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Scott E. Lindner

Associate Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Scott E. Lindner, Ph.D.

About Me

Dr. Scott E. Lindner was born and raised in Chicagoland. He did his undergraduate training at the Florida Institute of Technology (Melbourne, FL), which is far warmer than Chicago in the winter. Dr. Lindner then completed his Ph.D. in Cancer Biology at the McArdle Laboratory for Cancer Research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, which is slightly colder than Chicago in the winter. Dr. Lindner conducted post-doctoral training in x-ray crystallography (University of Wisconsin-Madison), as well as molecular parasitology at the Seattle Biomedical Research Institute, which is far rainier than Chicago. Since 2013, Dr. Lindner has been a faculty member in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Penn State University in State College, PA, which he finds to be a lovely place to live and work.

 

Department or University Committees (2023-2024)

  • Huck Leadership Fellow / Member of the Huck Executive Committee
  • Biotechnology Curriculum and Assessment Committee (BMB)
  • Peer Teaching Evaluation Committee (BMB)
  • Schreyer Honors College - Honors Advisor (BMB)
  • Chair of the Sabbatical Review Committee (Eberly College of Science)

 

Program or Department Affiliations

The BMMB Graduate Program Molecular, Cellular, and Integrative BioSciences (MCIBS)

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging

Member of the Rainbow Science Network, Eberly College of Science  

Professional Service

Chair and Panel Member of Department of Defense Study Sections, Ad Hoc Panel Member of NIH Study Sections

Councilor-at-Large – American Committee of Molecular, Cellular, and Immunoparasitology (ACMCIP) subgroup of the American Society for Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH)



Centers

Huck Center for Malaria Research

Center for Infectious Disease Dynamics Center for RNA Molecular Biology

 

Research Summary

Our laboratory couples molecular parasitology and structural biology to study the malaria parasite (Plasmodium spp.). Malaria is still one of the great global health challenges today. Conservative estimates from the World Health Organization indicate that, every year, about 500 million people become infected, and of these people nearly 1 million people will die from their infection. Significant efforts have been made to develop new drugs and vaccines, however, the mounting resistance to these drugs and the limited efficacy of the current generation of vaccines have not allowed for the goals of elimination and eradication of the parasite to be met.

In response to this, our laboratory conducts Discovery Phase research using the mouse-infective malaria parasite Plasmodium yoelii that focuses oncrucial aspects of the parasite’s growth, development, and transmission.

 

Translational Regulation During Parasite Transmission

Our group works to determine mechanisms translational control by specific protein/RNA complexes during transmission from a mosquito to a mammal, and vice versa. This work has been funded since 2013 by awards from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), and pushes the practical and technical boundaries of working with gametocytes and sporozoite stages of the malaria parasite. Through this work, we seek to uncover how the parasite produces and maintains this latent infectious state as it awaits the unpredictable moment of transmission from the mosquito.

Translational Regulation During Parasite Transmission

 

 

 

Honors or Awards

2023 Session Co-Chair, ASTMH Annual Meeting
2022 Outstanding Collaborative Research Team Award
2020-2021 Daniel R. Tershak Memorial Teaching Award
2021 Session Co-Chair, BioMalPar, Heidelberg, Germany
2020 Session Co-Chair, Molecular Parasitology Meeting (MPM), Woods Hole, MA
2019 Session Co-Chair, ASTMH Annual Meeting
2019

Keynote Speaker, Future of Malaria Research Symposium

2019

Co-Organizer, Pennsylvania Parasitology Conference (PAraCon 2019)

2018

Co-Organizer, Pennsylvania Parasitology Conference (PAraCon 2018)

2018

BioMalPar; EMBL, Heidelberg, Germany. CRISPR Workshop Co-Chair

2014

ASTMH Pre-Meeting Course, Advances in Proteomics and Metabolomics: Toward Dissecting Host-Pathogen Interactions; Co-Organizer (with Manuel Llinás)

2013 - 2015

NIAID K22 Research Scholar Development Award

2010

U. Washington / Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Future Faculty Fellow

2009 - 2011

NIAID F32 Ruth L. Kirschstein NRSA Postdoctoral Fellow

2009

Molecular Parasitology Meeting, Award for Excellent Oral Presentation

2001

Graduated with magna cum laude distinction, Florida Institute of Technology

2001

Frank G. Brooks Award for Excellence in Student Research, Tri-Beta District I

2000 - 2001

Tri-Beta National Biological Honor Society

2000 - 2001

Outstanding Senior in Molecular Biology, Florida Institute of Technology

1997 - 2001

Presidential Scholarship, Florida Institute of Technology

1997 - 2001

Dean’s List, Florida Institute of Technology

 

Selected Publications