-1 transmitted/founder viruses and APOBEC3's structural basis (via SAXS) underscores her interdisciplinary approach.

Grants: Over $1.6M from CIHR (2019–2024) for projects on APOBEC3's HIV restriction and cancer links. Collaborations include structural biology (e.g., with Dr. Chen XS on APOBEC3G structure) and proteomic mapping (Krogan lab). Labs focus on biochemical assays, mouse xenograft models, and cross-disciplinary techniques.

Publications (2024–2021) emphasize APOBEC3F/G interactions, enzyme purification, and their roles in SIV transmission and bladder cancer mutagenesis. Her work is published in Journal of Virology, Molecular and Cellular Proteomics, and Nature Communications.