Meet Dr. Linda Malkas, Ph.D.

"I got my first look at the horror of cancer when my father died from it [in 1984]. I don't care if anybody remembers my name. If I can make a few less tears in the world wrought by cancer, and if someone finds through my work something that makes a dent in this disease, then I'll know why I lived."

Linda Malkas, Vera Bradley Chair in Oncology

With the Vera Bradley Foundation's first five-year, $1.2 million endowment, Linda Malkas, Ph.D. was named the Vera Bradley Chair in Oncology at the Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis, Indiana.

As a young girl, "Dr. Linda" dreamed of being a space scientist and, in a way, her dream has come true. "Every time the cell grows and divides, it has to replicate that very large DNA molecule, which is a tremendous amount of DNA that has to be synthesized in a very short period of time. The body is composed of 50 million-million cells which, when combined, would reach the sun!" These words give you just a glimpse of the dynamic energy embodied in Dr. Linda Malkas.

"One of the great mysteries," Malkas continues, "is how that DNA is synthesized carefully during the course of a lifetime. That code has to be maintained perfectly; otherwise you wind up with disease, specifically with cancer. That molecule was a very big interest to me and how, when DNA is replicated, it just doesn't do it any time it feels like it. It has to get a signal from the cell that it is going to start at a given time and it does it within eight hours, which is rather amazing. It's like a great engineering problem." Curiosity led her to her research. "Two hallmarks of cancer are: one, the cell doesn't know when to stop growing, and two, genetic defects are accumulated."

Malkas discovered what she calls "the machine that makes DNA" in a test tube 12 years ago. Watching the multiprotein DNA replication in progress allows researchers to witness the beginnings of cancer, which manifest as the cells' uncontrolled proliferation and the accumulation of genetic damage. "I wondered if the replication machine in breast cancer cells is particularly prone to error," said Malkas. Her research has supported this theory. Malkas is now focused on the proteins within cells that may be the key to early detection of breast cancer.

A highly accredited researcher and passionate individual, "Dr. Linda" has provided instantaneous expertise in the emerging cancer research that charts the ebb and flow of proteins (proteomics). She and her team are the essential complement necessary to allow Indiana University's breast cancer research program to fully participate in the genetic revolution created by the mapping of the human genome. The university is now becoming a leader in unlocking the clues that could provide a cure for this elusive disease.

More Information:

To learn more about Dr. Linda Malkas, visit:
www.indiana.edu/~alldrp/members/malkas.html

This article is based on an original story written by Candace Lauber for M.D.
NEWS-Northeast Indiana, May 2002.